Style Reference

April 1, 2026 · View on GitHub

Inky includes a built-in SCSS framework for responsive email styles. You can override any variable to customize your emails.

How to Override

Add a <style type="text/scss"> block in your layout's <head>, or link to an external .scss file:

<style type="text/scss">
$primary-color: #ff6600;
$global-width: 640px;
$body-font-family: Georgia, serif;
</style>

<link rel="stylesheet" href="theme.scss">

Only variables you override are changed — everything else keeps its default value.

Global

Variable	Default	Description
`$primary-color`	`#2199e8`	Primary brand color (buttons, links, accents)
`$secondary-color`	`#777777`	Secondary color
`$success-color`	`#3adb76`	Success state color
`$warning-color`	`#ffae00`	Warning state color
`$alert-color`	`#ec5840`	Alert/error state color
`$light-gray`	`#f3f3f3`	Light gray
`$medium-gray`	`#cacaca`	Medium gray
`$dark-gray`	`#8a8a8a`	Dark gray
`$black`	`#0a0a0a`	Black
`$white`	`#fefefe`	White

Layout

Variable	Default	Description
`$global-width`	`580px`	Maximum email width
`$global-width-small`	`95%`	Width on small screens
`$global-gutter`	`16px`	Gutter between columns
`$global-gutter-small`	`$global-gutter`	Gutter on small screens
`$global-padding`	`16px`	Default padding
`$global-margin`	`16px`	Default margin
`$global-radius`	`3px`	Default border radius
`$global-rounded`	`500px`	Fully rounded radius (pill shape)
`$global-breakpoint`	`$global-width + $global-gutter`	Responsive breakpoint
`$body-background`	`$light-gray`	Page background color
`$container-background`	`$white`	Container background color
`$container-radius`	`0`	Container border radius

Grid

Variable	Default	Description
`$grid-column-count`	`12`	Number of columns in the grid
`$column-padding-bottom`	`$global-padding`	Bottom padding on columns
`$block-grid-max`	`8`	Maximum items in a block grid
`$block-grid-gutter`	`$global-gutter`	Gutter between block grid items

Typography

Variable	Default	Description
`$body-font-family`	`Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif`	Body font stack
`$global-font-color`	`$black`	Default text color
`$global-font-size`	`16px`	Base font size
`$global-font-weight`	`normal`	Base font weight
`$global-line-height`	`130%`	Base line height
`$body-line-height`	`$global-line-height`	Body line height
`$header-font-family`	`$body-font-family`	Heading font stack
`$header-font-weight`	`$global-font-weight`	Heading font weight
`$header-color`	`inherit`	Heading color
`$header-margin-bottom`	`10px`	Space below headings
`$h1-font-size`	`34px`	H1 size
`$h2-font-size`	`30px`	H2 size
`$h3-font-size`	`28px`	H3 size
`$h4-font-size`	`24px`	H4 size
`$h5-font-size`	`20px`	H5 size
`$h6-font-size`	`18px`	H6 size
`$paragraph-margin-bottom`	`10px`	Space below paragraphs
`$lead-font-size`	`20px`	Lead paragraph size
`$lead-line-height`	`160%`	Lead paragraph line height
`$small-font-size`	`80%`	Small text size
`$small-font-color`	`$medium-gray`	Small text color
`$text-padding`	`10px`	Text utility padding
`$pre-color`	`#ff6908`	Preformatted text color
`$font-scale`	`1.2`	Font scale factor
`$stat-font-size`	`40px`	Stat/number display size

Subheaders

Subheaders are secondary text inside headings, styled with the <small> tag:

<h2>Order Confirmed <small>Thank you for your purchase</small></h2>

The <small> text renders smaller and muted, controlled by these variables:

Variable	Default	Description
`$subheader-lineheight`	`1.4`	Subheader line height
`$subheader-color`	`$dark-gray`	Subheader color
`$subheader-font-weight`	`$global-font-weight`	Subheader font weight
`$subheader-margin-top`	`4px`	Space above subheaders
`$subheader-margin-bottom`	`8px`	Space below subheaders

Links

Variable	Default	Description
`$anchor-text-decoration`	`none`	Link text decoration
`$anchor-color`	`$primary-color`	Link color
`$anchor-color-visited`	`$anchor-color`	Visited link color
`$anchor-color-hover`	10% darker than primary	Hover link color
`$anchor-color-active`	`$anchor-color-hover`	Active link color
`$remove-ios-blue`	`true`	Strip iOS auto-detected link styling (dates, phone numbers, addresses — see Email Guide)

Buttons

Variable	Default	Description
`$button-background`	`$primary-color`	Button background
`$button-color`	`$white`	Button text color
`$button-color-alt`	`$medium-gray`	Button alt text color
`$button-font-weight`	`bold`	Button font weight
`$button-margin`	`0 0 $global-margin 0`	Button margin
`$button-border`	`2px solid $button-background`	Button border
`$button-radius`	`$global-radius`	Button border radius
`$button-rounded`	`$global-rounded`	Pill button radius

Button Sizes

The $button-padding and $button-font-size variables are maps with size keys:

$button-padding: (
  tiny: 4px 8px,
  small: 5px 10px,
  default: 8px 16px,
  large: 10px 20px
);

$button-font-size: (
  tiny: 10px,
  small: 12px,
  default: 16px,
  large: 20px
);

Button Hover Colors

Variable	Default	Description
`$button-background-hover`	10% darker than primary	Primary button hover
`$button-secondary-background-hover`	10% lighter than secondary	Secondary button hover
`$button-success-background-hover`	10% darker than success	Success button hover
`$button-alert-background-hover`	10% darker than alert	Alert button hover
`$button-warning-background-hover`	10% darker than warning	Warning button hover

Callouts

Variable	Default	Description
`$callout-background`	`$white`	Default callout background
`$callout-background-fade`	`85%`	How much to lighten colored callouts
`$callout-padding`	`10px`	Callout padding
`$callout-padding-small`	`$callout-padding`	Callout padding on small screens
`$callout-margin-bottom`	`$global-margin`	Space below callouts
`$callout-border`	`1px solid (darkened background)`	Default callout border
`$callout-border-primary`	`1px solid (darkened primary)`	Primary callout border
`$callout-border-secondary`	`1px solid (darkened secondary)`	Secondary callout border
`$callout-border-success`	`1px solid (darkened success)`	Success callout border
`$callout-border-warning`	`1px solid (darkened warning)`	Warning callout border
`$callout-border-alert`	`1px solid (darkened alert)`	Alert callout border

Horizontal Rules / Dividers

Variable	Default	Description
`$hr-width`	`$global-width`	HR width
`$hr-border`	`1px solid $black`	HR border style
`$hr-margin`	`20px`	HR margin
`$hr-align`	`center`	HR alignment
`$divider-border`	`1px solid $medium-gray`	Divider border (component)
`$divider-margin`	`20px auto`	Divider margin (component)

Variable	Default	Description
`$menu-item-padding`	`10px`	Menu item padding
`$menu-item-gutter`	`10px`	Space between menu items
`$menu-item-color`	`$primary-color`	Menu item link color

Thumbnails

Variable	Default	Description
`$thumbnail-border`	`solid 4px $white`	Thumbnail border
`$thumbnail-margin-bottom`	`$global-margin`	Space below thumbnails
`$thumbnail-shadow`	`0 0 0 1px rgba($black, 0.2)`	Thumbnail shadow
`$thumbnail-shadow-hover`	`0 0 6px 1px rgba($primary-color, 0.5)`	Thumbnail hover shadow
`$thumbnail-transition`	`box-shadow 200ms ease-out`	Thumbnail hover transition
`$thumbnail-radius`	`$global-radius`	Thumbnail border radius

Dark Mode

Dark mode styles are included automatically when you override any of these variables. The build pipeline injects <meta name="color-scheme"> tags when dark mode styles are detected.

Variable	Default	Description
`$dark-body-background`	`#1a1a1a`	Dark mode page background
`$dark-container-background`	`#2d2d2d`	Dark mode container background
`$dark-font-color`	`#f0f0f0`	Dark mode text color
`$dark-muted-color`	`#a0a0a0`	Dark mode muted text color
`$dark-border-color`	`#444444`	Dark mode border color
`$dark-link-color`	`#5ab5f7`	Dark mode link color