Exemplar (Standard)
Definition
Authentic specimen writing of the suspect used for comparison. Two classes: request (taken under examiner control) and collected (pre-existing genuine writings).
- Two classes
- Request exemplars and collected exemplars
- Request exemplars
- Taken under examiner control
- Collected exemplars
- Pre-existing genuine writings
- Field
- Handwriting comparison
Common questions
Why use both request and collected exemplars rather than one type alone?+
Request exemplars are gathered under controlled conditions but may show conscious effort or nervousness, while collected exemplars are naturally written but their authorship must be independently verified. Using both balances control against natural, everyday writing habits.
What is a risk specific to collected exemplars?+
Their authenticity must be established through some other means, such as a witness or business record, since they were not written under the examiner's supervision, leaving room for a dispute over who actually wrote them.
Related terms
- ASTM E2290
- ASTM International standard guide for examination of handwritten items; lists the 21 discriminating elements that the examiner reports on.
- Baseline
- The imaginary line on which letters rest; can be straight, ascending, descending, convex, concave or undulating.
- Class Characteristic
- A feature shared by an entire group of objects (every shoe of one model has the same sole tread; every tire of...
- Handwriting
- A neuromuscular act in which graphic forms are produced on a surface; the product of motor memory built up through years of...
- Individual Characteristic
- A characteristic unique to a specific typewriter unit arising from manufacturing variation or service wear; used to identify or eliminate a specific...
- Line Quality
- The overall fluency, rhythm and pressure variation of a stroke. Genuine writing has smooth, rhythmic, pressure-modulated lines; forgeries show tremor, blunt starts...
- Pen Lift and Hiatus
- Pen lift is a deliberate stop and re-start within or between letters; hiatus is a gap left in a stroke that should...
- Ratio
- Proportional relationship between the heights of small letters, capitals and ascenders/descenders.
- Retrace
- Re-tracing of a stroke back over its original path, common in letters like d, t and lower-loop closures.
- Slant
- Angle of letters relative to the baseline (right-slant, vertical, left-slant). A habit-driven class plus individual feature.