Customizing JavaFX labels with CSS styling

Last update on May 26 2025 13:15:21 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

3. Style Labels with Custom Fonts and Alignment

Write a JavaFX program that constructs a UI with labels. Use CSS to change the font family, size, color, and alignment of the text in the labels.

Sample Solution:

JavaFx Code:

// Main.java
import javafx.application.Application;
import javafx.scene.Scene;
import javafx.scene.control.Label;
import javafx.scene.layout.VBox;
import javafx.stage.Stage;

public class Main extends Application {

    @Override
    public void start(Stage primaryStage) {
        primaryStage.setTitle("Styled Labels");

        // Creating labels
        Label label1 = new Label("Label 1");
        Label label2 = new Label("Label 2");
        Label label3 = new Label("Label 3");

        // Setting IDs for labels to apply CSS styling
        label1.setId("custom-label");
        label2.setId("custom-label");
        label3.setId("custom-label");

        // Creating a VBox layout to hold the labels
        VBox vbox = new VBox(12, label1, label2, label3);
        vbox.getStyleClass().add("label-container");

        // Create a scene with the VBox layout
        Scene scene = new Scene(vbox, 300, 200);

        // Load CSS file to style the labels
        scene.getStylesheets().add(getClass().getResource("styles.css").toExternalForm());

        // Set the scene on the stage and display it
        primaryStage.setScene(scene);
        primaryStage.show();
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        launch(args);
    }
}

/*styles.css*/
#custom-label {
    -fx-font-family: "Arial";
    -fx-font-size: 18px;
    -fx-text-fill: #1E90FF; /* Blue text color */
    -fx-alignment: center;
}

.label-container {
    -fx-background-color: #f2f2f2; /* Light gray background */
    -fx-padding: 10px;
}

Explanation:

In the exercise above the JavaFX code creates a simple application that displays three labeled elements vertically using a VBox layout. The labels are styled using CSS.

The code is explained briefly below:

Setting up the UI: The start method initializes a JavaFX window (Stage) with the title "Styled Labels". Three labels (Label) labeled as "Label 1", "Label 2", and "Label 3" are created.
Assigning IDs for CSS Styling: IDs are set for the labels using setId() method to allow applying CSS styling to these specific labels.
Layout Structure: The labels are placed in a vertical box (VBox) layout with a spacing of 12 pixels between each label using the VBox constructor.
CSS Styling: The scene (Scene) loads an external CSS file (styles.css) using getStylesheets().add() to apply styling to the labels based on their IDs.
Launching the Application: The main method launches the JavaFX application by calling launch(args).

Sample Output:

Flowchart:

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