The only (and the best cross-browser) way as I know is to use an inline-block helper with height: 100% and vertical-align: middle on both elements.
So there is a solution: http://jsfiddle.net/kizu/4RPFa/4570/
Or, if you don’t want to have an extra element in modern browsers and don’t mind using Internet Explorer expressions, you can use a pseudo-element and add it to Internet Explorer using a convenient Expression, that runs only once per element, so there won’t be any performance issues:
The solution with :before and expression() for Internet Explorer: http://jsfiddle.net/kizu/4RPFa/4571/
How it works:
- When you have two
inline-blockelements near each other, you can align each to other’s side, so withvertical-align: middleyou’ll get something like this:
- When you have a block with fixed height (in
px,emor another absolute unit), you can set the height of inner blocks in%. - So, adding one
inline-blockwithheight: 100%in a block with fixed height would align anotherinline-blockelement in it (<img/>in your case) vertically near it.