Forgery Finder, llc
Certified Document Examiner + Handwriting Expert
Handwriting Identification
The most frequently asked question regarding Handwriting Identification is: "What do you look for?" The answer is simple: anything and everything. Each case is a puzzle and, as with any puzzle, the more clues the examiner has, the better chance he or she has of arriving at an accurate determination.
​
Both the standard and disputed handwriting is subjected to a systematic dissection and compared one to the other. Considered are character formation, size, spacing, connective forms (the strokes that connect the letters), relative proportion, vertical and horizontal alignment, baseline (real and implied), density, line value, pressure patterns, margins, writing surface, writing implement, handedness, consistency (or the lack thereof), the age and health of the writer and overall demeanor.
​
Although "qualified" opinions can be (and are) offered based on machine copies, original pen-to-paper documents are always preferred. Machine copies can hide a plethora of sins as they often absorb much of the detail and nuance. Important information, especially in line value, can be lost. Chiseled lines, pen-lifts, patching or hesitant, indicisive line quality (often signs of invalidity) can be difficult or impossible to see​. And, more and more, the Document Examiner is called upon to render an opinion based on non-original materials. Original documents are ruteanly destroyed and stored electronically. The good news is: scanned images can be fairly good.

​
This is a signature that had been PhotoShopped from one document to another. As no two signatures are exactly the same, the best way to determine whether they are identical or not is to superimpose one over the other. The signature in question was duplicated in red on a solid white background and the source signature was duplicated in black on a transparency. When the black signature on the transparency is placed over the signature in red, it is unquestionable that these two signatures are one and the same.
Here is an interesting example of the relationship between various aspect of a signature to each other. A signature is not just a conglomoration of letters, there is an internal structure and balance that is unique to the writer. Note the three perfectly straight lines drawn through each of the three signatures. The red line touches the top of the J, touches the center point of the W and touches the top of the hump of the h. The green line passed through the beginning stroke of the J, touches the bottom of the first leg of the W and touches the final stroke of the h. The purple line touches the bottom of the J, touches the center point of the W and touches the top of the H.
​
John Walsh had no idea that he did this.
There is an ongoing debate in this industry as to whether Document Examination is a science or an art. Clearly it is both. The science is what appears on the page... the art is how that infomation is interpreted.
It has been called "habits of araingement," "graphic organization," "utilization of space," "the laws of proportion and configuration" and "internal structure." Whichever, there is an undeniable relationship between a signature and the baseline and that relationship can be expressed in numbers. Numbers = math. Math = science.
Handwriting Identification is a complicated affair.