strippedwidth

Strippedwidth is a term used in typography and digital layout to describe the effective horizontal measure available for content within a container, after removing or excluding non-content elements. It represents the width that text lines can occupy and thus is closely related to the concept of measure or line length in typesetting.

There is no universally standardized definition of strippedwidth. In different contexts it may be described slightly differently, but it generally refers to the width of the content area free from margins, padding, borders, or decorative elements. In web rendering and the CSS box model, strippedwidth is often aligned with the content width—the width of the content box that remains after accounting for padding and borders, but before margins. In traditional print layout, strippedwidth may be considered the inner column width available for text after subtracting column gutters and margins.

Calculation of strippedwidth typically involves determining the inner or usable width of a container. This can mean the specified width minus horizontal padding and border in CSS models, or the equivalent content area in other layout systems. The exact definition may vary by toolkit or workflow, but the underlying idea is the same: a measure of how much textual space is truly available for lines of text, independent of decorative frame elements.

Applications of strippedwidth include guiding line-wrapping decisions, informing typographic density, and aiding responsive design where text blocks must adapt to changing container sizes. It is a useful abstraction for discussions about layout consistency and readable line length across different media. Related concepts include measure, line length, content width, and the content box.