<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Test mpadded</title> <style type="text/css"> div#square1 { position:absolute; width: 20px; height: 20px; left: -25px; top: 25px; background: red; } div#square2 { position: absolute; width: 100px; height: 100px; left: 40px; top:30px; background: blue; } div#square3 { position:absolute; width: 200px; height: 200px; background: green; } /* left = lspace = -25; top = HeightBig - HeightSmall - voffsetSmall = 50 - 10 - 15 = 25px */ /* left = lsapce = 40px; top = HeightVeryBig - HeightBig - voffsetBig = 100 - 50 - 20 = 30px */ </style> </head> <body> <div id="square3"> <div id="square2"> <div id="square1"> </div> </div> </div> </body> <html>