The document examiner thoroughly investigates questioned documents in order to draw conclusions about the documents. This includes verifying the authenticity of documents, comparing and identifying signatures, detecting alterations on documents including erasures and indented writing, determining the sequence of writing, and any other problem that arises concerning documents and the writing thereon. The types of documents examined include wills, checks, bank signature cards, contracts, anonymous letters and other business forms.
Documents can be on a physical surface or created electronically.
Electronic documents are examined for evidence of alteration. Alterations in electronic documents include, yet are not limited to:
- Using software to change attributes of digital photographs and scans
- Editing a text document
- Removing attributes of a digital photograph or scan
- Adding attributes to a digital image or scan