Forensic Image Processing
CSIpix Comparator includes a number of specially designed functions for the efficient processing/enhancement of forensic images. Some forensic functions include:
Auto Scaling: For evidence in a photographic image to be accurately measured and printed the image must contain a ruler (with black or white tick marks) which is located close to the evidence and on the same plane. CSIpix contains functions to automatically detect a ruler (metric or inch) and to use the tick marks on the ruler to determine the scale of the image in pixels per millimeter (and pixels/inch). A manual scaling option is also provided.
Auto Levels Adjustment: The Auto Levels function is a contrast enhancement function. Contrast enhancement is commonly used to improve the visibility of detail in forensic images. The Auto Levels function does not require any manual adjustments; it performs the function automatically. Auto Levels can be applied to the entire image or just a selected region. A Manual Levels adjustment function is also provided.
Text Enhance: The Text Enhance function has been developed for lift scans where the background color is very close to the color of the pen used to write on the lift tape. This is commonly the case when aluminum powder lifts are scanned with a black background and the pens used to write on the lifts are black, making the text difficult to see in the scanned images. Just use the mouse to select a region where the text is located and click “Text Enhance” – the software finds the text and inverts the color so that it is easily visible.
Optimized Color to Gray Conversion: The Color -> Gray function converts a color image to grayscale. It selects the color plane containing the greatest level of contrast in the region defined by the user and converts it to grayscale.
The idea is to speed up the image processing/enhancement process to allow you to focus your forensic expertise on comparing images. Other useful features include a measurement tool, perspective dewarping, plus standard tools like cropping, rotating, flipping and color inversion.
CSIpix also records a history of all processing/enhancement steps which can be viewed at any time. A text file is created when you save an image with the same name as the saved image but with a “_History.txt” extension. By following the steps in the history file the processed/enhanced image can be reproduced from the original image.