diff --git a/src/composables/useElementSettings.js b/src/composables/useElementSettings.js
index cd8a4ff..97f5873 100644
--- a/src/composables/useElementSettings.js
+++ b/src/composables/useElementSettings.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { ref, reactive, computed, watch, nextTick } from 'vue';
-import { ELEMENT_DEFAULTS } from '../utils/defaults';
+import { ELEMENT_DEFAULTS, INLINE_DEFAULTS } from '../utils/defaults';
 import { useStylesheetStore } from '../stores/stylesheet';
 import { useDebounce } from './useDebounce';
 import { useTextDefaults } from './useTextDefaults';
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ export function useElementSettings({ margin, padding, basePopup }) {
 
   // --- Selector state ---
   const selector = ref('');
+  const currentTag = ref('');
 
   // --- Style refs (initial values from defaults.js) ---
   const fontFamily = ref(ELEMENT_DEFAULTS.fontFamily);
@@ -256,11 +257,11 @@ export function useElementSettings({ margin, padding, basePopup }) {
     { css: 'font-family', group: 'font', special: true,
       getValue: () => { const val = settingEnabled.font ? fontFamily.value : textDefaults.fontFamily; return val === 'sans-serif' ? 'sans-serif' : `"${val}"`; } },
     { css: 'font-style', group: 'font',
-      getValue: () => italic.value ? 'italic' : null,
-      skip: () => !settingEnabled.font || !italic.value },
+      getValue: () => italic.value ? 'italic' : (INLINE_DEFAULTS[currentTag.value]?.fontStyle || null),
+      skip: () => !italic.value && !INLINE_DEFAULTS[currentTag.value]?.fontStyle },
     { css: 'font-weight', group: 'font',
-      getValue: () => bold.value ? 'bold' : null,
-      skip: () => !settingEnabled.font || !bold.value },
+      getValue: () => bold.value ? 'bold' : (INLINE_DEFAULTS[currentTag.value]?.fontWeight || null),
+      skip: () => !bold.value && !INLINE_DEFAULTS[currentTag.value]?.fontWeight },
     { css: 'font-size', group: 'fontSize', special: true,
       getValue: () => `${(settingEnabled.fontSize ? fontSize : textDefaults.fontSize).value}${(settingEnabled.fontSize ? fontSize : textDefaults.fontSize).unit}` },
     { css: 'line-height', group: 'lineHeight', special: true,
@@ -587,6 +588,7 @@ export function useElementSettings({ margin, padding, basePopup }) {
 
     selectedElement.value = element;
     selector.value = getSelectorFromElement(element);
+    currentTag.value = element.tagName.toLowerCase();
     elementInstanceCount.value = getInstanceCount(selector.value);
 
     const stored = elementStates.get(selector.value);
@@ -606,6 +608,14 @@ export function useElementSettings({ margin, padding, basePopup }) {
       settingCache.color = null;
     }
 
+    // Apply tag-based defaults (em/i → italic, strong/b → bold)
+    const tag = element.tagName.toLowerCase();
+    const inlineDefaults = INLINE_DEFAULTS[tag];
+    if (inlineDefaults) {
+      if (inlineDefaults.fontStyle === 'italic') italic.value = true;
+      if (inlineDefaults.fontWeight === 'bold') bold.value = true;
+    }
+
     loadValuesFromStylesheet(true);
 
     if (stored && stored.values) {
@@ -647,6 +657,7 @@ export function useElementSettings({ margin, padding, basePopup }) {
     saveElementState();
     basePopup.value?.close();
     selector.value = '';
+    currentTag.value = '';
     selectedElement.value = null;
     emit('close');
   };
diff --git a/src/stores/stylesheet.js b/src/stores/stylesheet.js
index ee31953..7ef06c3 100644
--- a/src/stores/stylesheet.js
+++ b/src/stores/stylesheet.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import * as cssComments from '../utils/css-comments';
 import prettier from 'prettier/standalone';
 import parserPostcss from 'prettier/plugins/postcss';
 import { getCsrfToken } from '../utils/kirby-auth';
-import { PAGE_DEFAULTS, TEXT_DEFAULTS } from '../utils/defaults';
+import { PAGE_DEFAULTS, TEXT_DEFAULTS, INLINE_DEFAULTS } from '../utils/defaults';
 
 export const useStylesheetStore = defineStore('stylesheet', () => {
   // Base state
@@ -194,6 +194,12 @@ export const useStylesheetStore = defineStore('stylesheet', () => {
     set('body', 'color', TEXT_DEFAULTS.color);
     set('p', 'font-size', TEXT_DEFAULTS.fontSize.value, TEXT_DEFAULTS.fontSize.unit);
     set('p', 'line-height', TEXT_DEFAULTS.lineHeight.value, TEXT_DEFAULTS.lineHeight.unit);
+
+    // Inline element defaults (em, i, strong, b)
+    for (const [tag, props] of Object.entries(INLINE_DEFAULTS)) {
+      if (props.fontStyle) set(tag, 'font-style', props.fontStyle);
+      if (props.fontWeight) set(tag, 'font-weight', props.fontWeight);
+    }
   };
 
   // Initialize from narrative data (base + custom CSS)