Use CSS Clamp to create a more flexible wrapper utility

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Chris Coyier on (Updated on )

I like Andy’s idea here:

.wrapper {
  width: clamp(16rem, 90vw, 70rem);
  margin-left: auto;
  margin-right: auto;
  padding-left: 1.5rem;
  padding-right: 1.5rem;
}

Normally I’d just set a max-width there, but as Andy says:

This becomes a slight issue in mid-sized viewports, such as tablets in portrait mode, in long-form content, such as this article because contextually, the line-lengths feel very long.

So, on super large screens, you’ll get capped at 70rem (or whatever you think a good maximum is), and on small screens you’ll get full width, which is fine. But it’s those in-betweens that aren’t so great. I made a little demo to get a feel for it. This video makes it clear I think:

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