← The Rubric Bank
CAL-B-08 CAL Observation Beginner

Tashkil Placement and Balance

The precision of diacritic (tashkil) placement above/below the letter, when present, and its size proportion to the letter itself — when no tashkil appears in the panel, this criterion is explicitly marked not applicable, never silently skipped

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.

  • Level 1 Below Standard

    Tashkil markedly misplaced, or sized so large it overwhelms the letter or so small it nearly vanishes

    Example A fatha placed on the neighboring letter instead of the intended one

  • Level 2 Approaching

    Placement roughly correct but size or alignment are inconsistent

    Example A damma correctly placed but larger than the rest of the panel's diacritics

  • Level 3 At Standard

    Tashkil correctly placed and proportionally sized through most of the panel

    Example The diacritics follow their expected position with reasonable steadiness

  • Level 4 Above Standard

    Precisely placed and sized tashkil throughout the panel with clear visual harmony

    Example Every diacritic at a steady size with precise alignment

  • Level 5 Exemplary

    The tashkil actively serves the panel's overall visual balance, not merely spelling correctness

    Example Diacritics distributed so they reinforce the line's visual rhythm

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 criterion

Other criteria in the same art

CAL-B-02 Construction Beginner
Baseline Straightness

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 →
CAL-B-01 Observation Beginner
Alif-to-Dot Proportion Accuracy

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 →
CAL-B-03 Construction Beginner
Pen-Angle Consistency Across the Panel

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 →
CAL-B-04 Consistency Beginner
Letter-Spacing Regularity

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 →
CAL-B-07 Expression Beginner
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 →
CAL-B-10 Observation Beginner
Adherence to the Declared Script's Own Rules

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 →
CAL-B-05 Construction Beginner
Stroke-Thickness Consistency

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 →
CAL-B-06 Consistency Beginner
Repeated-Letter Proportion Consistency

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 →