CSS Properties

Short form for padding, border and margin padding, border and margin can be explicitly defined, which can be preferred for ease of maintenance and readability.

padding-top: 15px;
padding-right: 15px;
padding-bottom: 15px;
padding-left: 15px;

This can however be shortened in various ways, the shortest being:

padding: 15px;

So the padding is applied the following way:

If you use two parameters:

padding: 15px 15px;

If you use three parameters:

padding: 15px 15px 15px;

And finally if you use four parameters:

padding: 15px 15px 15px 15px;

See also HTML Dog, there are separate explanations for padding, border and margin, but the use and behavior is the same.

References

• Tutorial on CSS properties and padding at HTML dog
• Tutorial on CSS properties and borders at HTML dog
• Tutorial on CSS properties and margins at HTML dog
• Reference on CSS properties and padding at HTML dog