BEST
Introduction
The GBS BEST (Biometric Expert Software Tool) is an application developed to assist forensic experts in criminal investigations and case management. It provides tools for quality enhancement, comparison and automated identification of biometric images in a clean and intuitive interface.
This manual is updated for BEST version 1.6.4.
Access and Authentication
You must access BEST with a browser and we recommend Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox and Safari. The access URL is specific to each environment.
If necessary, contact Griaule support team to obtain the correct URL.
Authentication is required to access the application. The credentials required by BEST are username and password.
At the bottom of the screen there is an option to change the user interface language. This option is also available in settings after login.
Two-factor Authentication (2FA)
When two-factor authentication (2FA) is enabled, the first time you log in, after entering your username and password, a QR Code will be shown that must be registered in Google Authenticator.
After successfully registering the QR Code in Google Authenticator, enter the six-digit code generated and click Send.
You will only need to register the QR Code once. But at each subsequent login, you will need to enter the six-digit code generated by Google Authenticator.
There is a limited number of unsuccessful login attempts a user can make. Whenever an incorrect code is entered, an error message will be displayed:
If you reach the maximum number of unsuccessful login attempts, your account will be automatically locked.
If your account is locked, contact the system administrator.
Simultaneous Logins and Browser Registration
Only one session per user is allowed. It is not possible to log in simultaneously with the same profile more than once in the application. If a user is already connected and another access occurs using the same username and password, the user with the oldest session will be notified and disconnected on the next action.
Also, only one browser can be used at a time. When trying to log in using a different browser, the user will be informed that it is necessary to authenticate the new browser. Authenticating a new browser will revoke access from the previous browser.
To authenticate a new browser, click Authenticate and then enter the verification code that will be sent to the email linked to the user's account.
If authentication is successful, a notification will appear in the top right corner of the screen after login.
Change or Reset Password
For security reasons, you can change your password or reset it if you forget it.
Change Password
To change your password, after logging in, hover over your username in the top right corner of the screen and click Change password.
Then enter the current password and the new password twice. Make sure to meet the password requirements; they are listed below the new password field and will turn green when met. Finally, to confirm the change, click Change password.
Reset Password
To reset your password, on the login screen, click Forgot your password?:
Then enter the profile username and click Send.
An email containing a verification code will be sent to the email address linked to that profile. Enter the verification code and click Send code.
If the code is correct, you will be able to create a new password. Enter the new password twice. Make sure to meet the password requirements; they are listed below the new password field and will turn green when met. Finally, to confirm the reset, click Reset password.
User Interface
Upon logging in, the case list is displayed.
BEST shows the most recent cases first. You can select the number of cases displayed per page and navigate through them with the controls at the bottom of the screen.
The top menu allows you to choose whether you want to list the new Cases, cases Pending for review, UL Matches, or Searches.
Tutorial
If it is your first time logging into BEST, a tutorial will be shown to introduce some functions and guide you through the tool.
You can use the keyboard arrows to navigate to the previous and the next and you can cancel the Tutorial by pressing the Escape (ESC) key. This feature is available on the following pages:
Case list
Cases
Evidence
Fragments
Search Comparison
Report
Report Editing
If you want to access this feature again, click the help symbol in the top right corner of the page to start that page's Tutorial.
Filter Options
You can filter the results listed in any tab using the filtering options. Each tab has its own filter properties, as shown below:
After applying the desired filters, they will be shown on the right side. To undo filtering, click Clear filters.
Case List Filters
Date – Restricts the list to a date range. There are also shortcuts for one day (today), last week and last month.
Status – Transaction status. Restricts the list to open, resolved or canceled cases.
Cases
Openare identified by a blue dot.Cases
Resolvedare identified by a green dot.Cases
Canceledare identified by a red dot.
Responsible – Restricts the list according to responsibility in the case:
My- Cases created by the user.Participants- Cases in which the user is a participant.All- All cases created.
Case Number
Case Title
Occurrence Number
Pending Cases List Filters
Date – Restricts the list to a date range. There are also shortcuts for one day (today), last week and last month.
Search Type – Restricts the list to one of the following types of search operation:
LT TP- Latent against the tenprint database (Tenprints).LT UL- Latent against the unresolved latents database (UL).TP UL- Tenprints against the unresolved latents database (UL).
Case code, evidence code or fragment code.
The Pending tab may not appear if the Double Blind is not enabled.
UL Matches List Filters
Date – Restricts the list to a date range. There are also shortcuts for one day (today), last week and last month.
Case or fragment code.
Occurrence number.
Type of crime.
Biometric match score.
Searches List Filters
Date – Restricts the list to a date range. There are also shortcuts for one day (today), last week and last month.
Cases – Restricts the list according to responsibility in the case:
My- Cases created by the user.Participants- Cases in which the user is a participant.All- All cases created.
Case code, evidence code or fragment code.
Status – Fragment search status. HIT, NO HIT or In search.
HIT- An examiner marked the search as a HIT (identified by a green dot).NO HIT- An examiner marked the search as a NO HIT (identified by a red dot).In search- The search is still in progress, or the search results have not yet been evaluated by an examiner (identified by a blue dot).
Creating a Case
To create a new case, go to the cases screen and click the New casebutton. A window will appear allowing you to enter information about the case.
After adding the necessary information, click Create case.
Cases
You can view any case by clicking it in the Caseslist. This will show the evidence, fragments and reports of the selected case.
You can also expand the case detailed information via the Show details button.
When viewing case details, the Cases list will be kept in the sidebar for navigation. On that page, the list filters can be accessed through the Filters button above the sidebar.
You can hide the sidebar by clicking the << Hide sidebar button.
Adding Experts
Initially the only participating expert is the user who created the case. It is possible to add other users as participating experts using the Experts section in the Case menu.
On the Cases screen, clicking Add expert will open the Add expert window.
Fill in the expert's name and click the Filter button to list matching experts. Select the desired experts by checking the boxes in the Select column and click the Add selected experts button.
The selected experts will appear in the Experts panel and all will be added with the profile role Reader. Reader is the default role assigned to any participating expert. To change the role select the expert and click the Change to editor button. You can use the same procedure to modify an Editor role back to Reader. If an expert assigned as Editor is selected, the Change to editor button will become Change to reader.
To remove an expert, hover over the desired expert, click the x and confirm the action.
Adding Persons of Interest
You can add persons of interest (POI) through the Persons of Interest panel on the Case screen by clicking the Add POI button. This will open the Add POI window.
To add a POI, select the field and fill in the value used in the search, then click the Filter button. Then choose the desired people by checking the boxes in the Select column. You can optionally add a description for the chosen person. After selecting the people, click the Add selected POIs button
The current selection will be cleared if the search parameters are changed.
The selected Persons of Interest will appear in the panel. To remove a person of interest, hover over the desired person, click the x and confirm the action.
When Persons of Interest (POI) are added to cases that have video evidence, BEST Video will perform the search of fragments extracted from videos considering only the POIs, not the entire database.
Adding Additional Files
You can also add other files to the case. Supported file types are:
PDF
DOC
DOCX
XLS
XLSX
Image extensions (.png, .jpeg, .tiff, among others)
To upload additional files, click the upload button. A panel will appear where you can upload the files.
After added, click the Add additional files button to complete the operation. The files will be displayed on the case screen.
Evidence
An evidence item can be any image of evidence or video related to the case, containing fragments or not.
BEST has full compliance with the Chain of Custody. It records, in a complete and detailed way, all operations related to the information entered into the system, ensuring full traceability throughout the information lifecycle.
BEST accepts images in the following formats:
.jpeg
.png
.bmp
.wsq
The supported video formats are:
.avi
.mp4
.mpeg
.ogv
.ts
.webm
.3gp
.3g2
.movi
Video support may be turned off in your environment. Check with your system administrator whether this functionality is available or not.
Video searches in BEST follow a different workflow and do not require manual marking of fragments. Video search is only available for face fragments.
For more information about video search, see the Video Searches.
You can add evidence by clicking the Add evidence button on the Cases screen and selecting the type of evidence: image or video.
To add new evidence drag the images to the designated area or click the panel to upload the images, then click the Add evidence button.
Hover over an evidence item and click Inspect, or double-click it, to open the evidence editing screen, where you can enter information about the evidence, extract fragments and edit the image.
This screen will display the selected evidence, the editing tools and the evidence details.
The first time you try to extract a fingerprint or palmprint fragment from an evidence image, a message will appear indicating that the image resolution is not calibrated and the resolution indicator below the image will blink. It is extremely important to perform the correct calibration when extracting a fingerprint or palmprint fragment.
To learn how to calibrate the resolution, consult the Set Resolution Tool.
Modifying Evidence Details
Click the show details button in the top right corner of the evidence editing screen and you will be able to enter the following information:
Name – Label assigned to the material specifically for that case. An evidence item may be present in different cases with different names.
Material – Description of the material of the surface from which the latent image was collected (such as metal, paper, glass, for example).
Surface – Description of the surface from which the latent image was collected (such as smooth, wrinkled, absorbent, for example).
Comments – Any additional comments from the experts.
Description – Notes that help identify the evidence in the context of the case.
After filling in the fields, click the Save changes button.
Extraction Tools
When an evidence item is selected, you will have access to several tools to extract fragments from that evidence. The tools are located in the menu on the right, as shown in the image below. Note that some tools remain locked until you adjust the image resolution.
A fragment is a part of an evidence item that contains the biometric data that will be used for searching the database. Setting the correct resolution before extracting the fragment is mandatory, as it will affect the matching search results.
To learn how to calibrate the resolution, consult the Set Resolution Tool.
Select Fragment Tool
You can use this tool to select an already extracted fragment. When a fragment is selected, inspect or remove buttons are displayed at the top.
Inspecting a fragment will take you to the Fragments.
You cannot remove a fragment while it is being searched or if it has been marked as HIT or NO HIT.
Set Resolution Tool
To calibrate the resolution, select the ruler icon in the menu on the right and set the reference measurement (inches, millimeters or centimeters) that will be used to adjust the resolution.
Evidence items that contain fragments generally present a real ruler to help identify the size of a fragment. This ruler can be used as a reference to set the resolution by clicking and dragging over it until the drawn line has the size you defined as the reference measurement. If there is no real ruler in the image, you can use any other known measurement to set the resolution by the same method.
After the measurement BEST will automatically calculate the resolution and present it under the image. You can also manually set the resolution by clicking the Resolution indicator.
Setting the correct resolution for an evidence item is a mandatory process before extracting fragments and can greatly affect the matching results.
If you have already performed a search for any fragment extracted from the evidence, a warning window will be displayed when trying to edit the evidence resolution.
Fragment Extraction Tools
To create a fragment, select one of the crop tools based on the shape and biometric modality: Extract Rectangular Biometric or Extract Polygonal Biometric. These tools have different modes for fingerprint, palmprint, iris or face. Hovering over the tool icon in the right menu will show the different options for the selected shape.
The selected biometric modality defines the reference database used for comparison.
The fragment extraction process is similar for all modalities, using the rectangle or polygon extraction tool. After selecting the tool, you must outline the fragment area.
The fragment border will appear in different colors according to its search status.
Blue (Fragment #1) – Search in progress
Gray (Fragment #2) – No searches
Green (Fragment #3) – HIT
Red (Fragment #4) – NO HIT
Facial Recognition Tool
You can use the facial recognition tool to allow BEST to automatically extract face images from an evidence item. There are two ways to extract a face, by Fragment Extraction Tools or by performing the automatic extraction with the Facial Recognition tool. The face fragment has only the following tools:
The search process is the same described in the Performing Searches on Fragments, returning a percentage similarity score instead of an integer value.
Export evidence
You can export the evidence file by hovering over the drop-down menu and clicking the Export Evidence button, as indicated in the image. Doing so will start the download of the evidence file.
Fragments
Editing Fragments
To edit a fragment, double-click the evidence or, using the Select Fragment Tool, click the fragment and the Inspect button.
The fragment page will appear and begin the automatic minutiae extraction process. When finished, BEST will display the confidence level of the extracted minutiae (on a 0-100% scale) indicated by a color code:
Red - Minutia with confidence below 30%.
Yellow - Minutia with confidence between 30% and 60%.
Blue - Minutia with confidence greater than 60%.
Automatic extraction may be disabled by default. If you want to force automatic extraction, check the Extract Minutiae Automatically.
section. The following sections describe the tools available for fragment editing.
Select
The Select tool allows you to move and zoom the image.
Move Minutiae
The Move Minutiae tool allows the user to move any minutia or singularity. When this tool is selected, it is possible to move the minutia by clicking, holding and dragging to the desired position before releasing it.
The tool also allows the user to change the orientation of a minutia by clicking the orientation arrow and dragging to the desired position.
Rotate Image
Select the Rotate image tool to rotate the fragment, click the image and drag it in the desired rotation direction. While rotating, an indicator with the rotated angle will appear in the bottom right corner of the image.
Create Minutia
There are three tools to create minutiae and singularities. The first tool, represented by the hexagon icon, creates Neutral minutiae, Endings and Bifurcations. The second, represented by the circle icon, creates cores. The third, represented by the triangle icon, creates deltas.
Neutral minutiae have no defined type and may represent either a bifurcation or an ending.
To add a core or a delta, select the appropriate tool and left-click at the desired position to create the singularity. You can move singularities using the Move Minutiae.
tool.
To create a neutral, ending or bifurcation minutia, select the desired type in the menu, click the desired position and hold and drag the cursor to set its orientation. Release the mouse button to create the minutia.
Delete Minutiae There are two ways to delete minutiae in BEST. By selecting individually which minutiae you want to remove or by removing all minutiae directly. The tools are shown in the figure below. The first is the Delete all minutiae tool and the second is the.
Delete minutiae
tool. Selecting the Delete minutiae tool will change the mode to removal, indicated by the cursor shape turning into an eraser. In this mode, clicking any minutia will remove it from the fragment.
It is also possible to delete multiple minutiae by clicking and dragging the cursor over the minutiae to be removed. Whenever you create or delete minutiae, you can undo your last action by pressing.
CTRL+Z There are two ways to delete minutiae in BEST. By selecting individually which minutiae you want to remove or by removing all minutiae directly. The tools are shown in the figure below. The first is theTo delete all minutiae, select the
tool. When selected, a confirmation pop-up will appear. All minutiae and singularities, both automatically extracted and added by the user, will be deleted if confirmed. Extract Minutiae Automatically.
Extract Minutiae Automatically
If you want to reperform the automatic extraction, check the
After selecting a fragment and entering the fragment editing screen for the first time, the system will automatically extract the minutiae. This tool allows performing another automatic extraction, if necessary. A dialog will open when re-extracting minutiae, asking whether BEST should keep the manually entered or edited minutiae along with those automatically extracted by the system.
The new extraction takes into account the filters applied to the image when detecting minutiae.
Show/hide Minutiae You can use this tool to toggle visibility of minutiae. The default mode of this tool isactive
. To change the display mode, click the icon. A small number will be shown in the bottom left indicating the number of minutiae in the fragment.
Hovering over the tool will display a box with a slider to select the number of minutiae shown. Minutiae will be hidden from lowest confidence to highest confidence.
Show/hide Cores and Deltas You can use this tool to toggle visibility of minutiae. The default mode of this tool isYou can use this tool to toggle the visibility of cores and deltas. The default mode of this tool is
. To change the display mode, click the icon.
Auxiliary image: Binarized
You can use the image binarization tool to enhance the ridges and valleys of the fragment and help you identify the minutiae on the image. When applying the binarization tool, detected ridges will be blackened and valleys or areas where no print is found will be completely white. A comparison between an image and its binary version is shown below.
Auxiliary image: Ridge Lines
Ridge Lines is an auxiliary tool that will overlay a thin colored line over the ridge extent. Each detected ridge will have a different color scheme to help distinguish one ridge from another. As shown in the images below:
Show/hide ruler
Filters
This tool toggles the display of a ruler on the top and left sides of the fragment window. A dotted line will be shown when you hover the cursor over the ruler area. The line will be vertical when hovering over the top ruler and horizontal when hovering over the left ruler. You can create a mark by clicking a point on the ruler bar. Turning off this tool will clear the marks.
Selecting the filters tool will open a panel with various options. The three buttons at the top are used to define the area to be filtered: Filter Whole Image, Filter Rectangular Region and Filter Polygonal Region. You can use them to determine the area where filters will be applied.
The available filters and some sliders to adjust the image editing properties are presented under the region selection buttons. The image below shows an example of a region selected with the rectangular selection tool where contrast and sharpness filters were applied.
Whenever using multiple filters, the order of selection will directly affect the result of the image editing. Each new filter will be applied to the image already filtered by previous ones.
The filter results will only be saved to the image if you click the Apply filters button. The Undo and Redo buttons will also be available to navigate the fragment edit history.
Drop-down menu options
The drop-down menu is located in the top menu of the fragment panel and contains some options such as clone, export and discard the fragment. These options are described below.
Export Fragment
The Export fragment option will generate an image of the fragment in the same way the expert is viewing it. That is, the generated image will have the same number of minutiae shown, the same filters and the same rotation that the expert is viewing at the moment of clicking the button.
Export template The Export template option will generate a .tpt
file of the fragment.
This option is only available for fingerprints and palmprints.
Import template The Export template option will generate a.
file of the fragment.
The Import template option will open a window where the user can select to import a
file. Clone Fragment There are three fragment cloning options. They are: Clone fragment, Clone as palm and Clone as fingerprint. The
Clone fragment option will create a new fragment with the same modifications as the current fragment. The Clone as fingerprint option creates a fingerprint fragment from a palm fragment. Conversely, the
Clone as palm
option creates a palm fragment from a fingerprint.
When selected, a pop-up will appear asking which action the expert wants to take, stay on the current fragment or view the cloned fragment.
Reset Fragment
The Reset Fragment option will discard all modifications made to the fragment and return it to the state as it was extracted from the evidence. Discard FragmentIt is possible to discard a fragment. Doing so will mark the fragment as
Rejected HIT or NO HIT.
. To do this, on the fragment screen, click the Discard button. A confirmation window will open. Confirm the operation to discard the fragment. In searchYou cannot discard a fragment with the status of
If a fragment has the status In search , there will be no option to discard the fragment. Still, even if the fragment does not have a completion status (HIT or NO HIT), the In search status can be reverted by making any edit to the current fragment, such as rotating, creating new minutiae, applying filters or re-extracting the minutiae using the automatic extraction tool. After any edit is made, the discard button will be enabled again.
Performing Searches on Fragments
To remove a fragment from the
status without modifying it, click the filters and confirm the Proceed with editing button, then close the filters box.
After extracting the fragment's minutiae, it is possible to submit a search to the GBDS. GBDS will search all individuals in the biometric database and return a list of candidates according to the corresponding score. The number of candidates returned from each search is configurable.
The search operation is performed as an asynchronous task, so it is possible to continue using BEST while the search is in progress.
BEST was conceived with native compatibility to the ACE-V methodology, incorporating in its design the steps of Analysis, Comparison, Evaluation and Verification. The application presents this flow in an intuitive and friendly way in the interface, allowing the specialist to follow each phase of the process clearly and with full adherence to international best practices.
To perform a search, click the New search button at the bottom of the fragment screen.
Search Settings
Before performing a search operation, you can configure some search parameters. To open the search configuration tab, click the gear symbol next to the New search button. The following window will open:
In this window you can:
Limit the fingers that GBDS will compare the fragment against by clicking the finger.
The fragment will only be compared to the fingers highlighted in red.
Set the score threshold in the search.
Only comparisons with a score greater than or equal to the set value will return as candidates.
Select the maximum candidate list size.
Sets the maximum number of candidates returned by TP (Tenprint) and UL (Unresolved Latents) searches.
Restrict the list by labels.
orRestricts the list to candidates with the selected label. You can select more than one label.When selecting more than one label, BEST will restrict the listing with the
operation, that is: label_1 OR label_2 OR …. OR label_n.
Set whether the search is guided or not.
If this parameter is selected, GBDS will consider only matches with rotation of at most 60° in any direction. If not selected, the maximum rotation angle will be considered 180° in any direction.
Select whether to limit the search to Persons of Interest.
Prioritize the search by sending the search to a higher priority queue.
Submitting the Search
When submitting the search, a pop-up will appear confirming the start of the search and presenting options to go to the results or return to the case. Searches.
Note that the search operation is executed as an asynchronous operation in GBDS. Thus, all searches are queued according to the order of submission and may take some time to be processed. After submitting the search, you can continue using BEST and, once the search is finished, you can access the results through the Go to search button.
You can check the status of the result in the
Marking Hit or No Hit
When viewing the search result, the fragment will be presented on the left and the reference candidate on the right. The candidate list will be shown below the reference image and you can navigate the candidates by clicking the list. You can also check possible UL (Unresolved Latents) candidates through the UL tab.
You can transition between candidates using the up and down keyboard arrows.
After analyzing the images, if there is a biometric match, it is possible to establish a correlation between the fragment and the reference biometric. This operation is called HIT. A NO HIT verdict is given when none of the returned candidates can be considered a biometric match. NO HITHIT and NO HIT operations can only be performed once for each database and must be performed individually for TP and UL. Clicking HIT or NO HIT will open a confirmation window.
After a confirmation of
, if the fragment is a latent fingerprint or palmprint, it will become a UL. An expert can set a HIT for a UL at any time if there is a match.
Free Hand
Free Hand is an edit mode that allows modifying matches and minutiae of both images when viewing the search result. To access this mode, click the Free Hand button on the search comparison screen.
You can use Free Hand mode to mark new minutiae, delete wrong minutiae, create new matches and access other tools to improve the reliability of the HIT action. After making changes, you can mark the fragment as HIT in that window.
Changing minutiae in Free Hand mode will not change the fragment's minutiae. However, the report generated by a HIT decision in Free Hand will be displayed with the changes made.
Any changes to the fragment or reference images made by Free Hand mode are exclusive to the comparison and will not be kept in the database for future searches.
Video Searches
Video support may be turned off in your environment. Check with your system administrator whether this functionality is available or not.
View Profile Evidence View profile is a function that allows viewing the candidate's full profile. To access this mode, click the View profile button on the search comparison screen. A new tab will open with the candidate's profile. The fingerprint that matched will be highlighted, as shown in the image.
As mentioned earlier, it is possible to perform face searches on video files using BEST. To do this, you must first insert a video as case evidence. (see the
section for more information).
You can insert multiple video files as a single evidence item and the searches will be performed individually. After creating a video evidence item, it is available for inspection on the case page.By clicking the Inspect button, you will be redirected to the
Video Evidence
When Persons of Interest (POI) are added to cases that have video evidence, BEST Video will perform the search of fragments extracted from videos considering only the POIs, not the entire database.
screen, where you can consult the videos linked to the evidence and submit them for search. After creating a video evidence item, it is available for inspection on the case page. To submit a video for search, click Start Process.
All video searches submitted to GBDS enter a single queue for processing. In systems with multiple users, this can result in a long time to process requests. You can follow the processing status of a video on the After creating a video evidence item, it is available for inspection on the case page. screen by observing the bottom bar, in the same position as the Start Process button. Video SearchesWhen a video search is finished, the Start Process button on the
screen will change to Search Results. By clicking this button, you will be redirected to the
page, where you can see all fragments extracted from the videos.
To perform video searches, BEST will extract the best face images of each person and consolidate them into a single identity. To see each image individually, you can turn off the Only Consolidated option in the top bar. You can also filter the list by date, case creator, case codes, evidence or fragment, and status. By clicking any listed fragment, you will be redirected to the search results screen of that fragment. On that page, you will be able to see the images that reached the match threshold ordered by similarity index. The results will be presented in the right sidebar of the page. and The results list is divided into two tabs:Thumbnails The results list is divided into two tabs: List
. The
tab shows only the profile details and the index for each candidate. You can navigate the lists by clicking the different candidates. Note that the search operation is executed as an asynchronous operation in GBDS. Thus, all searches are queued according to the order of submission and may take some time to be processed. After submitting the search, you can continue using BEST and, once the search is finished, you can access the results through the Go to search button..
The center of the page will present the incoming image and the candidate side by side, allowing you to control the zoom of both images for better viewing. To check the candidate's profile details, simply click the View Profile button. The candidate's profile will open in a new browser tab. HITOn the search results screen, you will be able to mark a candidate as HIT or NO HIT in the same way described in the
After marking a
, you will be redirected to the report generation, as described in the next section.
Reports
A report is the expert's technical statement about the comparison between the fragment and the candidate's reference biometric data. For each fragment marked as HIT, a report is generated. Reports bring information about the case, the candidate and a side-by-side comparison of the fragment and the biometric reference image. HIT You can access case reports through the reports panel on the Case screen.
Accessing a report allows viewing all report information of
and editing the presentation of biometric data before exporting the report file.
The complete report will contain the following information:
Case registration number
Type of crime
Description
Remarks
Occurrence number
Place
Case creation and update dates
Experts present on the case and their roles
Persons of interest
Evidence codes and information
Evidence creation and update dates
Fragment code and status
Fragment creation and update dates HIT Biometric index of the reference image and match score
Images of the pair that generated a HIT
with the minutiae and matches
Candidate profile that generated the
The Report Editing screen allows you to edit the report's information and presentation.
Some available tools are the same as those present in the Fragment Editing window, and are referenced to their respective section for better explanation of their operations. The tools available for report editing are:
Any changes made to the report do not affect the fragment or the reference images.
And some tools are present only in the report window:
Create matches
This tool allows creating matches between minutiae that are not generated by the system. To use it, click the tool, then click the minutia on the fragment and the corresponding minutia on the other image.
There are two ways to delete minutiae in BEST. By selecting individually which minutiae you want to remove or by removing all minutiae directly. The tools are shown in the figure below. The first is the
This tool allows deleting all minutiae from the fragment or the candidate. To use it, hover over the tool and click the desired option. A confirmation window will be displayed before the operation is performed.
Synchronize zoom and pan
This tool synchronizes the movement and zoom of the fragment and the reference image.
Number of matches shown
This tool is a slider that sets the number of matches shown in both images.
Crop
This tool automatically crops both images to show only the area with corresponding minutiae.
Distribute matches
This tool will move the minutia number markers to the edges of the image. The markers can be adjusted for better visibility by dragging the marker to the desired position. You can also double-click a marker to change its notation.
Additionally, an option to Show Circles around the minutiae is located at the bottom left of the screen. Disabling this option will disable the minutia symbol when not in Distribute matches and, when it is, will remove the red circle around the minutiae.
After editing a report, you need to save it. To save a report, click the Save Report button.
Exporting Reports
In the report window, it is possible to export the generated report. To do this, click the Export button and select the desired format.
Closing a Case
You can close a case by canceling it or resolving it. These options are shown below.
If all fragments in a case have final verdicts (HIT or NO HIT), you can resolve the case by clicking the Resolve case button. Doing so will open a confirmation window. Click the Resolve case button in the confirmation window to confirm the operation.
Resolving a case will move it from the Open Cases list to the Resolved Cases list.
To cancel a case, it must not have traces. If a case has traces, you must remove them before canceling the case. Attempting to cancel a case with traces will trigger a warning:
A trace cannot be removed if it has any fragment being searched or with a given HIT or NO HIT. If the fragment has a research status in progress, you may cancel it following the instructions in the Reset Fragment. When no fragment prevents the trace from being removed, you can remove the trace by hovering over it in the case screen and clicking the Remove button.
If there are multiple traces, all traces must be removed individually before canceling the case.
You CANNOT cancel a case with a fragment in final status (HIT or NO HIT).
Pending - Double Blind
This tab is only available when Double Blind analysis is enabled. You can access it from the main screen; this tab shows fragments pending validation. Double Blind analysis is used when there is a need for each HIT:token: or `NO HIT`` to go through a blind double-check to confirm the decision.
There are two possible statuses for the analysis: First Analysis and Second Analysis. The first indicates that an analysis was performed which requires confirmation via Double Blind. It will be marked with a yellow dot. The second analysis indicates that the double-blind analysis resulted in a conclusion different from the first analysis: one was considered HIT and the other was considered NO HIT, which means the supervisor's final verdict is required. This status is indicated with an orange dot.
You need supervisor permissions to see cases that require the second Double Blind analysis.
The first and second Double Blind analyses are performed on the same search results as the original analysis.
The second examiner - the one who performs the first Double Blind analysis - has no information about the first decision made for the case.
The amount of information available to the supervisor about previous analyses can be configured.
UL Matches
You can access the list Unresolved Latents by clicking on UL Matches in the top menu of the main screen. The screen will show all matches between UL fragments and tenprint candidates (TP). It will also display the match score, the document and candidate name, the fragment code, the occurrence number, the responsible examiner and the type of crime.
Clicking on a UL Candidate profile will redirect you to the fragment editing screen.
Searches
The Searches tab lists all searches that have been submitted. This tab displays, for each search, its fragment, case title, occurrence number, responsible examiner, search creation date, biometric type, search status and analysis status for TP and UL. The search status can be:
Search In Progress, marked with a yellow dot. It happens when the search is being processed or enqueued and waiting.Result available, marked with a green dot. It happens when the search is finished and the results are available for analysis.
Additionally, the TP and UL status can be:
HIT, identified by a green dot.NO HIT, identified by a red dot.In search, identified by a blue dot.First AnalysisandSecond Analysis, identified by a yellow dot. This happens when the Double Blind is active.
Performance Tracking
BEST offers two tools for performance tracking: Top Hitters and the Activity Report. Both can be accessed at any time through the drop-down menu in the upper right corner, as shown in the image below.
The Top Hitters option will show a list of examiners ranked by HITs and NO HITs performed within a defined time period.
The Activity Report is a comprehensive assessment of BEST usage, listing the searches conducted and the actions performed by each examiner. The Activity Report screen will present data for all examiners, as shown in the image below.
Tools
On this screen, there are options for users to set their usage preferences:
Theme: light or dark;
Language;
Time format: 12-hour clock (AM/PM) or 24-hour;
Date format: dd/mm/yyyy, mm/dd/yyyy, or yyyy/mm/dd;
Minutia size - Sets the size of the minutiae;
Minutia fill - Sets whether the minutia outline will be thin or thick and filled;
Minutia arrow - Sets the length of the minutia orientation arrow;
Minutia transparency - Sets the transparency of the minutia indicator;
Minutia quality colors;
Restore to default button - restores minutia colors to default.
Show label for ignored candidates - This option will label the candidate as
Ignoredin the candidates list whenever you choose another candidate to view.
The Settings page also presents information about BEST and its component versions.
Shortcuts
This section lists the keyboard shortcuts according to BEST screens.
Cases Screen
Shift+N
Open the Create Case Window
Shift+N
Close the Create Case Window
Case Screen
Alt+S
Exit the case
Shift+E
Add examiner
Shift+P
Add POI
Shift+N
Add Trace
Report Screen
Alt+S
Return to the Reports screen
Alt+A
Open the Report Editing screen
Report Editing Screen
Alt+C
Toggle showing circles around minutiae
Shift+S
Save report edits
Alt+S
Return to the report
1
Selection tool
Q
Neutral minutia creation tool
W
Ridge ending minutia creation tool
E
Bifurcation minutia creation tool
R
Core creation tool
T
Delta creation tool
A
Match creation tool
S
Minutia delete tool
D
Delete all fragment minutiae
F
Delete all candidate minutiae
G
Ridge Lines is an auxiliary tool that will overlay a thin colored line over the ridge extent. Each detected ridge will have a different color scheme to help distinguish one ridge from another. As shown in the images below:
H
Synchronized pan and zoom
Z
Show/hide minutia
X
Show/hide colors and deltas
C
Toggle match visibility
V
Crop tool
B
Distribute matches
Fragment Screen
Shift+P
Perform a new search
Shit+Alt+P
Go to the search window
Shift+R
Edit resolution
+ or Shift++
Zoom in
- or Shift+-
Zoom out
Alt+A
Show details
Alt+S
Exit the fragments screen
Ctrl+Shift+Z
Undo filter
Ctrl+Shift+Y
Redo filter
Ctrl+Z
Undo
Ctrl+Y
Redo
A
Delete all minutiae tool
D
Automatically extract all minutiae
1
Selection tool
2
Move minutia tool
3
Rotate image tool
Q
Neutral minutia creation tool
W
Ridge ending minutia creation tool
E
Bifurcation minutia creation tool
R
Core creation tool
T
Delta creation tool
A
Minutia delete tool
S
Match creation tool
D
Ridge Lines is an auxiliary tool that will overlay a thin colored line over the ridge extent. Each detected ridge will have a different color scheme to help distinguish one ridge from another. As shown in the images below:
Z
Show/hide minutia
X
Show/hide colors and deltas
C
Toggle match visibility
V
Crop tool
B
Distribute matches
N
Open filters
Free Hand Screen
D
Delete all latent minutiae
F
Delete all candidate minutiae
G
Automatically extract latent minutiae
H
Automatically extract candidate minutiae
1
Selection tool
2
Move minutia tool
Q
Neutral minutia creation tool
W
Ridge ending minutia creation tool
E
Bifurcation minutia creation tool
R
Core creation tool
T
Delta creation tool
A
Match creation tool
S
Minutia delete tool
J
Ridge Lines is an auxiliary tool that will overlay a thin colored line over the ridge extent. Each detected ridge will have a different color scheme to help distinguish one ridge from another. As shown in the images below:
K
Synchronized pan and zoom
Z
Show/hide minutia
X
Show/hide colors and deltas
C
Toggle match visibility
V
. To change the display mode, click the icon.
B
Auxiliary image: Ridge lines
N
Crop tool
M
Distribute matches
Search Screen
Shift+N+H
No Hit
Shift+H
Hit
Shift+A
Collapse the listing bar
Shift+E
Open Free Hand mode
Shift+Q
Open the Fragments screen
Shift+W
Open profile
Shift+P
New search
Shift+C
Open search settings
Alt+S
Exit the search screen
Left Arrow++ or Shift+Left Arrow++
Increase left image zoom
Left Arrow+- or Shift+Left Arrow+-
Decrease left image zoom
Right Arrow++ or Shift+Right Arrow++
Increase right image zoom
Right Arrow+- or Shift+Right Arrow+-
Decrease right image zoom
1
Selection tool
A
Ridge Lines is an auxiliary tool that will overlay a thin colored line over the ridge extent. Each detected ridge will have a different color scheme to help distinguish one ridge from another. As shown in the images below:
S
Synchronized pan and zoom
Z
Show/hide minutia
X
Show/hide colors and deltas
C
Toggle match visibility
V
. To change the display mode, click the icon.
B
Auxiliary image: Ridge lines
Trace Editing Screen
+ or Shift++
Zoom in
- or Shift+-
Zoom out
Shift+R
Set resolution
Alt+A
Show details
Alt+S
Open trace list
1
Selection tool
2
Set resolution tool
Q
Rectangular fingerprint extraction tool
W
Rectangular palmprint extraction tool
E
Rectangular iris extraction tool
R
Rectangular face extraction tool
A
Polygonal fingerprint extraction tool
S
Polygonal palmprint extraction tool
D
Polygonal iris extraction tool
F
Polygonal Face extraction tool
Z
Face recognition tool
UL Matches Screen
Shift+Q
Open Free Hand
Shift+W
View profile
Shift+N+H
No Hit
Shift+H
Hit
1
Selection tool
A
Ridge Lines is an auxiliary tool that will overlay a thin colored line over the ridge extent. Each detected ridge will have a different color scheme to help distinguish one ridge from another. As shown in the images below:
S
Synchronized pan and zoom
Z
Show/hide minutia
X
Show/hide colors and deltas
C
Toggle match visibility
V
. To change the display mode, click the icon.
B
Auxiliary image: Ridge lines
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