What activity is critical to the outcome of document examination
and why is it so important?,Gathering documents of known authorship or origin is critical to the outcome of document examination because the document examiner's success depends on the ability to recognize the characteristics of known authentic writings an
List three characteristics of handwriting
as well as three characteristics of writing not related to handwriting, that an examiner compares when studying a questioned document.,Handwriting characteristics an examiner looks for include angularity, slope, speed, pressure, letter and word spacing, r
List three factors that can make it difficult for an examiner to determine the author of a questioned writing.
Factors that can make it difficult for an examiner to determine the author of a questioned writing include having an insufficient number of known writings; having questioned writing containing only a few, deliberately altered words; and having writing tha
Why might a traced signature be more easily detected as a forgery than one that is copied freehand?
There are variations in the writing characteristics of all people. No two specimens of writing prepared by one person are ever identical in every detail. Thus, a signature forged by tracing an authentic signature can often be detected more easily than a f
List three characteristics of exemplars that should as alike as possible to the questioned document.
Characteristics of exemplars that should be as alike as possible to the questioned document include the type of writing implement used, the type of paper, whether the paper is ruled or unruled, the presence of some of the same words or letter combinations
What individual characteristics are most valuable for proving the identity of a typewriter?
The individual characteristics most valuable for proving the identity of a typewriter are variations in vertical and horizontal alignment (characters are too high or low or too far left or right of their correct position), perpendicular misalignment of ch
What kinds of marks can a document examiner use to identify the machine that produced a photocopy? What information is used to identify the machine that produced a fax copy?
Defect marks originating from the random formation of debris on the glass platen, inner cover, or mechanical portions of a copier themselves produce images. These images can form distinctive patterns that document examiners can study to identify individua
What class characteristics can an examiner study to help identify a suspect photocopy machine?
Class characteristics of photocopy machines studied by the examiner include the printing technology, the type of paper, the type of toner or ink used, the chemical composition of the toner, and the type of toner-to-paper fusing method used in producing th
What is infrared luminescence? Describe how it can be used to detect alterations or erasures in a document.
Infrared luminescence is the emission of infrared light by an object that is exposed to blue-green light. An alteration made to a document with ink differing from the original can sometimes be detected by illuminating the document with blue-green light an
Describe two methods used to recover writing from charred documents.
Infrared photography is sometimes successfully used to reveal the contents of a charred document that has been accidentally or purposely charred. Another way to decipher charred documents involves reflecting light off the paper's surface at different angl
Describe two methods used to read intended writing.
Indented writings are often readable when the paper is studied under oblique or side lighting. Another method involves applying toner powder to polymer film that is brought into contact with a questioned document. An electrostatic charge is then applied t
From what substances are most commercial links made? What technique is used to compare inks? What characteristic provides points comparison between different inks?
Most commercial inks are mixtures of several organic dyes. Thin-layer chromatography is used to compare inks. The separation pattern of the component dyes is distinctly different for inks with different dye compositions, which provides many points of comp