ABSTRACT
Printed documents are frequently involved in crime, but the printing itself is rarely in dispute. However, where the whole document is suspected of being counterfeit, the forensic document examiner needs to understand how it may have been produced and what other documents must have been required for its production. It is important to identify the method of printing, whether it is by letterpress, lithography, or laser printer, for instance. Many of the examinations involve comparisons of genuine documents with suspected counterfeits, so there is a need to compare methods and quality of printing as well as the inks or toners used. It is sometimes necessary to determine whether or not a number of printed documents all originated from the same source. It may be necessary to show if a document differs from the genuine product, how it has been printed, and from what original it has been copied. In other cases the plate or some other part of the printing press can leave evidence that it was the source of the counterfeit. Photocopies present other problems; the original material copied may need to be established, or the make of copier used, or the individual machine may require identification.
