A Survey of Methods Used for the Identification and Characterization of Inks

Abstract

Over the past 40 years, document examiners have strived on the scientific examination and identification of writing inks. Government agencies at all levels and lawyers in the private sector are using the examination of inks as a means of establishing the authenticity or fraudulent nature of questioned documents. This survey traces the development of ink examination and identification techniques from the 1950s to the 1990s. These techniques include paper chromatography, paper electrophoresis, luminescence, microspectrometry, diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared, luminescence photography, laser excitation and spectroscopy, thin-layer chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, and capillary electrophoresis. This survey can help document examiners in governmental and private sectors to find necessary and useful methods in ink examination and identification.

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