Handwriting analysis

Analyzing handwriting to figure out who wrote a note, or if a document is forged, is an important tool for investigators

A forgery is illegal, and is when you imitate someone’s signature to pretend to be them

By the time a person is an adult, his or her handwriting is often as unique to them as a fingerprint.

1. Line quality: do the letters flow? Are they written in individual strokes more like printing?

2. Spacing between words and letters (Big? Small?)

There are 12 basic characteristics

used for comparing

handwriting

3. Ratio of height, width and size of letters

4. Lifting a pen: is the pen picked up between words?

5. Connecting strokes: How are the capital letters connected to lowercase letters?

6. Strokes begin and end: Where does the letter begin and end on a page

7. Unusual letter formations

8. Pen pressure: is it different on up and down strokes?

9. Slant: do the letters slant right or left?

10.Baseline habits: does the author write on the line, or above or below the line?

11.Fancy writing habits: are there any unusual curls or loops?

12.Placement of diacritics: does the author cross the T’s or dot the i’s? How does it look?