Editing Descender

[[Image:Typography Line Terms.jpg|thumb|390px|Here, 'p' has a descender — the part below the red line.]]

In [[typography]], a '''descender''' is the portion of a [[grapheme|letter]] that extends below the [[Baseline (typography)|baseline]] of a [[typeface|font]]. The line that descenders reach down to is known as the '''beard line'''.<sup>[1]</sup>

For example, in the letter ''y'', the descender would be the "tail," or that portion of the [[diagonal]] line which lies below the ''v'' created by the two lines converging. In the letter ''p'' at right, it is the stem reaching down past the ''o''.

In most fonts, descenders are reserved for [[lowercase]] characters such as ''g'', ''j'', ''q'', ''p'', ''y'', and sometimes ''f''. Some fonts, however, also use descenders for some [[Numerical digit|numerals]] (typically ''3'', ''4'', ''5'', ''7'', and ''9''). Such numerals are called [[old-style numeral]]s. (Some [[Italic type|italic]] fonts, such as [[Computer Modern|Computer Modern italic]], put a descender on the numeral ''4'' but not on any other numerals. Such fonts are not considered old-style.) Some fonts also use descenders for the tails on a few uppercase letters such as ''J'' and ''Q''.<sup>[2]</sup>

The parts of characters that extend above the [[x-height]] of a font are called [[ascender (typography)|ascenders]].<sup>[1]</sup>

==References==
* 1. Snider, Lesa (2013-04-23). "Typography for all: Demystifying text for high-impact messages". Macworld. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
* 2. Mcclam, Erin (2007-09-16). "Typeface designers mix art, engineering". USA Today. Retrieved 2013-04-25.

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[[Category:Typography]]