GENERAL TERMS IN SIGNATURE IDENTIFICATION

DOCUMENT - In its fullest meaning, any material that contains mark, symbols, or signs either visible,
partially visible, or invisible that may ultimately convey a meaning or message to someone. Pencil or ink
writing, typewriting or printing on paper are the more usual forms of documents.

KINDS OF DOCUMENTS

1. Public Document – an instruments notarized y a notary public or competent officials with

solemnities required by law.
2. Official Document – any instrument issued by the government or its agents or its officers having
the authority to do so, and the offices, which in accordance with their creation, they are
authorized to issue and be issued in the performance of their duties.
3. Private Document – every deed or instruments executed by a private persons, without the
intervention of a notary public or any person legally authorized by which documents, disposition
or agreement is provided evidence or set worth.
4. Commercial Documents – any instruments executed in accordance with the Code of Commerce.

DOCUMENT EXAMINER – One who studies scientifically the details and elements of documents in order
to identify their source or to discover other facts concerning them. Document examiners are often
referred to as handwriting identification experts but today the work has outgrown this latter title
involves other problems than merely examination of handwriting.

EXPERT WITNESS – a legal term used to describe as witness who by reason of his special technical
training or experience is permitted to express an opinion regarding the issue, or a certain aspect of the
issue, which is involved in a court action. His purpose is to interpret technical information in his
particular specialty in order to assist the court in administering justice. The document examiner testifies
in court as an expert witness.

QUESTIONED DOCUMENT – any document about which some issue has been raised or that is under
scrutiny.

QUESTIONED DOCUMENT – These are other less violent, more subtle-tools and products of crime. They
do not bruise, batter cut or shed blood, but they are used to steal your money, and threaten your
security, more than guns, knives and pry bars.

AREAS/ SCOPE OF QUESTIONED DOCUMENT

1. Handwriting – it includes signature, initials, hand printing, and extended writing like anonymous
letter, suicide note, threat letter and extortion letter.
2. Alteration – includes addition, erasures, insertion and interlineation, and obliteration.
3. Counterfeiting – includes peso and other currency.
4. Imprint Examination – it includes manual, mechanical and other electronic printing devices such
as typewriter, check writer and computer printer.
 5. Miscellaneous examination – it includes paper and ink examination, dating examination,
preternatural paper characteristics and envelop tampering.

STANDARD (KNOWN, EXEMPLAR) - a condensed and compact set of authentic specimens which, if
adequate and proper, should contain a true cross section of the material from a known source. They are
used by the document examiner as the basis for his identification or non-identification of the questioned
document.

GRAPHOLOGY – the art of attempting to interpret the character or personality of an individual from his
handwriting.

CACOGRAPHY – characterized as bad writing.

CALLIGRAPHY – the art of beautiful writing.

PALEOGRAPHY – the study of early writing, old and ancient scripts. It also focuses on writings done in
papyrus, parchment, vellum and others.

AUTOFORGERY – defined as forgery of one’s signature created by oneself.

DESKTOP FORGERY – unwanted forgery of modern technology. Invention of modern computer software
and scanner, document examiner have speculated on and studied the potentials of machines and
materials to facilitate the transfer of genuine signature from one document to another.

EXAMINATION – the art of making a close and critical study of any material and with questioned
documents; it is the process necessary to discover the facts about them. Various types of examination
are undertaken including microscopic, visual, photographic, chemical, ultra violet and infra-red
examinations.

COMPARISON – the art of setting two or more items side by side to weigh their identifying qualities. It
implies not only a visual but also a mental act in w2hich the element of one item are related to the
counterparts of the other.

CONCLUSION – a scientific results from relating observed fact by logical, common sense, reasoning in
accordance with established rules or laws.

OPINION – in the legal language, the document examiner’s conclusion. Actually, in court he is not only
expresses an opinion but demonstrate the reasons for arriving it.

NATURAL WRITING – any specimen of writing executed normally without an attempt to control or alter
its identifying habits and its usual quality of execution. It is the typical writing of an individual.

GUIDED SIGNATURE – a signature that is executed while the writer’s hand or arm is steadied in any way,
also classified as an assisted signature. It is most commonly written during a serious illness or on
deathbed.
NATURAL VARIATION – normal or usual deviations found between repeated specimens of any
individuals handwriting.

CHARACTERISTICS - any property or mark that distinguishes and in document examination it refers to
identifying details.

TWO (2) GROUPS OF CHARACTERISTICS

1. Class characteristics – not all characteristics encountered in document examination are peculiar
to a single person or thing. It is a common to a group.
2. Individual Characteristics – this is highly personal or peculiar and is unlikely to occur in other
instances. It is initially acquired at the very outset of the learning process of writing. These are
acquired either by outgrowth of definite teaching, result of imitation, accidental condition or
circumstances and expression of certain mental and physical traits of the writer as affected by
education, environment, and occupation.

HANDWRITING - it is the result of very complicated series of acts being used as a whole and
combination of certain forms of visible mental and muscular habit acquired by a long continued
painstaking effort. Some defined handwriting as “visible speech “

SIGNATURE - A name of a person written in a document as a sign of acknowledgement. A name or mark

that a person puts at the end of a document to attest that he is its author or that he ratifies its contents.

SIGNATURE CONSIDERED SPECIAL BRANCH OF HANDWRITING IDENTIFICATION FOR THE FOLLOWING

REASONS:

1. A signature is a word most practiced by many people, therefore, most frequently written.
2. A signature is a means to identify a person and has a great personal significance.
3. A signature is written with a little attention to spelling and some details.
4. A signature is a word written without conscious thought about the mechanics of its production
and is written automatically.
5. A signature is the only word that illiterate can write with confidence.

STYLES OR KINDS OF SIGNATURES

a.) Conventional Signature – illegible or readable.

b.) Highly individual (individualized) signature – it is a series of intertwining strokes, flourishes and
ornamentations.

CLASSES OF SIGNATURES

1.) Formal Signature – complete, correct signature for an important document.

2.) Informal signature - it is a signature for routine documents and personal correspondence.
3.) Careless Scribble – a signature for the mail carrier, delivery boy or the autograph’s collector.
 CLASSES OF QUESTIONED SIGNATURES

1. Genuine signatures which the writer’s doubted or honestly not accepted as genuine.
2. Genuine signatures deliberately written in an usual manner or disguised for personal
convenience.
3. Genuine signatures taken by trickery or written unknowingly
4. Forged signatures of non-existing of fictitious persons
5. Forged signatures without any attempt to copy a genuine model ( simple forgery )
6. Forged signatures with close resemblance to a genuine one, which have been produced by
tracing process. ( Traced Forgery )
7. Forged signatures resembling in genuine one written with freehand and otherwise known as
simulated forgery.

FORGERY – strictly speaking, a legal term that involves not only a non-genuine signature or document
but also intent on the part of its maker to defraud. Outside the court room, however, it is used
synonymously with a fraudulent signature or spurious document.

KINDS OF FORGERY

1. Simple Forgery (Spurious Signature) – no apparent attempt at simulation or imitation.

2. Traced Forgery – any fraudulent signature executed by actually following the outline of a
genuine signature with a writing instrument.
3. Simulated Forgery (Free Hand Forgery ) – this forgery is constructed by using a genuine
signatures as a model.

INDICATIONS OF FORGERY

1. Hesitation and pen stops at unusual places

2. Abrupt changes of directions of lines or strokes, showing uncertainty of movement
3. Concealed joining
4. Blunt initial and terminal stroke
5. Misplaced shadings
6. Lack of variation in pen pressure
7. Defective line quality
8. Careful patching /retouching
9. Un usual tremor
10. Presence of carbon, pencil or indentations along the lines of strokes
11. Un usual pen lifts
12. Drawn quality and devoid of free normal writing movement.

HESITATION- an irregular thickening of the ink line when the writing slow down or stop while the writer
takes stock of the position..

BLUNT – the strokes diminishes abruptly.

SHADING – widening of the ink stroke due to added pressure on a flexible pen point or to the use of a
stub pen.

PEN PREESURE – the average force of the pen that contact on the paper, as estimated from an
examination of writing.

LINE QUALITY – it is the visible record of the written strokes of the basic movements, manner of holding
the writing instrument. It is derived from a combination of factors including writing skill, speed, and
rhythm, freedom of movement, shading and pen position.

PATCHING /RETOUCHING – it is the going back over a defective portion of a writing stroke.

TREMORS - a writing weakness portrayed by irregular, shaky strokes.

PEN LIFT – an interruption on a stroke caused by lifting or removing the writing instrument.

HIATUS – a special form of pen lift. It is a gap between the strokes without lifting or removing the
writing instrument.

SLANT – the angle or inclination of the axis of the letters relative to the baseline.

PEN EMPHASIS – it is an act of intermittently forcing the pen against the paper surface with increased
pressure. When the pen point has flexibility this emphasis produces shading, but with more rigid writing
points such as ball point pen heavy pen emphasis can occur without the evidence of shading.

DIACRITIC – an element added to complete certain stroke.

CHARACTERISTICS OF GENUINE SIGNATURES

1. Degree of skill
2. Firmness of strokes
3. Habitual speed of writing
4. Fundamental muscular movement
5. Pattern of shading and pen emphasis
6. Presence of natural variation
7. Coordination ,continuity and rhythm
8. Carelessness in strokes and movement

SKILL –the writer’s proficiency in the art of writing

STROKE STRUCTURE – it is the series of lines and curves of the individual letters of alphabet. In signature
examination it refers to letter for letter comparison.

SPEED OF WRITING – Not everyone writes at the same rate, so that consideration of the speed of
writing may be a significant identifying element.
RHYTHM – it is the flowing succession of motion that records the harmonious recurrences of stress or
impulse.

SCIENTIFIC METHODOLOGY OF HANDWRITING /SIGNATURE IDENTIFICATION

THE ACE –V METHODOLOGY – it is the scientific method in the identification of questioned document
especially in the identification of handwriting.

A – ANALYSIS

C – COMPARISON

E – EVALUATION

V – VERIFICATION

ANALYSIS – properties or characteristics are observed, measured and determined. The general
description of the questioned handwriting is determined by descriptive analysis and study the general
appearance of the questioned handwriting.

COMPARISON –properties or characteristics of the unknown items determined thru analysis are now
compared with the familiar or recorded properties of known items. The unknown is a questioned
handwriting that needs to establish its identity by comparing to the standard or known item.

EVALUATION – similarities or dissimilarities in property or characteristics that have certain value for
identification is determined by likelihood of occurrence. The conclusion must be purely derived from the
evaluation of the handwriting.

VERIFICATION – re do examination by another examiner.

HANDWRITING CHARACTERISTICS TO BE EXAMINED IN SIGNATURE IDENTIFICATION

MOVEMENT (Manner of execution) – the character of writing movement is a primary determinant of

writing speed. It is important element of handwriting characteristics. It embraced all the factors related
to the writing instrument such as speed, skill, hesitation, tremors, pen pressure, pen lift, rhythm and
others.

LINE QUALITY - refers to the appearance of the writing stroke. It is the overall character of the ink line
from the beginning to the ending stroke.

SLANT - it refers to the position of the character s from side to side. Do they tend to lean to the left or
right ?

ALIGNMENT – It is the relation of the parts of the whole line writing relative to the baseline. This is
simply relationship of the questioned writing to a baseline.
BASELINE – ruled or imaginary line upon which the writing rest.

LATERAL SPACING – horizontal spacing between letters or words.

PROPORTION/ RATIO/ SIZE – generally refers to the symmetry of an individual letter. Proportion of a
letter may refer to the proportion of one part to the other part of a letter, or the relative height of the
letter to another. It is also refers to the relation between the tall and the short letters.

STROKE STRUCTURE - it is the series of lines and curves of the individual letters. A stroke is the path
traced by the pen on the paper.

THREE (3) KINDS OF STROKE STRUCTURE

1. Initial stroke - the form or design of the beginning stroke.

2. Connecting stroke – form the character of connections
Kinds of connecting stroke
a. Circular
b. Angular
c. elliptical

3. Terminal stroke- refers to the end part of the letter/s.

COMMON TERS AND DESCRIPTION OF STROKE STRUCTURE

1. Arch or arc – any arcade form in the body of the letter

2. Beard – a rudimentary curved stroke
3. Blunt ending/beginning stroke – it is the result of the drawing process.
4. Buckle knot – horizontal and looped strokes that are often use to complete such letters.
5. Loop – found in a cursively written letter, may be symmetrical, flat on one side and therefore
asymmetrical. They may be thin or bulbous, rounded at the apex or sharply pointed like a
needle.
6. Eye loop or eyelet- small loop formed by strokes that extend in divergent directions.
7. Hitch – the introductory backward stroke added to the beginning or ending of any capital
letters or small letters.
8. Hook or through – the bend, crook, or cursive on the inner side of the bottom loop or curve of
the small letter.
9. Hump – rounded outside top of the bend, crook, or cursive in small letters
10. Spur – short horizontal beginning stroke
11. Knob – rounded appearance at the beginning or ending stroke.
12. Main stroke or shank system – downward stroke of any letters
13. Whirl – the upward stroke usually on letters that have long loops.
14. Flying or tapering stroke – the width of the stroke diminishes as the momentum of writing
ends.