This letter from a reader, was the first time we've ever been asked about fingerprinting. We've had a lot of unique questions over the years -- from using Photoshop to test the rate of grass growth to using Photoshop to evaluate x-rays. But K.V. from Evansville, IN got our curiosity going with this email:
Dear Photoshop 911,
I am working on my Criminal Justice Degree, and there are some items that I would like to superimpose to check for identification characteristics for matching ie finger prints, bullet tool markings and so forth. I have CS4 and I am not very familiar with layers, so I was wondering if someone could give me step by step instructions so that I may superimpose on print over another
Photoshop for FingerprintingFirst, let me say that for real criminal identification, the justice industry has developed some sophisticated analysis equipment just for the purpose of fingerprinting. Standards have been set by which law enforcement gathers, records and databases these prints. So Photoshop really doesn't fit into that scenario with any degree of reliability. However for your own investigative purposes, there are some easy ways to utilize Photoshop in the projects you've mentioned above.