EQUIPMENTS FOR DOCUMENT

EXAMINATION

Richard C. Kashindye
Assistant Lecturer in Forensic Science
UDOM
 TYPES OF EQUIPMENTS

Basic we have four classification of equipment's used in Question Document Examination

 Measuring equipment’s.

 Optical instruments.

 Light sources.

 State of art instrument.

 MEASURING EQUIPMENT'S

 Ruler.  Protector

Measure things using the metric measurement
system (millimeters, centimeters), that are
shorter in length than the ruler itself.
 Scale:
Used for measurement of angle of documents
 Micrometer
used for measurement of width of documents

A plastic or metallic scale with sub divisions of

atleast 0.5mm in an inch.
 Metre ruler

Micrometer
Protector
 OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS.

Hand magnifiers
 is one that uses a single lens for
magnification.
 Enlarge the objects from 2 to 10 times
(magnification powers of 2X to 10X).
 Contd…
Stereomicroscope
 is an optical microscope that provides a three-dimensional
view of a specimen.
 The magnification of a stereo microscope ranges between
10x and 50x.
 use of light reflected from the surface of the specimen.
 It is also known by other names such as dissecting
microscope and Binocular microscope.
 Dissecting microscope parts include separate objective
lenses and eyepieces.
 is preferable in various problems concerning depth, such as
where an ink line crosses a fold in the paper.
 This instrument shows ridges and furrows also minute
indentations of the documents.
 It is an excellent idea to start with a low power first for
examining a segment of a document
 Contd…
Comparison microscope
 Two documents can be viewed side-by-side.
 Two microscopes are placed next to each other
 The optical path of each microscope are
connected together by optical bridge.
 Optical bridge consists of a series of lenses and
a mirror that bring two images together at the
single eye.
 Although the human eye can be very good at
discriminating minute differences in color and
morphology.
 the brain has a more difficult time
remembering and processing these subtle
differences.
 This difficulty is overcome by a comparison
microscope in which the images from two
microscopes are seen side by side in a single
field of view
 Contd…

Photography equipment
 The significant use of photography in document
examination is for recording and presenting evidence.
 A critical element of the job of the document examiner
is to present evidence to the parties involved in a
document dispute.
 The examiner must be talented to state and clarify his
or her opinion.
 The best service is given when the examiner goes the
final step of illustrating testimony with visual
evidence.
 Photo equipment expected to include a camera, digital
camera, copy stand, filters, extension tubes, lenses,
and other items.
 LIGHT SOURCES

Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation.

the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the human eye is called
visible light
The visible region is in the range of 400 nm – 700 nm in the electromagnetic
spectrum
When the eye sees different colours, it actually perceives different wavelengths of
light.
 OBLIQUE LIGHTING

 Oblique lighting uses a light source positioned at a low

angle varying between about 20° to 45°.

 Oblique lighting is usually used to show detail by creating

shadows on the surface of the evidence.

 Oblique lighting is commonly used when photographing

impressions, tool marks, dusty footwear impressions and

indented writing, certain types of fingerprints.

 TRANSMITTED LIGHTING

 Transmitted light is simply light is allowed to pass

through a document and reveal the information
present.

 The most common support of documents is paper

which is translucent.

 Opaque supports of documents (thick cardboard,

some plastics, metals) obviously do not allow an
examination in transmitted light.

 Identify type of paper, watermarks, counterfeiting,

currency notes, obliterated or erased writing and traced
signature.
 ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT

 Is used for detecting and recording information related to ink differentiation on the document.

 Can be used for capturing information on security documents like currency notes, passports, visa,

secret massage and obliterated writing

 INFRARED LIGHT

 Infrared radiation (IR), or infrared light, is a type

of radiant energy that's invisible to human eyes
but that we can feel as heat.
 When ink is exposed to specific range of light
INFRARED REFLECTANCE
 When light all or partial will be reflected by ink
 This will cause the ink to appear pale or disappear

energy (infrared or visible) the different reactions INFRARED LUMINESCENCE

occur.
 The Light will be absorbed by the ink and then
VISIBLE/ WHITE LIGHT
reemitted at a longer wavelength the
 The ink will absorb the light and convert it to
phenomenon is known as luminescence.
heat or undergo structural or chemical change.
 The ink will be brighter or appear to glow when
 The result inks will appear darker.
visualized on infrared light.
 When the ink is black a light will be absorbed
and hence appear black
 STATE OF ART INSTRUMENTS

Electrostatic detection apparatus (ESDA)

 used for deciphering indented writings or marks

 Indented writing is a writing that is formed to a sheet of

paper underneath the one on which the original writing
was done.

 For example, if someone writes something on the top

sheet of a notepad, the pressure exerted by the pen or
pencil is sufficient to indent the papers beneath.

 Information contained in indented impressions can

provide information valuable to investigations or
intelligence
 Contd…

VIDEO SPECTRAL COMPARATOR

 Used in bringing out the obliterated writing
& chemical erasures, forgery, security
features on passport.
 It incorporates light of wide wavelengths
range like IR, UV & Visible blue light.
 Consist of camera, a video monitor, light
source & filters, image integrator,
comparator & a video recorder.
 Non destructive technique
 Filter wavelength range- 400nm to 1000nm
 Magnification – 1x to 6x.
 Other models: VSC- 2000, VSC- 5000,VSC-
6000, VSC- 8000 latest model
 Contd…
Projectina universal comparison projector

 Used to compare and examine surface detail on typewritten

documents, high-speed computer printouts, photocopies, fracture
matches, and mechanically produced documents.

 The observations made by using the side-by-side prism or the

superimposition mode optical block were photographically
recorded.

 The Projectina magnifies and projects two items so that

similarities or differences can be determined.

• Two magnification ranges:

1) 2.5x , 5x – 10x
 Contd…
Thin Layer Chromatography

 Is one of the simplest and oldest forms of

chromatography that uses a solid stationary
phase and a liquid mobile phase.

 It is employed to compare questioned inks

against known ink standards found in writing
instruments and to determine if the same inks
were possibly used in preparation of two or
more documents.

 Destructive" test. This procedure is generally

used as a last resort.