How to Set Image Width and Height Using HTML

Written by Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: August 29, 2019

The width and height attributes in HTML specify the size of an image in pixels. In HTML 4.01, the height could be defined in pixels or in % of the containing element. In HTML5, the value must be in pixels. This wikiHow teaches you how to specify the size of an image in your HTML code.

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Windows and Mac computers come with default text editor programs like Notepad and Text Edit that will work to create or edit HTML. You can either open the HTML document within the program by clicking Open from the File tab, or you can right-click the file in your file browser and click Open With….
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Add this line to your script: <img src="imagefile.jpg" alt="Image" height="42" width="42">
- src is the file path to your image.
- alt is the tag you give for image.
- Note that those numbers are in pixels.
- You can also use the style tag. For example, you'd have the following code in your text: <img src="imgfile.jpg" alt="Image" style="width:500px;height:600px;">. The style tag ensures the image stays that size and overrides any further image size commands.^{[1]
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For example, if you enter 21 in the width and 21 in the height areas, you'll get an image half the size as the original.
Save the file and open the file using any browser to see the effect. If you don't like the size of the image, you can repeat the previous steps.^{[2]
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I tried it, and my image is the word "image". Any ideas?

Community Answer

Make sure that the image that you want to use is stored in the same folder as the HTML document. Also, make sure that you have put the right file name in the actual HTML coding.

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Tips

Always specify both the height and width attributes for images. If height and width are set, the space required for the image is preserved when the page is loaded. However, without these attributes, the browser does not know the size of the image, and cannot reserve the appropriate space to it. The effect will be that the page layout will change during loading (while the images load).

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Downsizing a large image with the height and width attributes forces a user to download the large image (even if it looks small on the page). To avoid this, rescale the image with a program before using it on a page.

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