What counts as a flourish
A flourish is a version of a letter that reaches further than your other versions of the same letter, with a thin sweep at its start or its end. You mark it, and you choose where it appears.
What counts
Write the same letter several times and most of them agree with each other. Now and then one reaches further: a longer tail off the end, a sweep into the start, an arm that swings up and out. That version is different from your others — that is a flourish. Inkling does not decide this for you: you mark the version, on the Letters wall or on the character's own page.
Two things have to be true:
- It stands out from your other versions of that letter. A g is measured against your other g's, never against your y, and never against anyone else's g.
- The extra reach is a thin sweep. A flourish is the pen trailing off, not a second shape.
Why it is your call
Different from your others needs others, and only you know which of your versions is the everyday one. Three looped g's are not three flourishes. If every version of a letter has the same long tail, that tail is your normal g, and your font already uses it everywhere. A flourish is the one that goes further than your normal.
Where it goes
You decide. On the Letters wall and on that character's own page, every version has a kind: Standard or Flourish. Mark a version as a flourish and it leaves the everyday rotation at once — it appears nowhere until you place it. On a Pro font, Place then takes the ★ Default slot for that version: pick where it should appear, at the ends of words, at the starts, or in the middle (a capital: the starts only). At its position the placed version shows in place of the everyday rotation; everywhere else your everyday versions rotate as usual. Mark it Standard again and it returns to your everyday writing. You can change the choice on either surface at any time.
On a Free account the font uses your ★ version only, so a flourish stays out of your words unless you make it your default — and then it is your everyday letter, no longer a flourish. Pro places it.
If a version carries a warning mark and it is how you write, choose Standard — the version stays in your everyday rotation, and Inkling does not ask again about that version.
A flourish or two letters run together
Sometimes a version is wider than your others because two letters ran together on the page and were read as one: an “an” read as an a, an “rn” read as an r. That version reaches further too, but the extra ink is a second body, not a thin sweep, so Inkling does not call it a flourish. It sets the version aside on the Letters wall and asks you.
If a version you meant as a flourish was set aside instead, the sweep was heavy enough to read as a second letter. Write it again with a lighter, longer sweep, and the new version gets its own reading.
The tail depth dial is a different control
On the bench, Tail depth changes how far below the line every tail in the font reaches. It is one setting for the whole font, and it applies to placed versions as well. Place decides where a flourish appears, not how deep it goes.
Which tier
Placing a flourish is part of Pro. Everything you write is kept on every account. A Free account's font uses your ★ version of each letter, so there is nothing to place. What Pro adds to your font.