Editing Q (section)

=== Typographic variants ===
[[File:Q typographic styles.svg|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|The five most common typographic presentations of the capital letter Q]]
[[File:Champfleury letter Q illustration Geoffroy Tory (1529).png|thumb|A long-tailed Q as drawn by French typographer [[Geoffroy Tory]] in his 1529 book, ''Champfleury'']]
[[File:Base columna trajana.jpg|thumb|The printed long-tailed Q was inspired by ancient [[Roman square capitals]]: this long-tailed Q, used here in the Latin word "[[SPQR|POPVLVSQVE]]", was carved into [[Trajan's column]] {{Circa}} [[AD]] 113.]]
[[File:Short tailed Q vs long tailed Q text example.svg|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|A short trilingual text showing the proper use of the long- and short-tailed Q. The short-tailed Q is only used when the word is shorter than the tail; the long-tailed Q is even used in all-capitals text.<ref name=":3" />{{rp|77}}]]

==== Uppercase "Q" ====
Depending on the [[typeface]] used to [[Typesetting|typeset]] the letter Q, the letter's [[Descender|tail]] may either [[bisection|bisect]] its [[Typeface anatomy#Strokes|bowl]] as in [[Helvetica]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IW9MAQAAQBAJ&q=q+tail+typography&pg=PA189|title=The Fundamentals of Typography: Second Edition|last1=Ambrose|first1=Gavin|last2=Harris|first2=Paul|date=2011-08-31|publisher=[[A & C Black]]|isbn=9782940411764|page=24|language=en|quote=...the bisecting tail of the Helvetica 'Q'.|access-date=2020-11-19|archive-date=2021-08-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819020149/https://books.google.com/books?id=IW9MAQAAQBAJ&q=q+tail+typography&pg=PA189|url-status=live}}</ref> meet the bowl as in [[Univers]], or lie completely outside the bowl as in [[PT Sans]]. In writing [[block letters]], bisecting tails are the fastest to write, as they require less precision. All three styles are considered equally valid, with most serif typefaces having a Q with a tail that meets the circle, while sans-serif typefaces are more equally split between those with bisecting tails and those without.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yBytanUmuCoC&q=q+tail+typography&pg=PA110|title=Lettering & Type: Creating Letters and Designing Typefaces|last1=Willen|first1=Bruce|last2=Strals|first2=Nolen|date=2009-09-23|publisher=Princeton Architectural Press|isbn=9781568987651|pages=110|language=en|quote=The bowl of the Q is typically similar to the bowl of the O, although not always identical. The style and design of the Q's tail is often a distinctive feature of a typeface.|access-date=2020-11-19|archive-date=2021-08-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815232906/https://books.google.com/books?id=yBytanUmuCoC&q=q+tail+typography&pg=PA110|url-status=live}}</ref> Typefaces with a disconnected Q tail, while uncommon, have existed since at least 1529.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6sidSDlif48C&q=q+tail+typography&pg=PA330|title=The Palaeotypography of the French Renaissance: Selected Papers on Sixteenth-century Typefaces|last=Vervliet|first=Hendrik D. L.|author-link=H. D. L. Vervliet|date=2008-01-01|publisher=[[Brill Publishers|BRILL]]|isbn=978-9004169821|pages=58 (a) 54 (b)|language=en|access-date=2020-11-19|archive-date=2022-02-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221011132/https://books.google.com/books?id=6sidSDlif48C&q=q+tail+typography&pg=PA330|url-status=live}}</ref> A common method among [[Type design|type designers]] to create the shape of the Q is by simply adding a tail to the letter O.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xjRBBAAAQBAJ&q=q+tail+typography&pg=PA50|title=Exploring Typography|last=Rabinowitz|first=Tova|date=2015-01-01|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=9781305464810|pages=264|language=en|access-date=2020-11-19|archive-date=2022-02-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221011130/https://books.google.com/books?id=xjRBBAAAQBAJ&q=q+tail+typography&pg=PA50|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X3_oBQAAQBAJ&q=q+tail+typography&pg=PA97|title=Adrian Frutiger – Typefaces: The Complete Works|last1=Osterer|first1=Heidrun|last2=Stamm|first2=Philipp|date=2014-05-08|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783038212607|pages=97 (a) 183 (b) 219 (c)|language=en|access-date=2020-11-19|archive-date=2022-02-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221011155/https://books.google.com/books?id=X3_oBQAAQBAJ&q=q+tail+typography&pg=PA97|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Serif#Old-style|Old-style serif]] fonts, such as [[Garamond]], may contain two uppercase Qs: one with a short tail to be used in short words, and another with a long tail to be used in long words.<ref name=":2" /> Some early [[Font|metal type fonts]] included up to 3 different Qs: a short-tailed Q, a long-tailed Q, and a long-tailed Q-u [[Typographic ligature|ligature]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/printingtypesthe01updi|title=Printing types, their history, forms, and use; a study in survivals|last=Updike|first=Daniel Berkeley|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |year=1922|isbn=1584560568|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> This print tradition was alive and well until the 19th century, when long-tailed Qs fell out of favor; even recreations of classic typefaces such as [[Caslon]] began being distributed with only short Q tails.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_wn4AgAAQBAJ&q=long+tailed+Q+typography&pg=PT44|title=Type: The Secret History of Letters|last=Loxley|first=Simon|date=2006-03-31|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=9780857730176|language=en|quote=The uppercase roman Q...has a very long tail, but this has been modified and reduced on versions produced in the following centuries.|access-date=2020-11-19|archive-date=2022-02-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221011140/https://books.google.com/books?id=_wn4AgAAQBAJ&q=long+tailed+Q+typography&pg=PT44|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> American [[Typography|typographer]] [[D. B. Updike]]<!-- I have formatted his name like this because that is the name he used in the book, as his signature to the introduction and on the cover. It also appears on online listings under this author name. -->, who was known to disapprove of the long-tailed Q, celebrated their demise in his 1922 book ''Printing Types'', claiming that Renaissance printers made their Q tails longer and longer simply to "outdo each other".<ref name=":3" /> [[Latin-language]] words, which are much more likely than English words to contain "Q" as their first letter, have also been cited as the reason for their existence.<ref name=":3" /> The long-tailed Q had fallen out of use with the advent of early [[digital typography]], as many early digital fonts could not choose different glyphs based on the word that the glyph was in, but it has seen something of a comeback with the advent of [[OpenType]] fonts and [[LaTeX]], both of which can automatically typeset the long-tailed Q when it is called for and the short-tailed Q when it is not.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/210192/how-to-force-a-long-tailed-q-in-eb-garamond|title=How to force a long-tailed Q in EB Garamond|last=Fischer|first=Ulrike|date=2014-11-02|website=TeX Stack Exchange|access-date=2017-02-03|archive-date=2017-02-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204003733/http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/210192/how-to-force-a-long-tailed-q-in-eb-garamond|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.typography.com/faq/157|title=What are "Stylistic Sets?"|website=Typography.com|publisher=Hoefler & Co.|language=en|access-date=2017-02-03|archive-date=2017-02-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204084944/http://www.typography.com/faq/question.php?faqID=157|url-status=live}}</ref>

Owing to the allowable variation between letters, Q,<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SudnyGqZ5VAC&q=q+tail+typography&pg=PA31|title=Mastering Type: The Essential Guide to Typography for Print and Web Design|last=Bosler|first=Denise|date=2012-05-16|publisher=F+W Media, Inc.|isbn=978-1440313714|pages=31|language=en|quote="Letters that contain truly individual parts [are] S, ... Q..."}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> like  [[Ampersand|{{Char|&}}]], is often cited as a letter that gives type designers a greater opportunity for  [[Self-expression values|self-expression]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fontology/level-1/type-families/letter-q|title=The Letter Q|last=Haley|first=Allan|website=Fonts.com|publisher=[[Monotype Imaging|Monotype Imaging Corporation]]|language=en-US|access-date=2017-02-03|archive-date=2017-02-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203164213/https://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fontology/level-1/type-families/letter-q|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Identifont]] is an automatic typeface identification service that identifies typefaces by asking questions about their appearance and later asks about the Q tail if the "sans-serif" option is chosen.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.identifont.com/identify?2+%20+9Z|title=2: Q Shape|website=Identifont|access-date=2017-02-01|archive-date=2017-02-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203164207/http://www.identifont.com/identify?2+%20+9Z|url-status=live}}</ref> In the Identifont database, the distribution of Q tails is:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.identifont.com/identify?3+.+1QY+7AG+9Z|title=3: $ style|website=Identifont|access-date=2017-02-02|archive-date=2017-02-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203163504/http://www.identifont.com/identify?3+.+1QY+7AG+9Z|url-status=live}} To get the numbers in the table, click Question 1 (serif or sans-serif?) or Question 2 (Q shape) and change the value. They appear under X possible fonts.</ref><div align="center">
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;width:300px"
!Q tail type
![[Serif]]
![[Sans-serif]]
|-
|Bisecting
|1461
|2719
|-
|Meets bowl
|3363
|4521
|-
|Outside bowl
|271
|397
|-
|[[Cursive|"2" shape]] (<math>\mathcal{Q}</math>)
|304
|428
|-
|Inside bowl
|129
|220
|-
!Total
|5528
|8285
|}
</div>

{{Multiple image
| align = center
| direction = vertical
| width = 300
| image1 = Q tails (serif) pie chart.svg
| alt1 = Pie chart showing the proportion of different style Q tails in serif fonts to the total.
| image2 = Q tails (sans-serif) pie chart.svg
| alt2 = Pie chart showing the proportion of different style Q tails in sans-serif fonts to the total.
}}

Some type designers prefer one "Q" design over another: [[Adrian Frutiger]], famous for the [[Frutiger (typeface)|airport typeface]] that bears his name, remarked that most of his typefaces feature a Q tail that meets the bowl and then extends horizontally.<ref name=":1" /> Frutiger considered such Qs to make for more "harmonious" and "gentle" typefaces.<ref name=":1" /> "Q" often makes the list of their favorite letters; for example, Sophie Elinor Brown, designer of Strato,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=Kerrie |date=2014-09-02 |title=Font of the day: Strato |url=https://www.creativebloq.com/typography/font-day-strato-91412811 |access-date=2022-08-25 |website=Creative Bloq |publisher=[[Future plc]] |location=[[Bath, Somerset]] |language=en}}</ref> has listed "Q" as being her favorite letter.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wired.com/2016/01/14-typographers-introduce-us-to-their-favorite-letterforms/|title=We asked 15 typographers to describe their favorite letterforms. Here's what they told us.|last=Heller|first=Stephen|date=2016-01-07|publisher=[[Wired (magazine)#Website|WIRED]]|access-date=2017-02-03|archive-date=2017-02-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203163523/https://www.wired.com/2016/01/14-typographers-introduce-us-to-their-favorite-letterforms/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.typographher.com/blog/2016/1/27/wired-asked-15-typographers-to-introduce-us-to-their-favorite-glyphs|title=Wired asked 15 Typographers to introduce us to their favorite glyphs.|last=Phillips|first=Nicole Arnett|date=2016-01-27|newspaper=Typograph.Her|language=en-US|access-date=2017-02-03|archive-date=2017-02-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203164623/http://www.typographher.com/blog/2016/1/27/wired-asked-15-typographers-to-introduce-us-to-their-favorite-glyphs|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Lowercase "q" ====
[[File:Q and g comparison.svg|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|289x289px|A comparison of the [[glyph]]s of {{angbr|q}} and {{angbr|g}}]]
The lowercase "q" is usually seen as a lowercase "o" or "c" with a descender (i.e., downward vertical tail) extending from the right side of the bowl, with or without a swash (i.e., flourish), or even a reversed lowercase [[p]]. The "q"'s descender is usually typed without a swash due to the major style difference typically seen between the descenders of the "g" (a loop) and "q" (vertical). When handwritten, or as part of a handwriting font, the descender of the "q" sometimes finishes with a rightward swash to distinguish it from the letter "g" (or, particularly in mathematics, from the digit "9").