Guidance

Paper receipts: guidance on fingermark visualisation

Advice on carrying out fingermark visualisation processes on receipts produced on paper that releases bubbles of ink when heated.

Documents

Fingermark Visualisation on Lidl Receipt Paper

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Fingermark Visualisation on Lidl Receipt Paper

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email centralenquiries@dstl.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Details

More manufacturers are now choosing environmentally friendly materials. For example, the Lidl supermarket receipt, which has been available in some regions of the UK since March 2021, is made without chemical colour developers. Instead bubbles of ink are contained within the paper which are released when heated.

Research by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has determined that routine fingermark visualisation processes for porous substrates should be followed but with the additional considerations in this guidance.

Updates to this page

Published 12 March 2024

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