AFIS ridge-tracing

[ngreenwood]

Hi guys,
Maybe. I should not be joining in to your conversation on tracing fingerprints but I just had to ask, have you tried the TraceIT program for tracing your prints? It is a small powerful piece of software that traces the print and has editing features that allows you to trace by hand if you so desire. You can also choose to mark minutiae automatically. The latter, I see would be good training/education tool.
Norm

[Connie Muller-Ford]

Our lab has an extra pack that you could have. Please call Deb Hewitt at (406)329-1124 and provide your mailing info so that we can ship it out to you! : )

Connie Muller
MT State Crime Lab

[sgustavson]

Hi Connie!

Thank you for giving me Deb Hewitts number. I spoke with her this morning and she said that she would send us the tracing paper! I also would like to thank everyone who posted on this thread... I really appreciate everyones responses. This is my first time writing on this message board and it is lovely to know that the latent print community is open and eager to help out a fellow LPE!

Thanks again to everyone....

-Sally

[rbostrum]

I would suggest getting a digital touch pad along with Photoshop. I like the digital touch pad because it feels more natural, like I am still tracing with pencil and paper. I found tracing ridges with a computer mouse a bit difficult.

Some may recall a discussion on the topic of using a digital pad for input back in Dec 2009 (see http://clpex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f= ... tiq#p11139).

If you have the resources, you really should take a look into getting something like the Wacom Cintiq 21UX (http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/cintiq-21ux.php). It's not cheap (though it's much lower cost than when we bought ours) but absolutely perfect for this application.

[Veronica Rauch]

Hey B. You guys should definitely look into the new WACOM graphic/digitizing tablets. Although I trace quite infrequently, I do agree that tracing the ridges allows the examiner to look far more closely at its features. It can be incredibly useful for prints with higher degrees of distortion and/or less clarity. The tablets work marvelously with Photoshop for this purpose. You can then save your resized, completed image onto a thumbdrive and then enter it directly for an automated search. Personally, I don't care much for the mouse feature. I think once you get used to the stylus pen, your paper tracing days will be long behind you. Best part is, it will put a stop to the graphite stained fingers! Good luck with it!

[antonroland]

And here I am, griping about not being able to do a direct electronic import of latent captures in jpeg as opposed to scanning a 1:1 inkjet printout of the latent...

I am all for intensive analysis of the latent but this is a bit last century, right?

[bficken]

Veronica -

Funny you should reply, you used to work here! You're talking to Sally and Brianne, from San Mateo County. I don't think you met Sally, she started after you left. You and I first met in San Diego, though, you came to my house warming party. And last I saw you was when you came up for JDB's retirement, ha. Hope all is going well for you down south!

Brianne

[Neville]

Hi Anton

I think you use Morpho (or what ever they call it nowadays) in SA not sure about that system; but with ours we are connected via the police network to all other computers in the FP office so images captured in the dark room can be imported directly in to AFIS. We have a Flatbed scanner in the AFIS room for only ten prints, not for crime prints, there is a 1 meg video camera with a massive Nikon lens to capture lifts and prints on exhibits.

On screen I almost always deleted every thing the computer plotted from the start then plotted the points on screen. I normally had the lift and magnifier in one hand and the mouse in the other, (helps to have big hands) or the photo of the lift at 5 times enlargement, sometimes both. You still have to look at every detail in the lift you are still ridge counting with a two way or three way interactions going on. The bonus is you do not have to lift the tracing paper to ensure you are tracing correctly. Having done tracing and direct entry I much prefer direct entry, it is so much more efficient, I only wish that NEC gave the option not to do all that hocus pocus to try and plot the points for you first. I know why they do it but the option would be faster. We are not all so incapable that we need the computer to do the work of an expert.

[antonroland]

Hello Neville

Will PM you before we get accused (quite rightly) of hijacking...

Apologies, OP!