Stroke Flow and Letter Connection
How smoothly the pen moves between connected letters, with no unintended stops or breaks in the ligature — judged by a vision model pointing at a specific location in the image, never a generic impression
The five levels
Each anchor describes what separates one level from the next — not a general description of quality. This is the text the evaluator itself reads.
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Level 1 Below Standard
Multiple clear breaks in letter connections, or visible tremor cutting the stroke's flow
Example An unintended gap inside a letter that should connect to the next
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Level 2 Approaching
One break or limited tremor in one spot of the panel
Example A small interruption in one letter-to-letter connection
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Level 3 At Standard
Generally acceptable flow with slight hesitation at one or two points
Example Smooth transition between most letters with slight hesitation in one spot
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Level 4 Above Standard
Smooth flow through most of the panel with no noticeable breaks
Example Cohesive connection between nearly all connected letters
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Level 5 Exemplary
Continuous flow with no visible hesitation or break from the panel's start to its end
Example One continuously-moving line of ink across every connected letter
Where does your own work sit on these levels?
Submit one work to be read against this criterion alone: your position across the five levels, why you are not higher and why not lower, three literal quotes from your own work, and one exercise with its success check. Your first card is free.
Price: 7 SAR · Included in Pro & Artist Plus · First one free — Pricing details
Read my work by this criterionOther criteria in the same art
Your writing line's deviation from true horizontal, in degrees, computed by a real geometric Hough transform on your own photo's pixels — never a visual estimate
The five levels →How closely your alif's height in the panel (measured in pixels relative to your own reference dot) matches the documented traditional ratio for the declared script (Naskh ~5 dots, Thuluth ~7 dots) — not measured for scripts outside the classical dot system (Ruq'ah/Diwani/Kufic)
The five levels →How consistently your pen's stroke direction holds across several points in your panel, measured from the local ink orientation around each point you mark (a platform-declared measurement standard, not a historical figure) — an unstable pen angle signals inconsistent pen-grip control, not a letter-shape flaw
The five levels →How consistent the horizontal gap between your letters stays, measured by the coefficient of variation of ink-blob gap widths along the marked line — erratic spacing breaks the reading rhythm even when the letters themselves are sound
The five levels →Fidelity to the SPECIFIC declared script's own distinguishing features — Thuluth's letter interlocking and ornamentation, Ruq'ah's simplicity and speed, Diwani's flowing flourish, or Kufic's right angles — not one generic standard applied uniformly to every script
The five levels →How steady the pen's stroke thickness stays along one letter you mark (measured by the coefficient of variation of several cross-section widths along that same stroke) — thickness varying WITHIN one stroke signals uncontrolled pen pressure, unlike the intentional thick/thin contrast between different strokes in the script itself
The five levels →How steady the same letter's height (relative to your own reference dot) stays every time it recurs across your panel — a real calligraphic principle: one letter must not vary in size within the same piece, independent of any external reference figure
The five levels →The balance of how letters and words are distributed across the whole panel's space, and how the larger gaps (between words and lines) relate proportionally to the smaller ones (between letters)
The five levels →