Most teams own more capability than they use in any single examination. The reason is rarely the equipment. It is that there is no agreed order, so each examiner reaches for whatever they trust most and stops when it looks fine.
Why order matters
Two reasons, and both are about how attention works.
The first is contamination of judgement. Once you have formed an impression that a document is genuine, subsequent observations get interpreted to fit that impression. Anomalies become variations. Running the least interpretive checks first, before you have decided anything, keeps the later observations honest.
The second is that some findings are only meaningful in context. An ink difference under IR means something quite different depending on whether the substrate already looked wrong under UV. Establishing the substrate before the ink saves you from mis-weighting what you see next.
A working sequence
1. Handle and look, unaided. Weight, flexibility, the feel of the laminate edge, whether the page thickness is even. This costs seconds and catches crude work that instruments then confirm.
2. White light, whole document. Overview at normal reading distance. Layout, alignment, colour, print register. Deviations at the whole document level are noticed here and become invisible once you zoom in.
3. Transmitted light. Watermark, security thread, and any thinning or repair in the substrate. Doing this early is deliberate, because the substrate is the foundation and an erasure found here reframes everything after it. See transmitted light and watermarks.
4. UV at 365nm. Substrate response first, then designed features. A page glowing evenly across its surface is a substrate finding. Missing fluorescent print is a feature finding. Keep those two separate in your notes. See how to check UV ink on identity documents.
5. Magnification under white light. Now that you know what the document is made of, look at how it was made. Print process, microprint resolution, intaglio relief, the edges of characters. See inspection of micro and nano print.
6. Magnification with UV. Fluorescent features at print level, which a handheld lamp at arm’s length will not resolve. See using a magnifier with UV light.
7. Retroreflective and viewing angle. Optically variable features behave by design, so they need to be moved rather than stared at. See viewing angle security features and spotting OVD security features.
8. IR, if the question is still open. By this point you are no longer asking whether the document is genuine but what specifically is wrong with it, and IR is the tool for that. See what infrared reveals that UV cannot.
Where IR changes the sequence
There is one case for moving IR earlier: when the specific suspicion is alteration of an entry rather than a problem with the document as an artefact. A visa with a date that looks slightly off, an entry that seems added. Then IR is the direct test and the rest is confirmation.
That is a judgement call, and it is worth making it explicitly rather than drifting into it. Write down which question you are answering before you pick up the instrument.
The practical friction
Combining sources in one examination fails for mundane reasons more often than technical ones.
Switching light sources means changing position, and changing position loses the spot you were looking at. Working with a fixed document position and moving the light rather than the document keeps orientation.
Ambient light degrades both UV and IR results. A desk that cannot be shaded produces weaker observations than the same equipment in a controlled position.
And each source needs a moment for your eyes to adapt, especially moving from bright white light to UV. Examiners who rush that step see less than the equipment shows.
Recording as you go
A combined examination produces observations from several modalities, and reconstructing afterwards which source revealed what is unreliable. Note the source alongside the observation as you make it. The rationale is set out in recording a finding.
Writing the sequence down
A sequence that lives in people’s heads is not a sequence, it is a set of habits that diverge. Writing it down costs an afternoon and produces two benefits equipment cannot.
Consistency between examiners, so two people examining the same document reach comparable conclusions and a second opinion means something. And a training artefact, so a new examiner learns the agreed order rather than inheriting whichever habits they happen to sit next to.
Keep it short enough to fit on one page and post it at the position. A sequence that has to be looked up in a manual is a sequence that gets skipped under pressure. The full sequence is described in our guide to forensic document examination. The instrument that combines these light sources in one housing is the video spectral comparator.
Frequently asked questions
Should every document get the full sequence?
No. First-line volume work runs steps one to four and refers anything unresolved. The full sequence belongs where the referral lands, discussed in when to escalate.
Does the order really change outcomes?
It changes consistency between examiners, which is what makes results comparable. Two officers running different orders on the same document reach different conclusions more often than either would like.
Can one instrument cover the whole sequence?
Combined examination systems bring multiple sources into one controlled position, which removes much of the friction described above. See forensic examination systems.
How long does a full examination take?
Longer than a first-line check by an order of magnitude. That difference is the reason the two are separated rather than one process being run on everything.
What if two sources give contradictory indications?
Contradiction is information. Record both, and treat resolving the contradiction as the next step rather than choosing the reading you prefer.
What to do next
If your team owns multiple light sources but has no written sequence, writing one is cheaper than any purchase and usually changes more. Browse the full document authentication equipment range, or look at forensic examination systems for combined setups. For help specifying a position that covers the full sequence, request a quote.
