What best defines a plastic (impression) print?

• A. A molded or embedded fingerprint created by touching an impressionable surface, such as wet paint or mud that you can easily see
• B. A latent print visible only after chemical treatment
• C. A fingerprint left on a porous surface that dries quickly
• D. A digital representation of a fingerprint obtained via scanning

Answer: (A)

Plastic impressions are three-dimensional fingerprints created when a finger presses into a soft, malleable surface. The material itself holds a molded imprint of the ridges, so the print is visible within the surface—think of developments like clay, wax, mud, or fresh paint where the imprint is actually formed in the material. That description matches a molded or embedded fingerprint left on an impressionable surface that you can clearly see.

This differs from latent prints, which are hidden to the naked eye and require chemical or physical development to be seen; and from prints on porous surfaces or any digitally scanned image, which are not actual three-dimensional impressions molded into the substrate.