Ido Vadavker
Ido Vadavker
Worth Every Pixel.
Build Better Websites

Website Sizing Made Simple: When to Use PX, REM, %, and VW ๐Ÿ“

A quick guide to choosing the right size units in Webflow, without the confusion.

By Ido Vadavker 2 min read
Website Sizing Made Simple: When to Use PX, REM, %, and VW ๐Ÿ“

๐Ÿงฎ Why So Many Units?

Youโ€™re in Webflow, tweaking typography and layouts.

You suddenly notice that each sizing option has 10 different types:

If youโ€™re like me, youโ€™ve felt overwhelmed

  • What do these options mean?
  • Am I using the right type here?
  • Do I really need all these? (Spoiler: No. You only need 4). Each unit changes element size differently. Choose the wrong one and your siteโ€™s look and performance will suffer.

For example, using PX instead of REM for text is a big no-no because it will screw your websiteโ€™s responsiveness (Using PX for text locks font sizes, making your site harder to scale for different screens and accessibility needs. REM keeps text flexible and responsive).

I did my research and found the only four sizing options I need to use in 95% of cases.

๐Ÿ›  The Only 4 Units You Actually Need

1. PX (Pixels) โ€“ Fixed & Precise

This unit represents how many pixels the element will take on a screen.

๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿฝ Best for: Small UI elements (buttons, icons, borders)

๐Ÿค” Why? Doesnโ€™t scale, always stays the same size


2. REM (Root EM) โ€“ The Scalable Standard

๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿฝ Best for: Text (headings, paragraphs), spacing (margins, padding).

๐Ÿค” Why? Scales with the websiteโ€™s base font size


3. % (Percentage) โ€“ Fluid & Flexible

๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿฝ Best for: Containers, divs, grid items

๐Ÿค” Why? Scales based on the parent element

Pro Tip: 100% makes an element** as wide as its parent**, great for responsive layouts!


4. VW & VH (Viewport Width & Height) โ€“ Full-Screen Magic

๐Ÿ‘๐ŸฝBest for:** Hero sections, full-screen backgrounds, fluid typography**

๐Ÿค”Why? Adapts to screen size automatically

๐Ÿ“‹ Quick Cheat Sheet

๐Ÿš€ Keep It Simple

  • You donโ€™t need all those units Webflow offers, just stick to** PX, REM, %, and VW/VH**. REM for text
  • % for layouts
  • VW/VH for fullscreen elements
  • PX for precise details. Now, you can spend less time guessing and more time building awesome Webflow sites!

๐Ÿ”น Want more Webflow tips? Reply and let me know whatโ€™s confusing you, I might cover it next!

Originally published on Build Better Websites on Substack

Enjoyed this?

Get the next issue in your inbox. One email per week, no spam.