Original Ink Determination & Examination
Often, especially in matters related to real estate foreclosures, there is a request to determine whether signatures on mortgage documents are original ink signatures, or the product of a printer or photocopier.
While not too many years ago this determination was simple, often accomplished with the unaided eye or low-power magnification, the advent of today’s high-resolution state-of-the-art office equipment has made the process somewhat more difficult. This is especially true considering the proliferation of high-end color printers, copiers, and scanning equipment. Yesterday’s low-power magnification, on the order of 10x or less, was quite up to the task. As of this writing, it is not uncommon to employ a stereo-microscope with power ranging up to 40x. However, once the right equipment is utilized, the differences between original ink and non-original processes are readily apparent. This is especially true where color reproduction processes have been employed.
