Analysis of Changing Indentations in Naskh Calligraphy of Surah Hamd to Design a Changeable Font

Calligraphy has a special place in Islamic civilization and post-Islamic Iran. One of the most widely used post-Islamic manuscripts is the Naskh, which writes the typical books and small Mus'hafs. The traits of this Calligraphy include cleanliness, balance, level and distance, and the same strengths and weaknesses. It is also the basis for the design of most contemporary typographies because it is easier for readers to read. This study aimed to investigate the possibilities of indentation in Persian script scripts by writing method based on the technological capabilities of variable font design. Accordingly, the research method is qualitative and practical in terms of purpose. Data collection was done by survey and by referring to library resources for filing and direct observation of works and their comparison with each other. The case studies of this research have been selected from the leading Iranian manuscript writers from the seventh to the thirteenth century AH. Yaghoot Mustasemi (7 AH), Abdullah Tabakh (9 AH), Shams Baysanghari (9 AH), Ahmad Neirizi (12 AH) and Mohammad Shafi Arsanjani (13 AH) have been studied. The reason for choosing these calligraphers is that they were able to create a unique style in writing calligraphy. Also, by selecting calligraphers from different periods, diversity in the way of writing Iranian manuscripts is considered, and it is possible to study more tastes. The selected works are all selected from the writing of Surah Al-Hamd - written by these calligraphers - to allow the comparison of a written sample with the same content among the works of calligraphers. Another reason for choosing this particular surah is that in most writings, Surah Al-Hamd has been written in a unique way and with fewer lines or larger fonts, which shows the greater attention, accuracy, and quality of these manuscripts in the works of calligraphers. An essential difference in the indentations in examining each piece will be connecting the letters with their dimension or before. Since the location of points relative to the letters is not essential in the study of indentations, the set of notes is divided into two groups "B, P, T, S, N, Y" (which in this study is called group "B") and "S, Sh" (Which in this study is called the "sin" group) is reduced. On the other hand, according to the location of the dent, the words of all indentations can be divided into the five groups: group "first b," group "middle," group "last," group "only," and group "sin."
To analyze the indentation changes in Surah Al-Hamad, only the indented part of these words is examined, i.e., in words: Bism, Rahim, Rabb, Al-Alamin, Yum, Al-Din, Ayak, Nabd, Nasta'in, Ahtna, Al-Mostaqim, Allazin, Alnamta, Alayhem, Qair, Al-zallin. For ease of review, several words that are repetitive and similar in terms of dent form, such as "Ya" in "Ayak" and "Na" in "Ahtna,” are removed. The part of the word in which the indentation is used is also examined. For example, in the word "al-Din,” there is an indentation only in the "yen" section. Therefore, the compounds considered in this research are as follows: Bism, Haim, B, La'almin, Yu, Yin, Ya, Nabd, Nasta’in, Na, Lmostqim, Yen, Nemat. It is also necessary to explain that the three words "Alayhem" "Qair" and "Al-zallin" are not considered because of the similarity of the place and type of teeth in them with other words.
To achieve a method for analyzing dent changes, define seven indentation characteristics in the Persian scriscriptor of chair placement, pen cut, pen thickness, strengths and weaknesses, elongation, ascent and descent, and decorations, respectively, and then in each of these five versions. The indentations have been analyzed according to the writing to get their effect on the letters’ design. The results show that in the measured indicators in terms of length, the difference in thickness in the discussion of pen thickness is minimal and can be ignored. The characteristics of strength and weakness are also slightly different, but due to its minimum amount, it has a difference of nearly three times its maximum. In-chair placement and elongation, the amount of difference in different groups of indentations is very significant, and the difference between the minimum and maximum characteristics in the elongation index is more. Regarding the measured indices in terms of angle, in general, between the two studied indices, the minimum and maximum difference between the ascending and descending indices is more noticeable than the pen angle. Also, the variable does not have a specific value in the decorations section. However, the decoration of calligraphy on the indentations, due to the use of this possibility by some calligraphers, can be considered a possibility in typography design. In general, the amount of variability of the features can be regarded as from order to more or less in the teeth of the script in the way of writing: Thickness difference, strengths and weaknesses, embellishments, stylus, ascending and descending, placement and elongation.
Based on this, in Dent font variable design, an attempt was made to show the degree of variability and its effects on the indentations of Persian script letters with the software capabilities of variable font design. Therefore, it is possible to implement this possibility in other letters of the transcript line, read Dent’s designed font, and create more options and variations in letter design. Finally, based on the achievements of the research and according to the technological capabilities of the variable font, typography called Dent was designed to show the applicability of the study. In this typeface design, variability of the seven studied features was considered, and the axes were developed and introduced based on the variables. According to the research, six items which introduced as variable features, but since the strength and weakness and angle (diameter) of the pen have the same result in the typographic design, these two features are considered together, and finally, five main axes for each The variable index was applied to the typeface in order of its effectiveness: first axis: stretch for the stretch index; second axis: height (height) for the chair placement feature; third axis: slope for ascending and descending characteristics; fourth axis: angle for two characteristics: pen angle, strength and weakness, and fifth axis: ornaments (serif) for ornaments. Also, according to the five-axis design in typeface Dent, other main modes are designed. These states are considered binary, triple, quadruple, and fifty based on the maximum axes.  Accordingly, thirty-one different ways can be designed for each glyph. Also, some glyphs can be divided into various components. The repetitive elements of each glyph can be repeated in other glyphs, thus making it possible to change the axes more quickly and uniformly.