Identify and discuss the three broad categories of latent fingerprints.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Plastic prints are finger impressions left in pliable, soft surfaces, such as wax, soap, wet paint, or fresh caulk, putty, and explosives. Those surfaces give the print the quality of being three-dimensional.
"Latent prints" is an elastic term with two different meanings: a) to broadly refer to any fingerprint found at the scene or elsewhere on an item of interest (e.g., a gun recovered from a pond) and b) to refer specifically to a fingerprint at the scene which is hidden or unseen to the eye. In this immediate section, we are using the latter term. Elsewhere, the context in which "latent" is stated we will reveal which meaning is being used.
Patent prints may immediately be wholly visible or they may be latent. Visible/residue patent prints form when blood, dirt, ink, paint, etc., is transferred from the surface of a finger or thumb to a surface. Patent prints can be left on many surfaces, including smooth or rough, porous (such as paper, cloth, or wood) or nonporous (such as metal, glass, or plastic). Patent prints become latent prints when the fingerprint is not formed by residue, but by the body's natural oils and sweat on the skin that are deposited onto another surface.