Tag text-align-last

🎯 CSS text-align-last — Aligning the Last Line with Precision

The text-align-last property is a lesser-known CSS tool that lets you control the alignment of the last line of a paragraph or block of text — independently from the rest of the text.


🔹 What Is text-align-last?

The text-align-last property sets the horizontal alignment of the last line in a block or paragraph, particularly when text-align: justify is used.

Why it’s useful:

  • Prevents awkward alignment in justified paragraphs
  • Gives typographic control over callouts, headings, or multi-line buttons

📘 Syntax

selector {
text-align: justify;
text-align-last: left | right | center | justify | start | end;
}

💡 Values Explained

ValueDescription
leftAlign the last line to the left
rightAlign the last line to the right
centerCenter the last line
justifyJustify the last line like the others
startAlign based on the direction (LTR: left, RTL: right)
endAlign opposite the start (LTR: right, RTL: left)

✍️ Example: Justify With a Centered Last Line

<p class="justify-last">
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
</p>
.justify-last {
width: 400px;
text-align: justify;
text-align-last: center;
}

🧠 Result:

  • All lines are justified.
  • The last line is centered, instead of stretched.

🖼️ Image Idea: Visualizing text-align-last

Image Description:

  • A block of text with the last line:
    • Left-aligned
    • Right-aligned
    • Centered
    • Justified

🎯 Purpose: Show how text-align-last affects the final line when everything else is justified.


🧠 Important Notes

  • Works only with block-level elements (like <p><div>, etc.).
  • Best results when text-align is set to justify.
  • Multi-line text is required — it won’t affect single-line content.
  • Behavior may vary slightly across browsers — especially older ones.

🧪 Bonus: Styling Headlines or Buttons

h2 {
text-align: justify;
text-align-last: center;
}

This creates beautifully balanced titles when they wrap to two or more lines.


✅ Summary

FeatureDescription
ControlsLast line of block-level text
Commonly used withtext-align: justify
Valuesleftrightcenterjustifystartend
Good forParagraphs, titles, multi-line buttons

🔚 Final Thought

The text-align-last property might be subtle, but it’s a powerful finishing touch in typographic design — letting you polish how the last line of text appears in a justified or stylized block.