An Update of the Typestyle Classification Program (TYPE) into a Windows® Based Format (WinType)

In the late 1980s, Dr. Philip D. Bouffard began development of the 1st computer-based typewriter typestyle classification program, which he called “TYPE.” This program, based on the manual typewriter classification systems of the time, required a DOS-based operating system and used a searchable database to limit the number of known type specimens that had to be compared with a questioned typewritten text. Dr. Bouffard gave his time and this program to the forensic document examination discipline in order to further the science. Over the years, this author has used Dr. Bouffard’s program to solve many typewriter questions and, in appreciation, endeavors to update the program to run in the current Windows^® environment so that the forensic document community can continue to benefit from Dr. Bouffard’s foresight and generosity.