2025 NADE & AFDE  SYMPOSIUM

         "Examining Paper Documents in a Digital World"    

  Kansas City, Missouri  

    Friday, October 3 - Sunday, October 5, 2025

                

  Famous for barbecue, fountains, and the architecturally stunning historic Country Club Plaza marketplace, downtown Kansas City offers a plethora of activities. Popular destinations, Arrowhead Stadium and Kansas City Zoo, are also close to the hotel. The hotel is 30 minutes from Kansas City International Airport (MCI). 

     Hotel room rates are $169.00 plus taxes per night (single or double), and include a free parking and internet. The hotel room rates apply three days before and three days after the symposium. For information on how to reserve a room, click here.  Room reservation is online at this link. 

PROGRAM - 2025 Symposium

Titles and abstracts are being reviewed by the program committee at this time and are being posted as they are approved.  Please send your proposals to Jacqueline Joseph.

Deep Metadata in PDFs:  Hidden Digital Fingerprints - What Forensic Document Examiners Need to Know About Metadata

Celeste Makoff

Every digital document tells two stories.  The first is what you see - the text, images and formatting.  The second story is invisible, but revealing - written in the document's deep metadata.  Deep metadata can reveal revisions made, devises and software involved with the document, and the history of the document's creation.

In the digital realm, it is a fundamental law that every action must leave a trace.  The metadata instructs the computer about every font, color, images placement, and more.  Understanding what metadata exists and why can turn the metadata into powerful tool for the FDE.

The AI Revolution in Document Forensics

Celeste Makoff

Think of AI models as incredibly sophisticated pattern matching machines.  They’ve been trained on millions of documents – learning what real contracts look like, how people typically write emails, what authentic signatures contain, etc.  Just like a child learns language by hearing thousands of conversations, AI learns document creation by studying countless examples.  When you ask AI to create something it is essentially saying “Based on the millions of examples I’ve seen, this is what should come next.  It is prediction – not understanding – but it is getting frighteningly good at mimicking authenticity.  This presentation will explore how AI may influence the field of forensic document examination.

Helping Your Lawyer Get the Most Out of You

Chris Angles, Attorney

Attorneys and Experts work separately in their own specialties, but then work together to present a comprehensive presentation to a trier of fact.  Most attorneys have zero or minimal experience working with a forensic document examiner, so it is important for the expert to help the attorney understand how to best capitalize on the information the expert has to offer.  That is the focus of this presentation.

Exploring Sparse Literature, Case Studies, and Best Practices in Initials Analysis

Susan Abbey, CDE, D-BFDE

With cases involving initials, what are the best procedures?  What does the literature say?

The literature is surprisingly sparse in this important area.  In this presentation references  from authoritative books and journals that are available will be cited.  Examples of cases where there are suspected page substitutions and other types of cases where initials can create difficulties or questions of authenticity will be explored.  Sources of initials for comparison purposes will be suggested.

Signed by Hand or Machine?

Jonathan Heckeroth, MSc.

This workshop explores the question of whether signatures were written by hand or by a machine. Participants will be challenged to distinguish between genuine handwritten signatures and machine-written ones by examining a variety of signature samples. The material is based on a 2019 research project conducted by the German Institute for Questioned Document Examination. In addition to the practical component, the workshop includes a presentation on signatures written by machines. Key features that help differentiate between handwritten and machine-written signatures will be discussed, along with recommended procedures for examining signatures produced by signing machines in forensic casework.

Digital Technology: Updated Forensic Applications and Analysis

Heidi H. Harralson, CDE

This presentation focuses on updates regarding digital technology as it applies to forensic handwriting and document examination. Research and casework regarding digitized documents and signatures including pixel analysis of digitized signatures will be presented. Identifying feature qualities of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and image recognition is important when evaluating digitized documents for alteration. The increase of sophisticated handwriting signature fonts and automated tools for font analysis has relevance to present document examination practices. Presentation will include information about automated handwriting examination tools and explore the use of AI and forensic intelligence.

The Known/Comparison Signature Samples Are Not In Agreement – Now What?
Kurt E. Kuhn, FDE

One of the most important parts of the forensic document examination examination process is the analysis or inter-comparison of the known/comparison signature samples that are submitted. This process allows the examiner the opportunity to evaluate and document the individual writing features that are present and to determine the range of variation of the writer. But what happens when one (or more) of the signature samples are not in agreement and appear to be from a different writer? The answer has been present for decades in the ASTM, the SWGDOC, and the new ASB Standard for the Examination of Handwritten Items and provides direction to the examiner. It also provides an option for the examiner that may be challenged by the opposing examiner or counsel.

Dangers of Low Level Opinions - Probative vs. Prejudicial

Emily J. Will, CDE, D-BFDE

In a field where opinions can not be formed extensively on the basis of numerical calculations, words matter.  The opinion scales relied upon by most forensic document examiners in the US have between 5 and 9 levels.  The descriptions of these levels are easily misapplied, adding to the subjectivity of opinions.  To further complicate matters, civil cases typically have a "more likely than not" standard which is considered to be more or less than 50% probability.  What really is going to be the difference between 51% and 49% liklihood in a handwriting examination?  This issue will be explored in depth.

Microsoft Word & Bierstadt/Aptos Fonts Give Document Date Clues

Thomas Phinney, MS, MBA, Font Detective

The Microsoft Word default font change from Calibri to Aptos in 2024 is of great interest for document examiners: obviously Aptos could not have been used  before it was designed, and it is now used any time a user does not explicitly choose a different font.  But Aptos was already available as early as 2021, under the name of Bierstadt.  Phinney discusses and shows the subtle spacing differences between Aptos and Bierstadt, and the timeline of the fonts' availability.

Less trumpeted than the Aptos switch are all the other default document formatting changes Microsoft Word made at the end of 2024:  to margins, point size and kerning.  Even when Aptos is not in use, these other settings can provide circumstantial evidence for document creation dates - especially kerning, which is rarely manually turned on by most users.

U.S. Currency Notes

Christopher Burke

This presentation is about U.S. Currency Notes. Items covered include:  Security Features, Material Composition and History surrounding U.S. Banknotes.  The presentation will offer a brief overview of some methods used to authenticate identity documents and identify markers of potentially counterfeit security documents. While this version of the presentation is meant for all authorized audiences, much of the material covered is not widely known to the public.  Examples of genuine features as well as some notable counterfeit examples will be provided during this presentation.

Workshop on Highly Stylized Signatures
Robin Williams, D-BFDE and Tamara Kaiden, FDE

Document Examiners occasionally encounter highly stylized  signatures when examining documents.  A highly stylized signature is defined as a signature where the letters or characters are not easily decipherable as recognizable words or letters. It’s a form of signature that often prioritizes visual design and artistic expression over legibility. These signatures are frequently used for personal branding, logos, or artistic expression where the signature’s aesthetic is more important than its readability.

Highly stylized signatures can raise some difficulty for examiners depending upon whether enough exemplars were made available to the examiner and/or whether a useful pattern is observed. This workshop will be presented as a practical exercise related to highly stylized signatures. The participants will examine the signatures along with exemplars and provide opinions as to the genuineness of each signature presented. After the examinations have been completed, discussions will be held involving the opinions of each of the signatures.

KANSAS CITY ATTRACTIONS

Plaza Area

Country Club Plaza  

Kauffman Garden  

Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. The personal HR Bloch collection, it’s a must!  

Kemper Contemporary Museum of Art  

Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio Museum  3613 Belleview Ave. Kansas City, MO 64111

Crown Center Union Station

World War I Museum  If you are a history buff and have not been to this museum, it comes highly recommended

Union Station  Lots of activities, exhibits, Science City, restaurants and evidence from the 1933 Union Station Massacre between FBI, Frank Nash, Pretty Boy Floyd and others.

Crown Center  

Kansas City Cross Roads Art District

 Boulevard Brewery  You can take a brewery tour, but you have to get tickets ahead of time or you can enjoy their tasting room as well. Go to website for additional details

Trolley Tour  

KC Gangster Tour 

 

Power and Light District Area/Crossroads Crossroads Building Murals  Take a walking tour of the Crossroads.

Bop into Thou Mayest Coffee Shop Up Down Bar  Featuring 50 arcade games from the 80s and 90s, Pac Man, Yard Jenga and Connect Four

Power and Light District  College Basketball Experience  The American Jazz Museum  18th and Vine Historic District in KC

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum  1616 E 18th St, Kansas City, MO 64108

Green Lady Lounge (KC Jazz)  1809 Grand Blvd

Black Dolphin Lounge (Jazz)  The Blue Room (KC Jazz)  Tired of Driving? Take the Streetcar from Union Station to City Market and the Power and Light District. It’s free to ride!

River Market Area

River Market  

Steamboat Arabia Museum  Food

Bryants Barbeque (best in KC)  Gates Barbeque

Michael Smith’s Extra Virgin Restaurant  

Christopher Elbow Chocolatier Andre’s Chocolates and Restaurant  5018 Main St.

To the East – Jackson County

Truman Library

 

To the West – Western Wyandotte County

The Legends 

Casinos

Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway

Lawrence, Kansas

Downtown Lawrence  

Sports Museum at Allen Field House Natural Original Rules of Basketball are on display Spencer Museum of Art KU Campus

Other events can be found here