12 Handwriting Characteristics

In forensic handwriting analysis, there are twelve characteristics to be considered when determining
whether or not a signature is forged or not.

Line quality is the thickness, strength, and flow of the letters. Some factors are if the letters are flowing,
shaky, or very thick.

Letter spacing is the amount of space put between letters. The letters could all be connected or spaced
drastically.

Letter spacing - the letters at top have little or no space between them, while the letters at the bottom
have a lot of empty space between them.

Height, width, and size of the Letters is very self-explanatory; this simply analyzes the proportions of the
handwriting. Is one letter unusually tall or short?

Pen Lifts and Seperations is the way the person writes. Do they stop before writing a new letter, or do
they connect the letters? People usually use the same pen lifts, and so a forgery may stand out if all the
letters are seperated when the real signature connects them.

Connecting Strokes is similar to pen lifts and seperations. This analyzes whether or not the capital
letters are connected to lowercase letters and if words are connected.

This handwriting has no connecting strokes. Letters are all seperate from one another.

Beginning and Ending Strokes looks at how the writer begins and ends their words. Do they end with a
curl, and on an upstroke or a downstroke?

Unusual Letter Formation takes note of any peculiar, unique capital or lowercase letters. Does the
writer add any extra curls or loops where the average author would not?
Shading (Pen Pressure) analyzes where the writer presses their writing utensil down the most, either on
the upstroke or the downstroke. Where the most pressure is applied is where the script is thickest.

Slant looks at which way the letters tend to slant, either to the left, right, or no slant at all. The most
average slant is to the right.

The handwriting at the top has a deep slant to the right, while the bottom handwriting doesn't slant.

Baseline Habits is where the writer tends to write. It could be above the line, below the line, or on the
line.

Flourishments and Embellishments are large loops and swirls in handwriting. The most common
flourishment is on letters such as lowecase "G", "J", and "F" - anything that involves a loop!

Diacritic Placement is the way the author crosses their t's and dots their j's and i's.

A quill pen is a writing implement made from a moulted flight feather (preferably a primary wing-
feather) of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen, the
metal-nibbed pen, the fountain pen, and, eventually, the ballpoint pen.
Forensic Equipment
Frequently, those instructing merely ask whether, for instance, a
signature on a document is genuine. However, a signature may well
have been written by the individual said to have produced the same
but the remainder of the document itself may not be genuine.
Consideration of other factors such as whether text has been added to
a document, whether there has been alteration to a text, whether a
document has had pages substituted, whether the document has been
signed in blank, back-dated etc. should always be considered in
forensic casework.

To this end, the laboratory is equipped with an extensive range of

equipment to assist in such matters.

Microscopy

One of the most valuable tools of the questioned document examiner

is microscopy which supplements any visual examination of a
document or preliminary examination using hand magnifiers etc. A
stereo binocular microscope can show both low and high magnification
of images which is essential in the forensic examination of the fine
detail of signatures, handwriting and documents generally.

Infrared Techniques

Infrared reflectance and luminescence equipment is available (together

with visual luminescence facilities) to distinguish between inks, identify
the presence of foreign substances (glues etc) on documents etc.
Instant video printout systems (similar to photographs) are also
incorporated into the system (black and white and colour), as is a VCR
recorder to capture images for later use or to record changing images.

The above equipment is supplemented with the use of a Polylight, a

powerful tuneable light source that can be used to promote both visual
and infrared luminescence in order to differentiate between inks.

The above techniques are routinely used and are wholly non-
destructive.

Thin Layer Chromatography

However, on very rare occasions, chemical analysis of inks utilising
thin layer chromatography is necessary and can be undertaken but
requires the removal of a short section of an ink stroke for analysis,
i.e. this is a "destructive" test. This procedure is generally used as a
last resort after all other examinations by all parties' experts and then
only with the written permission of the owner of the document in
question or on instruction by the Court.

Electronic imaging

The ADV2 instrument facilitates multiple integration of images,

enhancing contrast of images, superimposition and nictitation (flicker)
comparison of similar images, creation of mirror images etc. Digital
photography and computer capture of images is also extensively used.

ESDA

This technique is applied to virtually all questioned documents

submitted to the laboratory.

This equipment reveals writing impressions on documents that have

been caused by one document having been written upon whilst
physically resting on top of the document under examination. The
writing process consequently imparts impressions of the writing onto
the document below leaving visible indented writing impressions in the
underlying paper surface or electrostatic writing impressions invisible
to the naked eye which can be highlighted with the ESDA technique.

The technique can reveal valuable information relating to the history of

documents, the association of documents one with another during
preparation, the origin of documents, the presence of tracing
guidelines etc and is considered to be an extremely valuable tool in
any forensic investigation.

High and low intensity ultraviolet equipment

This is of great value in examining and differentiating between papers,

glues, stains and for revealing chemical or physical erasure sites, etc.

Photography/image capture
A variety of conventional cameras, video printers (black/white and
colour) and computer scanning facilities are available to capture
evidence and if necessary prepare illustrations for court presentation.

Precision measurement

A variety of measuring devices, measuring grids, micrometers,

graticules, typewriting grids etc are available where the precision of
absolute measurement is imperative.