The challenge of comparing digitally captured signatures registered with different software and hardware.

Along with the growing popularity of electronic documents authorised with digitally captured signatures, such evidence has appeared in the work of forensic practitioners. Many different vendors offer signature pads with varying specifications. It is therefore expected that forensic handwriting experts will be called upon to compare questioned and known samples captured with completely or partially different hardware and software combinations.

Features of digitally captured signatures vs. pen and paper signatures: Similar or completely different?

The question of whether digitally captured signatures and conventional signatures executed with a pen on paper differ in their characteristics is of practical relevance for forensic handwriting examiners. Due to gaps in the current literature, the present research is dedicated to this issue. Eighty persons signed in three conditions: a) with a stylus on a pad, b) with an inking pen on a sticky note attached to a signature pad allowing to obtain a digital and an analogue version on paper of one and the same writing simultaneously, and c) with a pen on paper.

Recommendations for capturing signatures digitally to optimize their suitability for forensic handwriting examination.

The use of digitally captured signatures in everyday course of business increases annually and, compared to pen and paper signatures, provides various advantages concerning the administration of documents. These signatures may also become subjects of a forensic handwriting examination and, therefore, in order to optimize their suitability for this purpose, they should satisfy several requirements. This paper presents recommendations drawn up by forensic handwriting examiners associated with ENFHEX (ENFSI) in a project aimed at defining best practices in forensic examination of digitally captured signatures.