Journal of

Forensic Research and Crime Studies

Research Open Access

A Comparative Study of Different Printed Documents to Estimate the Type

of Printer Used
Noronha SJ1, Basheer SZ1, Vijay MN1, Alnajjar A2, Sharma BK3,* and Singh N3
1
Department of Forensic Science, Amity University Dubai, Dubai International Academic City, Dubai, UAE
2
Former Head of Questioned Documents Unit, Department of Forensic Science and Criminology, Dubai Police,
UAE
3
Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Science, Amity University Dubai, Dubai International Academic City,
Dubai, UAE
*Corresponding author: Sharma BK, Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Science, Amity University Dubai,
Dubai International Academic City, Dubai, UAE, Tel: 9714 4554 900; Fax: 9714 4356 810; E-mail: bsharma@amit-
yuniversity.ae
Received Date: March 28, 2017 Accepted Date: April 26, 2017 Published Date: April 28, 2017

Citation: Noronha SJ (2017) A Comparative Study of Different Printed Documents to Estimate the Type of Printer Used. J
Forensic Res Crime Stud 1: 1-7.

Abstract
Printer examination in questioned document examination has become a necessity in the present time due to the progressive
use of printers in the creation of documents as compared to that of handwritten documents and also the counterfeiting of
documents printed by different printers.

The present study is based upon the examination and analysis of different types of printed documents from various types of
printers to distinguish and identify them for the purpose of forensic examination and to aid the questioned document ex-
aminer during the forensic analysis of cases involving such printed documents. Each printer has a unique fashion of printing
documents and the aim of this research is to identify this fashion by examining the printed documents. The obtained results
show a distinctive variation in the characteristics of the documents in respect to their ink types and character formation.
This proves that the proposed technique is a useful tool to distinguish printed documents obtained from different types of
printers. The printers that we used for analysis were an inkjet printer, laser printer and dot-matrix printer. Consequently, the
above study can be applied in the field of forensic questioned document analysis, including investigation of the authenticity
of documents.

Keywords: Questioned document; Printed documents; Types of printers; Class characteristics

Introduction
Forensic Science can be defined as the application of scien- tion or QDE is an established field of forensics; it came into
tific knowledge and principles to legal problems and crimi- play early in this century as a means of forgery identifica-
nal investigations. It encompasses various fields of science, tion and authentication of disputed documents [1]. A ques-
including anthropology, chemistry, medicine, physics, en- tioned document is any signature, handwriting, typewriting,
gineering, genetics, pathology, psychiatry, toxicology, etc. or other marks whose source or authenticity is doubtful or
Forensic Science has played a pivotal role in solving crimes, in dispute. Examples include letters, checks, driver licens-
ever since its inception. It helps the investigators answer es, contracts, wills, voter registrations, passports, petitions,
questions which could not be answered otherwise. Foren- threatening letters, suicide notes, etc. QDE is employed in
sic Science has several sub-branches that deal with diverse cases such as forgery, counterfeiting, mail fraud, kidnapping,
aspects of an investigation, one such branch is ‘Questioned embezzlement, etc. [2]. Printing has become increasingly
Documents Examination’. Questioned Document Examina- popular in the last few decades; printers are easily accessi-
ble and affordable, and almost every office and household
have it. According to a study by Statistic Brain Research
©2017 The Authors. Published by the JScholar under the terms of the Crea- Institute in September 2016: 106 Billion printers are annu-
tive Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by/3.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and ally sold worldwide; the annual sales of Inkjet printers and
source are credited. Laser printers is $18 Billion and $30 Billion respectively [3].

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Additionally, printed documents are some of the most com- Dot Matrix Printers
monly encountered evidence in QDE. People have become Dot Matrix printer, also known as Impact Matrix Printer is
more aware of the different techniques used in solving crimes. a type of computer printing wherein a carbon ink ribbon is
Particularly speaking in the context of QDE, people now know pressed against the paper to produce characters. It is similar to
how handwriting is individual and can easily be detected and a typewriter in principle, but differs in the fact that the char-
matched to the original writer. Therefore, to avoid getting acters are produced and shaped in the form of dots by metal
caught, culprits try using alternative ways that do not involve needles present in the print head.
them to use their hand writing, one such method is using print- There are two types- Serial Dot Matrix Printers (use a print
ed documents. Instead of writing a threatening letter by hand, head) and Line Dot Matrix Printers (use a hammer bank or
a criminal will type out the letter and print it out, to minimize print shuttle). The dot matrix printer has a print head that uses
his chances of getting caught. Furthermore, legal documents needle pins, located in the central position, to punch out the
like contracts, wills, passports, etc. and other important docu- text onto the paper. It then moves back and forth as well as
ments like bank statements, checks and other official docu- up and down to produce an entire character. Whilst the print
ments are vulnerable to forgery where the printed text is usu- shuttle has hammers arranged in a horizontal row but works in
ally targeted. Hence, printed documents are of great forensic the same manner as a print head.
importance and more research needs to be done in this field.
When switched on, the power goes into the electromagnets
Inkjet Printers and Its Printing Process present inside the print heads. This creates an electromag-
netic field. The magnets then press onto a tiny lever inside
Inkjet is basically a print head that moves back and forth while the print head which in turns hits the base of the needle. The
the paper moves through the carriage and basically sprays ink metal needle moves up and down, bends and aligns with the
onto the paper. It sprays liquid ink on the media. It is used actual printing head. As the needle moves out, it hits a carbon
for oversized printing, for pictures that require more accura- ink ribbon, present between the print head and the paper. The
cy in color (like HD pics) and for printing on special media. needle picks up the ink and deposits it onto the paper in the
An inkjet printer consists of three principle components: the form of dots. Once the ink is deposited, the print head then
printer head, the carriage and the advance mechanism. The moves a dot space/width apart to create an image. This process
print head is fixed to the carriage and fires ink onto paper is carried out to form a complete letter or number. The ink rib-
while the carriage moves back and forth in the scan direction. bon always moves in the process, so that there is the adequate
Laser Printers and Its Printing Process amount of ink that can be deposited onto the paper. The roller
present inside the printer then advances the paper to print out
Laser printer uses electrostatic digital printing which allows other dots/characters.
the production of high- quality tests and graphics, and moder-
ate quality photographs. The process is carried out by passing a There are two very important characteristics for dot matrix
laser beam back and forth over the negatively charged cylinder printers- the speed and print quality. The speed varies from
called the “drum”, it then selects and collects the electrically 50-500 characters per second (cps) and 500-2000 lines per
charged powdered ink toner and transfers the image to the pa- minute (lpm). Most dot-matrix printers offer different speeds
per, which is then heated to permanently fuse the text and/ depending on the quality of print desired. Whereas for print
or imagery. Xerographic printing process is adopted by laser quality, the resolution of the printer depends on the pins used.
printer. Laser printers adopt the following print mechanism For example, a 9-pin printer has lower resolution (60 dots per
-First, the laser scanner develops the image and then creates inch) compared to a 24-pin printer (216 dpi). Moreover, the
a beam of it which is directed through the glass window for dot matrix printer has a lower resolution has compared to the
copying the image, beneath. A mirror in the printer reflects inkjet or laser printers.
this image and a lens focuses it. The image is transferred onto
the photocopier belt and a developer unit converts the image Dot-matrix printers are no longer commonly used; however,
into printable form. The printable image is transferred to the they can still be found in banks, garages, workshops, factory
paper. The fuser permanently seals the image onto the page, floors and voting/ticket machines.
which emerges into the collecting rack at top of the machine.

However, laser printing is different from analogue photocopiers.

In laser printer, the image is produced by the direct scanning of
the medium across the printer’s photoreceptor. This enables laser
printing to copy images more quickly than most photocopiers.
Laser printers are preferred in an office environment as the
cost per copy is a lot lower with a laser printer, they are also
quicker and quieter.

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Materials and Methods Inclusion Criteria

Aims and Objectives • The same printing medium - A4 size 21x29.7cm
A comparative study of different printed documents to esti- BLANK PAPER- “NCR Super Bright, 80GSM, “W/F WHITE
mate the type of printer used for identification in the civil and LASER PAPER”, 80 GSM -was used.
criminal cases encountered. • The “CLASS OF ‘16 LETTER” was used as the refer-
Assumptions ence material for obtaining the samples.
• The main body of writing was printed out using
Each printer has a unique style of printing documents. This the same format- Calibri (body), size 12, alignment justified;
factor can be used to examine and trace the printed docu- whereas the heading of the reference material used the same
ment to the type of printer used. Thus, considerable variation format- Calibri (body), size 14, alignment centre.
is found between a document printed from inkjet, laser and • As dot matrix printers are rarely used we had to re-
dot-matrix. This distinctive variation in the characteristics of strict our research on few samples. The samples obtained were
the documents in respect to their ink types, and indentations 1) Receipts from an automobile repair workshop-Al Rashidiya
will be obtained which shows that the proposed technique can Workshop, Mercedes-Benz, Gargash Enterprises.
be used to distinguish different printed documents obtained 2) Checks from Emirates NBD.
from different types of printers. • The printed text was not constant for the Dot-Matrix
Hypothesis samples.
• Properly functioning printers were used.
1. The characteristic features of printed matter on the
document in respect to different types of printers will be dis- Exclusion Criteria
tinguishable and identifiable and can be correlated to the type • Use of different paper texture to print the given mate-
of printer to a certain extent. rial
2. Despite variations observed in the documents print- • Use of different fonts, sizes and alignment to format
ed from the same printer type, some features remain consist- the reference material
ent and can be classified as their individual characteristics. • Use of images
• Printing the material in different colors
Samples • Use of malfunctioning printers
Sample Size -100 • Use of torn or damaged papers
Samples Collection Sample Analysis (Parameters)
Inkjet Samples: 40 samples were collected from 2 types • Resolution of the printed letters (Print Quality)
of inkjet printers using the same printing medium (A4 size • Feature detection
21x29.7cm BLANK PAPER- “NCR Super Bright, 80GSM, Degree of edge contrast
“W/F WHITE LASER PAPER”, 80 GSM). The “CLASS OF ‘16 Degree of edge roughness
LETTER” was used as the reference material for obtaining the Spur marks (Tremorous printing)
samples. • Smoothness of ink flow
The two printer models used: • Uniformity of printed character area
HP Deskjet Ink Advantage 3635 • Variation in styleand alignment
Canon Inkjet MP 495 Equipment Used
Laser-jet Samples: 40 samples were collected from 2 • Inspec8-Document Examination Machine
types of laser printers using the same printing medium (A4
• Stereomicroscope
size 21x29.7cm BLANK PAPER- “NCR Super Bright, 80GSM,
“W/F WHITE LASER PAPER”, 80 GSM). The “CLASS OF ‘16 Outcomes
LETTER” was used as the reference material for obtaining the
The result obtained can be used in the forensic analysis of ques-
samples.
tioned documents to differentiate a forgery from a genuine doc-
The two printer models used:
ument as well as in narrowing down the type of suspected print-
HP Work Force Pro WF-R8590
er used to further help and provide links in any investigation.
Image Runner Advance Canon
Dot Matrix Samples Result and Discussions
Inkjet Document
A limited number of 20 samples were collected from 2 types of
• Resolution: The letters in both the Inkjet printer sam-
Dot-Matrix printers.
ples had a lower resolution and clarity (Figure 1 and Figure 2).
• Feature detection

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Figure 1 - The number “16” from the Canon Inkjet (Left) and HP Inkjet (Right)

Figure 2 - The letters “L. & W” from the Canon Inkjet (Left) and HP Inkjet (Right)

Degree of edge contrast LaserJet Document

The letters had a low degree of edge contrast and the edges had Resolution
the appearance of smudging in the background.
The letters in the Laser printer samples had a higher resolu-
Degree of edge roughness tion. They were more crisp and sharp (Figure 3 and Figure 4).
The edges of the letters were uneven and rough. Under high
magnification, the borders of the letter looked degraded.
Feature detection
Spur marks Degree of edge contrast
An inkjet printer works by firing drops of ink onto paper when The letters had a better edge contrast than the letters in Inkjet
the print head is moving. As a result, tails or satellites of the samples.
ink drop are formed on the document, and the contours of the
printed characters are rough and contain ups and downs.Spur Degree of edge roughness
marks were present in the Inkjet letters; they differed in pitch The boundaries of the letters were much sharper and signifi-
and mutual distance. cantly refined.
Smoothness of ink flow and uniformity of Smoothness of ink flow and uniformity
printed character area of printed character area
In the letters, spraying of liquid ink was quite evident as there
The ink deposition in the letters was uniform giving a smooth
were signs of blotting on the paper.
border.
The inking was not consistent throughout the letter; i.e. some
The letters possessed a considerable thickness, due to more
places of the letter had more inking while some places had less
spraying of ink.
inking.
The letters depicted the use of a faster print technique.
Due to uneven inking of letters, the areas with more ink ap-
peared darker which in turn gave an overall appearance of
dark spotting within the letter.
The letters in the text displayed signs of a slow speed printing
technique.

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Figure 3 - The number “16” from HP Laser (Left) and Canon Laser (Right).

Figure 4 - The letters “L. & W” from HP Laser (Left) and Canon Laser (Right)

Dot Matrix Document Conclusion

From the three printing techniques, the Dot-Matrix printer The basis for printer identification allows law enforcement
has the most unique and peculiar way of printing the letters. agencies to trace the origin of fraudulent documents to the
The fashion of printing the letters makes the printer easily suspected printer which will ultimately point to the owner
identifiable (Figure 5 and Figure 6). and/or suspect(s). Thus, the result obtained in this study could
The following characteristics were observed. be potentially useful in criminal investigations as corrobora-
The letters in Dot-Matrix printers appear as a cluster of dots; tive evidence.
each dot in the letter is partially or absolutely separate from the
others (depending on the brand of printer). Firstly, the study can be applied in secured document analysis
The inking in the letters is discontinuous; this made the letters to check for forgery as most of the passports and other secu-
look incomplete upon magnification. rity documents are printed using Laser printers [4]. If a micro-
The cluster of dots was mostly present in places where the al- scopic examination of the formation of letters is carried out,
phabet curved; e.g. the curves of ‘S’, the semi-circle of ‘D’, etc. in addition to the other passport-related examinations, it can
In non-curving regions, the lines of the alphabets were straight aid the investigators to reach a more specific and accurate con-
and without dots. clusion. Secondly, Banknotes & Checks, too, adopt a specific
Each group of dots formed a zig-zag pattern within the letters. printing technique in their text. To check their authenticity,
the questioned documents can be compared with the stand-
Inkjet vs. Laser ards microscopically and the formation of letters can closely
be examined to establish a match or mismatch of the printing
Below is a comparison between the class characteristics of
techniques.
Inkjet printed documents and Laser printed documents. The
This study can also be applied to the examination of altera-
Dot-Matrix printer has not been included in the comparison
tions and additions in disputed printed documents. Official
as its identification parameters are different and peculiar (Ta-
documents are often prone to be forged by making alterations,
ble 1).
additions or deletions in the text of the document. If such a
document is in dispute, then the words of the document which
are thought to be altered can be compared with the text of
the original document, to identify if the printing techniques
match. If the printing techniques match, then the individual
characteristics of similar letters can be compared.

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Figure 5 - Some letters from dot-matrix receipt (Left) and check (Right).

Figure 6 - Some numbers from dot-matrix receipt (Left) and check (Right).

Characteristics Inkjet Printer Laser Printer Dot-Matrix Printer

Overall print quality Low High Moderate
Appearance Contains satellites of ink drop Glossy Cluster of Dots
(Spur marks)
Contours Rough with ups and downs Clear Moderate
Edge Roughness Uneven and rough Sharp and Refined Rough
Inking Uniformity Inconsistent; spotting present Consistent and uniform Mostly consistent

Table1: Differences between Inkjet, Laser and Dot-Matrix samples.

Lastly, the result obtained makes it possible to narrow down References
the search for the type of suspected printer. For example, con- 1) What is Forensic Document Examination (1910) Southeastern As-
sider a situation where a threatening letter has been encoun- sociation of Forensic Document Examiners.
tered in a case; this letter is printed on a standard white paper. 2) Questioned document examination (1870) Forensic Science and
The letter can be studied to find the type of printer used; this Forensic Medicine.
information can then be used to exonerate the printers which 3) Brain S (2016) Ink Jet/Laser Computer Printer Sales Statistics.
were earlier suspected to have been used by the perpetrator. 4) Shang S, Memon N, Kong X (2014) Detecting Documents Forged
Therefore, the printing technique used acts as a class charac- by Printing and Copying. EURASIP J. Adv. Signal Process 140.
teristic: if the class characteristics do not match, then no fur-
ther examination is required; however, if they do match, then
the individual characteristics can be examined. Furthermore,
the tracking of a suspect printer could be further improved by
combining other printing features along with the presented
features, thus encouraging further research in this field.

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