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Difference Between Pixel (Px) and Point (Pt) Font Sizes in

Email Signatures
⋮ 7/16/2019

A very common question our readers often ask is “What is the difference between pixels and points when
it comes to email signature font sizes?”

Pixels and Points are both units of measurement that are commonly used to measure the size of
fonts in email signatures as well as web sites and other web related applications.

Let’s take a deeper look at what exactly pixels and points are and how they are used with email
signatures.

What is a Pixel (px)?

A pixel (px) at 96DPI (dots per inch) is equal to 0.2645835‬ millimeters, 0.010416675‬ inches, or 0.75
point. It is a measurement of how tall a font is in pixels which are visible on your computer screen. So, if a
font is 12 pixels in height, that means it takes up 12 pixels on your screen from the top of the letter, to the
bottom, which also includes the characters that have sections which are under the guide line, such as a
“p” character.

Pixel’s are the preferred method to calculate font sizes in email signatures, because they need to be
measured on LCD screens, rather than physically. Since computer and mobile devices all have LCD
screens, it makes sense to use pixels as a unit of measurement.

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What is a Point (pt)?
A point (pt) is equal to 0.352778 millimeters, 0.0138889 inches, or 1.333 pixels. Because millimeters and
inches are measurements of physical items, they are not ideal to use with computer or mobile based
applications because they dont always represent the correct size because of differences in screen
resolution.

Some email clients, such as Outlook still use a point as a font size measurement when it comes to email
signatures. This is rather annoying because most HTML email signatures are created using pixels for font
sizes, because that is the web standard.

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Conversion Chart
Points Pixels
6pt 8px
7pt 9px
7.5pt 10px
8pt 11px
9pt 12px
10pt 13px
10.5pt 14px
11pt 15px
12pt 16px
13pt 17px
13.5pt 18px
14pt 19px
14.5pt 20px
15pt 21px
16pt 22px
17pt 23px
18pt 24px
20pt 26px
22pt 29px
24pt 32px

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 26pt 35px
27pt 36px
28pt 37px
29pt 38px
30pt 40px

Why the difference between pixels and points for fonts?

Units to measure the size of fonts have changed dramatically over time. Points used to be the major (and
only) way of measuring the size of a font on written paper since it was first established in the 1500’s.

Computer (and mobile device) screens are made up of many tiny little LED’s which in software
terminology are referred to as pixels. Some monitors have more of them, and some have less. This
means that the measurement of “points” was no longer appropriate since 1 point was tied to 0.352
millimeters, and physical units of measurement dont work on computers screens.

Since personal computers made their first appearance in the early 80’s, we’ve since found a newer and
more fitting way to measure font sizes, since monitor resolutions varied greatly. The digital way to
measure font sizes is in pixels.

Some word processors such as Microsoft Word still use points as units of measurement for fonts. This is
because some of the time, the documents are printed and converted to physical documents, so it makes
sense to use points. However, it doesn’t make sense to use points as a unit of measurement for email
applications such as Microsoft Outlook, because…well…it’s email, AKA electronic mail, but to this day it’s
still used.

Luckily, there is a standard conversion between points and pixels which makes life easier.

Our Recommendation
We make email signatures for a living, so we’re experienced when it comes to email signature font sizes
and the best way to measure them. If you’re creating an email signature and you’re not sure if you should
use points or pixels, our recommendation is that you always use pixel as a form of font measurement for
email signatures, especially if they are created in HTML. This will ensure maximum compatibility between
various email clients which means your signature will always have the correct font sizes.

Looking to create an email signature from scratch? Why not try our free email signature generator which
can help you with the whole process from start to finish.

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