A Study on Signature Distortion in Photocopying Generations

Examining original documents is considered more relevant for signature and handwriting examination, but the effectiveness may decrease significantly when considering a photocopied version of the original document. This creates challenges for the Forensic Document Examiner as various levels of tampering can be performed during the process of photocopying. In this research paper, an effort has been made to study the effect of the photocopying process in five different subsequent generations on various line quality features such as breakage in line, initial and terminal strokes of letters or words, writing instrument features like ink gooping, and different other features related with the writer itself like pen lifts, tremors, retracing, merging of strokes, and printer effect like widening in line. In this study, 2550 genuine signature samples were collected from different individuals, using different types of pens with different brands on various types of papers which are commonly used for official purposes. This study has been conducted to help the Forensic Document Examiners in understanding the challenges which are frequently seen in the multi-generation copy of signature samples.