BASELINE (TYPOGRAPHY)

In typography and penmanship, the 'baseline' is the line upon which most letters "sit" and under which descenders extend.
In the example to the right, the letters 'p' has a descender; the other letters sit on the (red) baseline.
Most, but not all typefaces are similar in the following ways as regards the baseline:

★ Lined or tabular figures (see Arabic numerals) , and capital letters sit entirely above the baseline.

★ The following text figures have descenders: 3 4 5 7 9.

★ The following lowercase letters have descenders: g j p q y.

★ Glyphs with rounded lower extents (0 3 5 6 8 c C G J o O Q U) break the baseline slightly to create the optical illusion that they sit on the baseline.