Points to Pixels Converter – Accurate pt to px Calculator

Whether you like to switch between Points and Pixels? A converter of Points to Pixels allows the conversion to happen in just a few seconds. That simple tool handles the process for you and it shows a live view of how the size of your font really looks, which is very helpful when you are designing something and want to see it in real time.

Here is where it gets interesting: Points and Pixels are not the same, although both measure the size of font. For example, 10 pt equals about 13 Pixels. The math behind that is based on one Point matching about 1,333 Pixels.

How to Convert Points and Pixels

In the other direction, one pixel equals about 0,75 Points. If you understand those relations, switching between them becomes much easier.

The formulas for conversion are pretty basic. To go from Points to Pixels, you multiply the Point value by 1,3333… So 12 pt becomes 16 px.

Reverse that, and you multiply Pixels by 0,75, which shows taht 16 px give 12 pt. At the center of everything stands the pixel itself: it is simply the tiniest dot that your computer screen can really show.

Point (or pt, as designers usually write it) is a fixed unit of measure that you find everywhere in CSS and font design. By definition, it matches exactly 1/72 of an inch. That gives you 72 Points for every one inch.

Whether you sea 12 pt text in a printed book or 9 pt in a photo caption, the real size on paper stays just as exact.

Here is where Windows systems come in. The default setting is 96 DPI on the screen, which means 96 Pixels for one inch (and that inch matches 72 Points). The relation looks like this: one pixel matches 96 divided by 72 times Points.

Want to convert Pixels to inches? Divide by your DPI, then multiply by 72 to get Points. Say your DPI is 200, that means 300 Pixels match 1,5 inches, which converts to 108 Points.

You can also find reference tables that show results converted to Pixels along with em-units and percentages. Those tables really help for quick lookups. Really, most designers work with responsive fonts and automatic scaling now, but a converter and reference table onhand still help your design.

The tool is surprisingly easy to use. It has two input fields: one for Pixels, one for Points. Put a value in px in the pixel field, and the tool right away gives the equal value in pt. Some converters are made just for web design, giving you accuracy down to the pixel for typography and spacing.

On Retina devices, you count 2 Pixels for one Point (except iPhone Plus models, that have 3). Older non-Retina devices stay with 1 pixel per Point. Screenshots sometimes need resizing to match your design scale, because the real pixel count dependson the device that you work on.