# AAMVA National Standard for the Driver License Identification Card-2000


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AAMVA
2000-06-30
AAMVA National Standard for the
Driver License/Identification Card
AAMVA DL/ID-2000
American Association of
Motor Vehicle
Administrators

This document was produced by AAMVAnet, Inc. AAMVAnet is a division of the American
Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA).
No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
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systems, for any purpose other than the intended use by AAMVAnet, Inc., without the express
written permission of AAMVAnet, Inc.
© 2000 AAMVA/AAMVAnet. All rights reserved.

Contents
1 Scope...............................................................................................................................................1
2 Conformance...................................................................................................................................1
3 Normative reference(s)...................................................................................................................1
4 Term(s) and definition(s)................................................................................................................3
5 Physical characteristics and card technologies...........................................................................5
5.1 Physical characteristics..................................................................................................................5
5.2 Card technologies...........................................................................................................................5
5.3 Durability of card structure............................................................................................................5
6 Data elements..................................................................................................................................5
6.1 Description of table headings........................................................................................................5
6.1.1 Reference Number..........................................................................................................................5
6.1.2 Data element/label...........................................................................................................................6
6.1.3 Usage...............................................................................................................................................6
6.1.4 Definition.........................................................................................................................................6
6.1.5 Field length and type......................................................................................................................6
6.1.6 Address requirement......................................................................................................................6
6.2 Required data elements..................................................................................................................7
Table 1 — Required data elements.....................................................................................................................7
6.3 Optional data elements...................................................................................................................8
Table 2 — Optional data elements......................................................................................................................8
6.4 Format conventions......................................................................................................................11
6.4.1 Character set.................................................................................................................................11
6.4.2 Format of dates.............................................................................................................................11
7 Physical security...........................................................................................................................12
7.1 Definitions.....................................................................................................................................12
7.1.1 Covert............................................................................................................................................12
i

7.1.2 Overt..............................................................................................................................................12
7.1.3 First line inspection......................................................................................................................12
7.1.4 Second line inspection.................................................................................................................12
7.1.5 Third line inspection.....................................................................................................................12
7.2 Physical security requirement......................................................................................................12
8 Encryption.....................................................................................................................................12
Table 3 — Minimum Non-encrypted data elements.........................................................................................13
Annex A (normative) Mapping of driver license/identification card info to magnetic stripe cards............15
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................15
A.1 Conformance.................................................................................................................................15
A.2 Card characteristics......................................................................................................................15
A.3 Coded character set......................................................................................................................15
Table A.1 — Coded character set for 5 bit numeric.........................................................................................15
Table A.2 — Coded character set for 7 bit alphanumeric................................................................................16
A. 4 Information content and format...................................................................................................16
A.4.1 Track 1...........................................................................................................................................17
Table A.3 — Track 1 information content and format......................................................................................17
A.4.2 Track 2...........................................................................................................................................18
Table A.4 — Track 2 information content and format......................................................................................18
A.4.3 Track 3...........................................................................................................................................19
Table A.5 — Track 3 information content and format......................................................................................19
A.5 Encoding specifications...............................................................................................................20
A.6 Error detection..............................................................................................................................20
Annex B (normative) Mapping driver license/identification card info to integrated circuit(s) cards (ICC) 21
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................21
B.2 Physical characteristics................................................................................................................22
B.3 Location and dimensions of coupling areas...............................................................................22
B.4 Electronic signals.........................................................................................................................22
B.5 Transmission protocols and answer to reset..............................................................................22
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B.5.1. Transmission protocols...............................................................................................................22
B.5.2. Answer to reset.............................................................................................................................22
B.6 Application selection....................................................................................................................22
B.7 File structure.................................................................................................................................22
B.8 Command set................................................................................................................................23
B.9 File contents..................................................................................................................................24
B.9.1. EF (Issuer Information) SFI ‘01’.............................................................................................24
ISSUER
B.9.2. EF (Driver License data) SFI ‘02’................................................................................................25
DL
B.9.2.1 Record 1 – mandatory data elements..........................................................................................26
B.9.2.2 Record 2 – personal characteristics............................................................................................27
B.9.2.3 Record 3 – permit data elements, residence address and mailing address..............................28
B.9.2.4 Record 4 – “AKA” data elements.................................................................................................29
B.9.3 EF (Magnetic Stripe Information) SFI ‘03’................................................................................29
MAG
B.9.4 EF (Digitized Portrait Image) SFI ‘04’.......................................................................................30
POR
B.9.5 EF (Digitized Handwritten Signature Image) SFI ‘05’...............................................................30
SIG
B.10 Security.........................................................................................................................................31
B.11 Data element tags.........................................................................................................................32
Annex C (normative) Finger imaging.............................................................................................................35
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................35
C.1 Conformance.................................................................................................................................35
C.2 Application Definitions.................................................................................................................35
C.2.1 Verification....................................................................................................................................35
C.2.2 Search............................................................................................................................................35
C.2.3 Core...............................................................................................................................................35
C.3 Finger Selection............................................................................................................................35
Figure C.1 — Finger Selection..........................................................................................................................36
C.4 Image Quality................................................................................................................................36
C.4.1 Finger Image Collection Device...................................................................................................36
C.4.2 Finger Image Collection Result....................................................................................................36
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C.5 Compression.................................................................................................................................36
C.6 Data Format...................................................................................................................................37
C.7 Minutiae Extraction Introduction.................................................................................................37
C.8 External Standards Referenced...................................................................................................37
C.9 Definitions.....................................................................................................................................37
C.10 Minutiae Description....................................................................................................................38
C.10.1 Principle........................................................................................................................................38
C.10.2 Minutia Type..................................................................................................................................38
C.10.3 Minutia Location...........................................................................................................................38
C.10.3.1 Coordinate System.......................................................................................................................38
C.10.3.2 Minutia Placement on a Ridge Ending........................................................................................38
C.10.3.3 Minutia Placement on a Ridge Bifurcation..................................................................................39
C.10.3.4 Minutia Placement on Other Minutiae Types..............................................................................39
C.10.4 Minutia Direction..........................................................................................................................39
C.10.4.1 Angle Conventions.......................................................................................................................39
C.10.4.2 Angle of a Ridge Ending..............................................................................................................39
C.10.4.3 Angle of a Ridge Bifurcation........................................................................................................39
Figure C.2 - Minutia Location............................................................................................................................40
C.11 Finger Minutiae Record Format...................................................................................................41
C.11.1 Record Header..............................................................................................................................41
C.11.1.1 Format Identifier...........................................................................................................................41
C.11.1.2 Version Number............................................................................................................................41
C.11.1.3 Length of Record..........................................................................................................................41
C.11.1.4 System Vendor ID.........................................................................................................................42
C.11.1.5 Feature Extraction Software ID....................................................................................................42
C.11.1.6 Scanner ID.....................................................................................................................................42
C.11.1.7 Size of Scanned Image in X direction..........................................................................................42
C.11.1.8 Size of Scanned Image in Y direction..........................................................................................42
C.11.1.9 Scan Rate in X direction...............................................................................................................42
C.11.1.10 Scan Rate in Y direction...............................................................................................................42
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C.11.1.11 Number Of Fingers.......................................................................................................................42
C.11.1.12 Reserved Byte...............................................................................................................................42
C.11.2 Single Finger Record Format.......................................................................................................42
C.11.2.1 Finger Header...............................................................................................................................42
C.11.2.1.1 Finger Position.............................................................................................................................43
Table C.1 - Finger Position codes...................................................................................................................43
C.11.2.1.2 Impression Type...........................................................................................................................43
Table C.2 - Impression Type codes................................................................................................................43
C.11.2.1.3 Finger Quality...............................................................................................................................44
C.11.2.1.4 Number of Minutiae......................................................................................................................44
C.11.2.2 Finger Minutiae Data....................................................................................................................44
C.11.2.2.1 Minutiae Type................................................................................................................................44
C.11.2.2.2 Minutiae Position..........................................................................................................................44
C.11.2.2.3 Minutiae Angle..............................................................................................................................44
C.11.2.2.4 Minutiae Quality............................................................................................................................44
C.11.3 Proprietary Data............................................................................................................................44
C.11.3.1 Type Identification Code...............................................................................................................44
C.11.3.2 Length of Data...............................................................................................................................45
C.11.3.3 Private Data....................................................................................................................................45
Table C.3 - Minutia Record Format Summary..................................................................................................46
C.12 Record Format Diagrams..............................................................................................................47
C.12.1 Overall Record Format..................................................................................................................47
C.12.2 Record Header...............................................................................................................................47
C.12.3 Single Finger Minutia Record.......................................................................................................47
C.12.4 Finger Minutiae Data.....................................................................................................................48
C.12.5 Private (Proprietary) Data..............................................................................................................48
C.13 Interoperable Matcher Performance (Informative).......................................................................49
Figure C.3 - Interoperability Concept...............................................................................................................49
C.14 Compliance (Informative)..............................................................................................................50
C.14.1 Record format compliance............................................................................................................50
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C.14.2 Finger Minutiae Extraction............................................................................................................50
C.15 Example MInutiae Record (Informative)......................................................................................51
C.15.1 Data...............................................................................................................................................51
C.15.2 Example Data Format Diagrams..................................................................................................52
C.15.3 Raw Data for the Resulting Minutiae Record..............................................................................53
Annex D (normative) Mapping of driver license/identification card info to optical memory cards............55
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................55
D.1 Conformance.................................................................................................................................55
D.2 File location...................................................................................................................................55
D.3 Updating of data...........................................................................................................................55
Annex E (normative) Mapping driver license/identification card info to 2 dimensional bar codes............57
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................57
E.1 Conformance.................................................................................................................................57
E.2 Symbology....................................................................................................................................57
E.3 Card Characteristics.....................................................................................................................57
E.3.1 Symbology Characteristics..........................................................................................................57
E.3.2 Dimensions and Print Quality......................................................................................................57
E.3.2.1 Narrow element dimension..........................................................................................................57
E.3.2.2 Row height....................................................................................................................................58
E.3.2.3 Quiet zone.....................................................................................................................................58
E.3.2.4 Print Quality..................................................................................................................................58
E.3.2.5 Sampling.......................................................................................................................................58
E.3.2.6 Symbol Durability.........................................................................................................................58
E.3.3 Bar code area................................................................................................................................58
E.3.4 Orientation and Placement...........................................................................................................58
E.3.4.1 PDF417 Orientation.......................................................................................................................58
E.3.4.2 Designing the Card Layout...........................................................................................................59
Figure E.1 — Orientation of PDF417 symbol on bottom.................................................................................59
E.4 Information contents and formats...............................................................................................59
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E.4.1 Data Structure...............................................................................................................................59
E.4.2 Header...........................................................................................................................................59
Table E.1 — 2D symbols header format...........................................................................................................59
E.4.3 Subfile Designator........................................................................................................................61
E.4.4 Elements........................................................................................................................................61
E.4.4.1 Required........................................................................................................................................61
E.4.4.2 Optional.........................................................................................................................................61
E.4.5 Example of 2D Symbol.................................................................................................................62
E.5 Error Detection and Correction....................................................................................................65
E.6 Character Sets...............................................................................................................................65
E.7 Compression.................................................................................................................................65
Annex F (normative) Driver license/identification card compression for digital imaging..........................67
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................67
F.1 Conformance.................................................................................................................................67
F.2 Definitions.....................................................................................................................................67
F.3 Information Contents and Formats..............................................................................................70
F.3.1 Requirements for Photographs and Signatures.........................................................................70
F.3.1.1 Color Photo Images......................................................................................................................70
F.3.1.1.1 Image Data Formats.....................................................................................................................70
F.3.1.1.2 Image Compression Standard.....................................................................................................70
F.3.1.1.3 Associated JPEG Parameters.....................................................................................................70
F.3.1.1.3.1 Interchange Format......................................................................................................................70
Table F.1 — Recommended File Interchange Format......................................................................................70
Table F.2 — Recommended file interchange format........................................................................................71
F.3.1.1.3.2 Color Space Translation..............................................................................................................72
Table F.3 — Required for color images............................................................................................................72
F.3.1.1.4 Options to Optimize Performance..............................................................................................72
F.3.1.1.4.1 Sub sampling...............................................................................................................................72
F.3.1.1.4.2 Interleaving...................................................................................................................................73
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F.3.1.1.4.3 Table Signaling............................................................................................................................73
F.3.1.2 Signatures....................................................................................................................................73
F.3.1.2.1 Image Data Formats....................................................................................................................73
F.3.1.2.2 Image Compression Methods....................................................................................................73
Table F.4 — Requirements for signatures gray scale......................................................................................74
Table F.5 — Requirements for Signatures Binary...........................................................................................74
F.3.1.3 Associated JPEG Parameters......................................................................................................75
F.3.1.3.1 Interchange Format......................................................................................................................75
F.3.1.4 Options to Optimize Performance..............................................................................................75
F.3.1.4.1 Table Signaling.............................................................................................................................75
F.4 Signature Compressed Vector Format........................................................................................75
Figure F.1 Signature format..........................................................................................................................75
F.4.1 File Header Format........................................................................................................................76
F.4.1.1 Horizontal Resolution...................................................................................................................76
F.4.1.2 Vertical Resolution.......................................................................................................................76
F.4.1.3 Number of Vectors........................................................................................................................76
F.4.2 Vector Data Format.......................................................................................................................76
F.4.2.1 Small Offset...................................................................................................................................76
F.4.2.2 Large Offset...................................................................................................................................76
F.4.2.3 Pen Lift..........................................................................................................................................77
Figure F.2 Signature data stream..................................................................................................................77
F.5 Digital Images...............................................................................................................................77
F.5.1 Category A - Facial Portrait Image (Capture)...............................................................................77
F.5.1.1 Pose...............................................................................................................................................77
F.5.1.2 Depth of Field................................................................................................................................77
F.5.1.3 Centering.......................................................................................................................................78
Figure F.3 Centering facial image.................................................................................................................78
F.5.1.4 Lighting.........................................................................................................................................78
F.5.1.5 Background...................................................................................................................................78
F.5.1.6 Aspect Ratio..................................................................................................................................78
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F.5.1.7 Color Space...................................................................................................................................79
F.5.1.8 Compression Algorithm...............................................................................................................79
F.5.1.9 File Format....................................................................................................................................79
F.5.2 Category A - Facial Portrait Image (Document).........................................................................79
F.5.2.1 Aspect Ratio..................................................................................................................................79
F.5.2.2 Facial Portrait Image Dimensions................................................................................................79
F.5.2.3 Borders..........................................................................................................................................79
F.5.3 Category B - Signature Images (Capture)....................................................................................79
F.5.3.1 Digitization....................................................................................................................................79
F.5.3.2 Compression and Storage............................................................................................................80
F.5.3.3 File Format....................................................................................................................................80
F.5.4 Category B - Signature Images (Document)................................................................................80
F.5.4.1 Aspect Ratio..................................................................................................................................80
F.5.4.2 Signature Image Dimensions.......................................................................................................80
F.5.4.3 Borders..........................................................................................................................................80
F.5.5 Category C - Finger Images (Capture).........................................................................................80
F.5.5.1 Standards......................................................................................................................................80
F.5.6 Category C - Finger Images (Document).....................................................................................81
F.5.7 Category D - Ghosted Images (Capture)......................................................................................81
F.5.8 Category D - Ghosted Images (Document)..................................................................................81
Annex G (normative) Test Methods................................................................................................................83
Introduction (informative).................................................................................................................................83
G.1 Scope...........................................................................................................................................83
G.2 Conformance...............................................................................................................................83
G.3 Normative references..................................................................................................................83
G.4 Terms and definitions.................................................................................................................84
G.4.1 card service life..........................................................................................................................84
G.5 Test methods and sample size...................................................................................................84
G.6 Test report...................................................................................................................................86
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Annex H (informative) Physical security features for the driver license/identification card..........................87
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................87
H.1 Features........................................................................................................................................87
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Foreword
(This foreword is not part of the AAMVA National Standard for the Driver License).
The purpose of the Driver License Card standard is to provide a uniform means to identify (a) issuers and (b) holders
of Driver License cards within the United States.
The standard specifies minimum requirements for the presentation of identification information in human-readable
form, and it specifies the format and data content of identification in the following technologies: magnetic stripe, bar
code, integrated circuit cards, optical memory, and digital imaging.
It is important to note that inclusion of any technology is optional; however, when a technology is used, it must comply
fully with the standard.
The scope of the standard is to specify identification information for Driver License applications. It does not standardize
recording of driving related convictions or the withdrawal of driving privileges; however, in the high-capacity
technologies, the standard employs international standard application coding such that additional applications may be
possible on the same card.
This standard is a U.S. Driver License application of existing international identification card standards that relate to
physical characteristics, layout, data access and storage techniques, physical security requirements, and to
registration procedures for identification of card issuers.
Work on this standard began in 1997 and is a result of cooperation between ANSI NCITS B10, the American
Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) and their Industry Advisory Board. The development involved
broad-based project teams including state driver license agencies, government, equipment and software suppliers,
card vendors, and consultants.
This standard meets the following objectives:
¾ uniquely identifies the card issuer and cardholder;
¾ brings uniformity to the millions of Driver License cards now in circulation;
¾ encourages transition from existing practice to the new standard;
¾ assists administrative efficiency and accuracy through machine-readable identification within a foundation that
encourages future applications;
¾ facilitates future development in technology and application.
Requests for interpretation, suggestions for improvement or addenda, or defect reports are welcome. Please send
these to the Standards Program Director, AAMVAnet, 4301 Wilson Boulevard – Suite 400, Arlington, VA 22203
(www.aamva.org).
xi

Driver License Cards - Identification Cards
1 Scope
This AAMVA National Standard specifies directly or by reference the requirements for cards used in driver license
applications. It takes into consideration both human and machine aspects and states the minimum requirements for
conformity. It contains physical characteristics, layout, data access techniques, data storage techniques, registration
procedures, and security requirements. Security measures are defined as minimum requirements but card issuers are
free to have more stringent security features.
2 Conformance
An identification card is in conformance with this standard if it meets all mandatory requirements specified directly or
by reference herein.
3 Normative reference(s)
The following normative documents contain provisions, which, through reference in this text, constitute provisions of
this AAMVA National Standard. For dated references, subsequent amendments to, or revisions of, any of these
publications do not apply. However, parties to agreements based on this AAMVA National Standard are encouraged to
investigate the possibility of applying the most recent editions of the normative documents indicated below. For
undated references, the latest edition of the normative document referred to applies. Members of ANSI, ISO and IEC
maintain registers of currently valid National and International Standards.
ANSI-D20: 1998, Data Element Dictionary for Traffic Records Systems
ANSI/ASQC Z1.4: Military Standard, Sampling Procedures and Tables for Inspection by Attributes
ANSI/NIST-CSL1-1993, “Data Format for the Interchange of Fingerprint Information”
ANSI X3.182 Bar-Code Print Quality
ASCII/ISO 8859-1: “Information Processing - 8bit single byte coded graphic character sets - Part 1: Latin alphabet No.
1” 1998
BioAPI Specification Version 1.00 : March 30, 2000 - The BioAPI Consortium
CJIS/FBI IAFIS-IC-0110 Wavelet Scalar Quantization (WSQ)
CJIS-RS-0010 Appendix G “Interim IAFIS Image Quality Specifications for Scanners”
ISO/IEC 646: 1991, Information technology - ISO 7-bit coded character set for information interchange
ISO/IEC 7810: 1995, Identification cards - Physical characteristics
ISO/IEC 7811-6: 1996, Identification cards - Recording technique - Part 6: High coercivity magnetic stripe
1

ISO 7816-1: 1987, Identification cards - Integrated circuit(s) cards with contacts - Part 1: Physical characteristics
ISO 7816-2: 1988, Identification cards - Integrated circuit(s) cards with contacts - Part 2: Dimensions and location of
contacts
ISO/IEC 7816-3: 1997, Identification cards - Integrated circuit(s) cards with contacts - Part 3: Electronic signals and
transmission protocols
ISO/IEC 7816-4: 1995, Identification cards - Integrated circuit(s) cards with contacts - Part 4: Inter-industry commands
ISO/IEC 7816-5: 1994, Identification cards - Integrated circuit(s) cards with contacts - Part 5: Numbering system and
registration procedure for application identifiers
ISO/IEC 7816-6: 1996, Identification cards - Integrated circuit(s) cards with contacts - Part 6: Inter-industry data
elements
ISO/IEC 10373: 1993, Identification cards - Test methods
Except for Clause 6.4 through 6.8, this standard has been superseded by:
ISO/IEC 10373-1: 1998, Identification Cards - Test Methods - Part 1: General characteristics tests
ISO/IEC 10373-1: 1998, Identification Cards - Test Methods - Part 2: Cards with mag stripes
ISO/IEC 10373-1: 1998, Identification Cards - Test Methods - Part 5: Optical memory cards
ISO/IEC 10536-1: 1992, Identification cards - Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards - Part 1: Physical characteristics
ISO/IEC 10536-2: 1995, Identification cards - Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards - Part 2: Dimensions and
locations of coupling areas
ISO/IEC 10536-3: 1996, Identification cards - Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards - Part 3: Electrical signals and
mode switching
ISO 10918-1: Information Technology - Digital compression and coding of continuous-tone-still images: Requirements
and Guidelines
ISO/IEC 11693: 1994, Identification cards - Optical memory cards - general characteristics
ISO/IEC 11694-1: 1994, Identification cards, Optical memory cards - Linear recording method Part 1: Physical
characteristics
ISO/IEC 11694-2: 1995, Identification cards, Optical memory cards - Linear recording method Part 2: Dimensions and
location of the accessible optical area
ISO/IEC 11694-3: 1995, Identification cards, Optical memory cards - Linear recording method Part 3: Optical
properties and characteristics
ISO/IEC 11694-4: 1996, Identification cards, Optical memory cards - Linear recording method Part 4: Logical data
structures
ISO/IEC 14443-1: Identification cards - Contactless integrated circuit cards - Proximity cards Part 1: Physical
characteristics
ISO/IEC 14443-2: Identification cards - Contactless integrated circuit cards - Proximity cards Part 2: Radio frequency
power and signal interface
ISO/IEC 14443-3: Identification cards - Contactless integrated circuit cards - Proximity cards Part 3: Initialization and
anticollision
2

ISO/IEC 14443-4: Identification cards - Contactless integrated circuit cards - Proximity cards Part 4: Transmission
protocols
ISO/IEC 15438: Automatic Identification and Data Capture Techniques - International Two-dimensional Symbology
Specification - PDF417
ISO/IEC 15693-1: Identification cards - Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards - Vicinity cards - Part 1: Physical
characteristics
ISO/IEC 15693-2: Identification cards - Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards - Vicinity cards - Part 2: Air interface and
initialisation
ISO/IEC 15693-3: Identification cards - Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards - Vicinity cards - Part 3: Protocols
ISO/IEC 15693-4: Identification cards - Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards - Vicinity cards - Part 4: Registration of
applications/issuers
MIL-L-61002 Labels, Pressure Sensitive Adhesive, for Bar-Codes and other Markings
4 Term(s) and definition(s)
For the purposes of this AAMVA National Standard, the following terms and definitions apply:
4.1
driver license card
a card used to identify the card issuer and the card holder to facilitate Driver License transactions and to provide input
data for such transactions
4.2
driver license card issuer
an organization that issues Driver License cards such as a Department of Motor Vehicles and the U.S. Department of
State
4.3
driver license card holder
an individual to whom a Driver License card is issued
4.4
numeric (N)
digits 0 to 9
4.5
special characters (S)
! “ # $ % & ‘ ( ) * + , - . / : ; < = > ? [ \ ] ^ _ @. A special character is removed from this category when it is used as a
delimiter.
4.6
alphabetic (A)
alpha characters (UPPERCASE letters from A to Z)
4.7
alphanumeric (ANS)
alpha characters (UPPERCASE letters from A to Z), numeric characters, space, and special characters
3

4.8
front side of card
face of the card carrying visual information containing the card issuer and card holder identifiers
4.9
back side of card
the opposite face from the front
4.10
signature panel
area used for DL cardholder signature that is receptive to writing instruments
4.11
DF
dedicated files
4.12
EF
elementary files
4.13
MF
master files
4.14
CICCD
contactless integrated circuit card device
4.15
CICC
contactless integrated circuit card
4.16
ICC
integrated circuit card
4.17
DL
driver license
4.18
ID
identification card
4.19
AKA
also known as
4.20
IIN
issuer identification number
4.21
digital
any data that is composed of a discrete sample or collection of discrete samples that are represented as finite
numbers
4

4.22
image
digital data that represents the visual likeness of its subject, such as a portrait, finger, or signature. Images may be
collected, stored, and rendered for visual inspection using a variety for digital formats
5 Physical characteristics and card technologies
Various card technologies may be employed at the option of the card issuer subject to the restrictions described in 5.1
and 5.2. None of these card technologies are required on the card, however, if they are used they shall be
implemented as defined in the appropriate annex.
5.1 Physical characteristics
Physical characteristics of cards that employ none of the optional card technologies are at the discretion of the card
issuer provided that, after any folding, there is a front side and a back side as defined herein. Additional physical
characteristics, if any, related to each card technology are specified in the annex for that card technology.
5.2 Card technologies
Available card technologies are shown in the following list. It is possible that certain types of card technologies may be
incompatible in combination.
Annex Technology Use of technology on card
A Magnetic stripe cards Optional
B Integrated circuit cards (ICC) Optional
C Finger imaging Optional
D Optical memory cards Optional
E Bar codes, 2 dimensional Optional
F Data compression for digital images Optional
5.3 Durability of card structure
Durability of the card is not established in this standard. Each jurisdiction shall select which test methods to use, if any,
and what minimum acceptable criteria to use, if any, based on a mutual agreement between the jurisdiction and their
card supplier. If card durability testing is required then one or more of the test methods listed in Annex G shall be
used. The jurisdiction shall communicate the mutually agreed to test method and criteria information to the card
supplier prior to any card procurement request.
6 Data elements
Human-readable information is information that is printed or embossed on the surface of a Driver License card. This
section also describes the information that can be electronically stored on the card. Annexes specify the mapping of
this information to specific technologies. Data element definitions, length, and type shall follow ANSI D20.
6.1 Description of table headings
6.1.1 Reference Number
A number for each data element used in this standard.
5

6.1.2 Data element/label
Data element is the clear name of the data element. When used as a human readable element the label is the
identifying “heading” before, after, over, or under the element as it appears on the DL/ID document. The label is shown
in bold under the data element name (i.e., “date of birth” would be “d.o.b.”).
6.1.3 Usage
The various uses for the data element. H = human readable, M = machine readable, B = both.
6.1.4 Definition
A statement of meaning and the attributes of the data element. In the case of a different definition or format between
the data element for the purposes of being (Human) or (Machine) readable, the distinction has been provided.
6.1.5 Field length and type
The valid field length for each data element. The following refer to the valid characters used (A=alpha A-Z, N=numeric,
S=special) in the related application. See ANSI D20. Magnetic Stripe data element length when different has been
noted.
6.1.6 Address requirement
The “mailing” related address fields were selected as the default to provide driver address information versus the
“residence” optional fields. The “residence” fields may be substituted for the “mailing” fields but shall adhere to the
length and type specified herein.
6

6.2 Required data elements
Table 1 — Required data elements
Ref. # Data Usage Definition Field length & type
element/label
1 Driver License B NAME of the individual holding Variable 35/AS
Name the Driver License or ID as
defined in ANSI D20 Data
Dictionary.
(Lastname@Firstname@MI@
suffix if any) (Machine, Mag
Stripe uses ‘$’ and Bar Code
uses ‘,’ in place of ‘@’)
Firstname, Middle Initial,
Lastname (Human)
2 Driver Mailing B The place where the registered Variable 35/ANS
Street Address 1 driver of a vehicle (individual or Variable 29/ANS
corporation) may be contacted (Mag Stripe only)
such as a house number, street
address etc.
3 Driver Mailing City B NAME OF CITY for mailing Variable 20/ANS
address. Variable max
13/ANS
(Mag Stripe only)
4 Driver Mailing B JURISDICTION CODE for Fixed 2/AN
Jurisdiction Code mailing address. Conforms to
Canadian, Mexican and US
Jurisdictions as appropriate.
Codes for provinces (Canada)
and states (US and Mexico).
5 Driver Mailing B POSTAL CODE used for Fixed 11/ANS
Postal Code mailing. (As used by Canadian,
Mexican and US jurisdictions.)
6 Driver License/ID B NUMBER assigned or Variable 25/AN
Number calculated by the jurisdiction Variable max 13/N
DL# which identifies the Driver or ID (Mag Stripe only)
Holder.
7 ID/DL # * M Overflow for numbers longer Fixed 5/N
(Mag Stripe only) than 13 characters. (Mag Stripe only)
8 Driver License B A=Class A; B=Class B; Fixed 4/AN
Classification C=Class C (Class A, B and C Fixed 2/AN (Mag
Code are defined by Federal Highway Stripe only)
regulations); M=Class M
motorcycle as defined by
AAMVA; others are defined by
DL Classification Code
Standards.
9 Driver License B A restriction applicable to a Fixed 10/AN
Restriction Code driver license.
7

Ref. # Data Usage Definition Field length & type
element/label
10 Driver License B Any endorsements on a driver Fixed 5/AN
Endorsement license which authorize the
Code operation of specified types of
vehicles or the operation of
vehicles carrying specified
loads. Endorsements shall be
specific to classification of a
driver license.
11 Driver License B YYMM, CCYYMMDD Fixed 8/N
Expiration Date Year, Month, Day (Machine) Fixed 4/N
exp. Month, Day, Year (Human) (Mag Stripe only)
12 Date of Birth B CCYYMMDD (Machine) Fixed 8/N
d.o.b. Month, Day, Year (Human)
13 Driver Sex B DRIVER SEX as defined by the 1/N
sex ANSI D20 standard. (Machine)
M for Male, F for Female
(Human)
14 Driver License or B CCYYMMDD (Machine) 8/N
ID Document Month, Day, Year (Human)
Issue Date
iss.
15 ISO Issuer M This is the assigned Fixed 6/N
Identifier Number identification number from ISO.
(IIN) This number shall always begin
with a “6”.
16 Driver License or B Indicates that the document is a
Identification Card driver license or identification
Identifier card, whichever is applicable.
17 Color Photograph B The card holder’s photograph or
or Image image.
18 Signature B The card holder’s signature.
holder’s
signature
19 Security Features B To deter alteration and
counterfeiting.
6.3 Optional data elements
Table 2 — Optional data elements
Ref. # Data Usage Definition Field length & type
element/label
20 Height (FT/IN) B FEET (1); Inches (2). Ex. 509 = 3/N
hgt 5 ft., 9 in.
21 Weight (LBS) B WEIGHT in LBS. 3/N
wgt
22 Eye Color B EYE COLOR as defined by the 3/AN
eyes ANSI D20 standard.
23 Hair Color B HAIR COLOR as defined by the 3/AN
hair ANSI D20 standard.
8

Ref. # Data Usage Definition Field length & type
element/label
24 Social Security B The number assigned to an 9/N
Number individual by the Social Security
Administration.
25 Driver Permit B Identifies the type of permit as 2/A
Classification defined by ANSI D20.
Code
26 Driver Permit B CCYYMMDD; Date permit 8/N
Expiration Date expires (Machine)
Month, Day, Year (Human)
27 Permit Identifier B Type of permit. 25/AN
28 Driver Permit B CCYYMMDD; Date permit was 8/N
Issue Date issued. (Machine)
Month, Day, Year (Human)
29 Driver Permit B PERMIT RESTRICTIONS as 10/AN
Restriction Code defined by ANSI D20.
30 Driver Permit B PERMIT ENDORSEMENTS as 6/AN
Endorsement defined by ANSI D20.
Code
31 Driver Last Name B LAST NAME or SURNAME of 35/AN
(except Mag the individual holding the Driver
Stripe) License or ID. Hyphenated
names acceptable, but no other
use of special symbols.
32 Driver First Name B FIRST NAME or GIVEN NAME 35/AN
(except Mag of the individual holding the
Stripe) Driver License or ID.
Hyphenated names acceptable,
but no other use of special
symbols.
33 Driver Middle B MIDDLE NAME(s) or INITIALS 35/AN
Name or Initial (except Mag of the individual holding the
Stripe) Driver License or ID.
Hyphenated names acceptable,
spaces between names
acceptable, but no other use of
special symbols.
34 Driver Name B An affix occurring at the end of 3/AN
Suffix (except Mag a word, e.g.; Sr., Jr., II, III, IV,
Stripe) etc.
35 Driver Name B PREFIX to Driver Name. Not 5/AN
Prefix (except Mag defined in ANSI D20. Freeform
Stripe) as defined by issuing
jurisdiction.
36 Driver Mailing B STREET ADDRESS LINE 2. 35/AN
Street Address 2 (except Mag (MAILING)
Stripe)
37 Driver Residence B STREET ADDRESS LINE 1. 35/AN
Street Address 1 (except Mag (MAILING)
Stripe)
9

Ref. # Data Usage Definition Field length & type
element/label
38 Driver Residence B STREET ADDRESS LINE 2. 35/AN
Street Address 2 (except Mag (MAILING)
Stripe)
39 Driver Residence B NAME OF CITY for mailing 20/AN
City (except Mag address.
Stripe)
40 Driver Residence B JURISDICTION CODE for 2/AN
Jurisdiction Code (except Mag mailing address. Conforms to
Stripe) Canadian, Mexican and US
Jurisdictions as appropriate.
Codes for provinces (Canada)
and states (US and Mexico).
41 Driver Residence B POSTAL CODE of Residence 11/AN
Postal Code (except Mag
Stripe)
42 Height B HEIGHT in CENTIMETERS 3/N
(CM) (except Mag
Stripe)
43 Weight B WEIGHT in KILOGRAMS 3/N
(KG) (except Mag
Stripe)
44 Issue Timestamp M A string used by some 26/N
(except Mag jurisdictions to validate the
Stripe) document against their data
base.
45 Number of B Number of duplicate cards 2/N
Duplicates (except Mag issued for a license or ID if any.
Stripe)
46 Medical B STATE SPECIFIC. Freeform; 20/AN
Indicator/Codes (except Mag Standard "TBD"
Stripe)
47 Organ Donor B STATE SPECIFIC. Freeform; 10/AN
(except Mag Standard "TBD"
Stripe)
48 Non-Resident B "Y"; Used by some jurisdictions 1/A
Indicator (except Mag to indicate holder of the
Stripe) document is a non-resident.
49 Unique Customer B A number or alphanumeric 25/AN
Identifier (except Mag string used by some
Stripe) jurisdictions to identify a
"customer" across multiple data
bases.
50 Driver "AKA" Date B ALTERNATIVE DATES(S) 8/N
Of Birth (except Mag given as date of birth.
Stripe)
51 Driver "AKA" B FORMAT SAME AS DRIVER 9/N
Social Security (except Mag SOC SEC NUM.
Number Stripe) ALTERNATIVE NUMBERS(S)
used as SS NUM.
10

Ref. # Data Usage Definition Field length & type
element/label
52 Driver "AKA" B ALTERNATIVE NAME(S) of the 35/AN
Name (except Mag individual holding the Driver
Stripe) License or ID. FORMAT same
as defined in ANSI D20 Data
Dictionary.
(Lastname@Firstname@MI@
suffix if any.)
53 Driver "AKA" Last B ALTERNATIVE LAST NAME or 35/AN
Name (except Mag SURNAME of the individual
Stripe) holding the Driver License or ID.
Hyphenated names acceptable,
but no other use of special
symbols.
54 Driver "AKA" First B ALTERNATIVE FIRST NAME 35/AN
Name (except Mag or GIVEN NAME of the
Stripe) individual holding the Driver
License or ID. Hyphenated
names acceptable, but no other
use of special symbols.
55 Driver "AKA" B ALTERNATIVE MIDDLE 35/AN
Middle Name (except Mag NAME(s) or INITIALS of the
Stripe) individual holding the Driver
License or ID. Hyphenated
names acceptable, spaces
between names acceptable, but
no other use of special symbols.
56 Driver "AKA" B ALTERNATIVE SUFFIX as 3/AN
Suffix (except Mag defined in ANSI D20.
Stripe)
57 Driver "AKA" B ALTERNATIVE PREFIX to 5/AN
Prefix (except Mag Driver Name. Not defined in
Stripe) ANSI D20. Freeform as defined
by issuing jurisdiction.
6.4 Format conventions
6.4.1 Character set
Unless otherwise specified, the information elements are alphanumeric as defined in clause 4.
6.4.2 Format of dates
Human-readable dates shall be shown as 6 characters, "mm/dd/yy", where mm = 2-digit month, dd = 2-digit day, and
yy = 2 last digits of year; or if the day is not required, as 4 characters, "mm/yy"; or if century is required, as 8 or 6
characters, "mm/dd/ccyy" or "mm/ccyy", where cc = century.
11

7 Physical security
7.1 Definitions
The industry definitions of overt, covert, first line inspection, second line inspection, and third line inspection are as
follows and apply to this standard for the purposes of identifying and grouping the following security features.
7.1.1 Covert
Security features that are hidden in the document and are not intended to be made public. Used by Motor Vehicle
Administrators and law enforcement for document authentication and forensic purposes. (C=Covert)
7.1.2 Overt
A security feature that is visible or apparent without requiring special instruments. May require some instruction on
how to observe it. The feature may be particularly visible on the genuine document (a passive visible feature) or may
only show after a copy has been made. (O=Overt)
7.1.3 First line inspection
Cursory examination without tools or aids involves easily identifiable visual or tactile features for rapid inspection at
point of usage. (1=First Line Inspection)
7.1.4 Second line inspection
Examination by trained inspectors with simple equipment (magnifying glass, UV light, machine reading equipment,
etc.). (2=Second Line Inspection)
7.1.5 Third line inspection
Inspection by forensic specialists conducting detailed examination allows for more in-depth evaluation and may require
special equipment to provide true certification. (3=Third Line Inspection)
7.2 Physical security requirement
Jurisdictions issuing driver licenses and identification documents shall incorporate one or more overt security features
(e.g., optically variable devices) designed to limit tampering, counterfeiting, photocopying, or otherwise duplicating the
license or document for fraudulent purposes and to limit use of the license or document from impostors. Jurisdictions
should also include one or more covert security features (e.g., machine-readable technologies) to further safeguard
the license or document. Acceptable security features include, but are not limited to, the list found in Annex H of this
document.
8 Encryption
This standard will not address which data should be encrypted and how. Rather, there are certain elements that must
not be encrypted and conformance can be achieved only by leaving them accessible (not encrypted and readable) in
one of the technology formats specified herein. Under no circumstances may any Header as defined in Section E.4.2
or the Subfile designators as defined in E.4.3 be encrypted.
Users at a minimum shall not encrypt the Data Elements outlined in Table 3:
12

Table 3 — Minimum Non-encrypted data elements
Ref. # Data Element
1 Driver License Name
6 Driver License/ID Number
11 Driver License Expiration Date
12 Date of Birth
15 ISO Issuer Identification Number (IIN) Example: 636000 (Virginia)
NOTE It is strongly recommended that all fields be left unencrypted in order to gain the maximum benefit from the use of a
Machine Readable technology. The Machine Readable information shall also be visible (human readable) on the DL/ID card as a
secondary verification method. The Machine Readable information shall not be encrypted unless privacy protection acts or
specific legislation mandates it by law. The Machine Readable information must give enough information on the license holder so
that it is usable by the various communities as a Machine Readable verification or audit methodology.
13

14

Annex A
(normative)
Mapping of driver license/identification card information to magnetic stripe
cards
Introduction
This annex defines mapping of the DL/ID card machine-readable data elements, as defined in clause 6, onto a
magnetic stripe card.
A.1 Conformance
Conformance with all parts of ISO/IEC 7811-6 is required with the exception of data content and coded character sets
as defined in Table A.1 and A.2.
A.2 Card characteristics
The physical characteristics and dimensions shall conform to ISO/IEC 7810. The magnetic stripe area shall conform to
ISO/IEC 7811-6 for tracks 1, 2, and 3.
A.3 Coded character set
Tables A.1 and A.2 define characters for tracks 1, 2, and 3. The coded character sets for 5 bit numeric and 7 bit
alphanumeric are the same as those described in ISO/IEC 7811-6. However, the use of the characters for data or
control purposes may be different.
Table A.1 — Coded character set for 5 bit numeric
ASCII Hex Binary ASCII Hex Binary
P 23 22 21 20 P 23 22 21 20
0 30 1 0 0 0 0 8 38 0 1 0 0 0
1 31 0 0 0 0 1 9 39 1 1 0 0 1
2 32 0 0 0 1 0 : 3A 1 1 0 1 0
3 33 1 0 0 1 1 ; 3B 0 1 0 1 1
4 34 0 0 1 0 0 < 3C 1 1 1 0 0
5 35 1 0 1 0 1 = 3D 0 1 1 0 1
6 36 1 0 1 1 0 > 3E 0 1 1 1 0
7 37 0 0 1 1 1 ? 3F 1 1 1 1 1
The 3 characters : < > are available for hardware control purposes and shall not be used for
information (data content).
The 3 characters ; = ? shall have the following meaning:
; start sentinel
= field separator
? end sentinel
15

Table A.2 — Coded character set for 7 bit alphanumeric
ASCII Hex Binary ASCII Hex Binary
P 25 24 23 22 21 20 P 25 24 23 22 21 20
space 20 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 @ 40 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
! 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 A 41 1 1 0 0 0 0 1
“ 22 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 B 42 1 1 0 0 0 1 0
# 23 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 C 43 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
$ 24 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 D 44 1 1 0 0 1 0 0
% 25 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 E 45 0 1 0 0 1 0 1
& 26 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 F 46 0 1 0 0 1 1 0
‘ 27 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 G 47 1 1 0 0 1 1 1
( 28 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 H 48 1 1 0 1 0 0 0
) 29 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 I 49 0 1 0 1 0 0 1
* 2A 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 J 4A 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
+ 2B 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 K 4B 1 1 0 1 0 1 1
, 2C 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 L 4C 0 1 0 1 1 0 0
- 2D 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 M 4D 1 1 0 1 1 0 1
. 2E 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 N 4E 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
/ 2F 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 O 4F 0 1 0 1 1 1 1
0 30 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 P 50 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
1 31 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 Q 51 0 1 1 0 0 0 1
2 32 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 R 52 0 1 1 0 0 1 0
3 33 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 S 53 1 1 1 0 0 1 1
4 34 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 T 54 0 1 1 0 1 0 0
5 35 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 U 55 1 1 1 0 1 0 1
6 36 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 V 56 1 1 1 0 1 1 0
7 37 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 W 57 0 1 1 0 1 1 1
8 38 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 X 58 0 1 1 1 0 0 0
9 39 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 Y 59 1 1 1 1 0 0 1
: 3A 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 Z 5A 1 1 1 1 0 1 0
; 3B 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 [ 5B 0 1 1 1 0 1 1
< 3C 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 \ 5C 1 1 1 1 1 0 0
= 3D 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 ] 5D 0 1 1 1 1 0 1
> 3E 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 ^ 5E 0 1 1 1 1 1 0
? 3F 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 _ 5F 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
The 14 characters ! “ & ‘ * + , : ; < = > @ _ are available for hardware control purposes and shall not
be used for information (data content). Applies to track 1 only.
The 3 characters [ \ ] are reserved for additional national characters when required. They shall not be
used internationally. Applies to track 1 only.
The character # is reserved for optional additional graphic symbols. Applies to track 1 only.
The 3 characters % ^ ? shall have the following meaning:
% start sentinel
^ field separator
? end sentinel
All 64 characters may be used for information (data content). Applies to track 3 only.
A. 4 Information content and format
This standard uses additional characters and a different format for track 3 than what is described in ISO/IEC 7811-6.
The following tables give the content for each track. This is unique to the AAMVA community and will require
modifications to the encoding and reading devices used in conjunction with track 3. The ability to implement such
16

modifications is a mainstay of the magnetic stripe environment and will introduce no significant problem to any
jurisdiction or to any public or private sector entity wishing to use the magnetic stripe DL/ID card.
A.4.1 Track 1
Table A.3 — Track 1 information content and format
Field Length Length Req’d or Name Information Allowable
# in (char.) fixed or optional characters
order variable
- 82 V-max O Track 1 A/N data in 7 bit binary code for see Table
state, city, name. A.2 and iv
1 1 F R Start This character must be encoded %
sentinel at the beginning of the track.
2 2 F R State or Mailing or residential code. A-Z, see ii
Province
3 13 V-max R City This field shall be truncated with A-Z
a field separator ^ if less than 13
characters long. If the city is .-’
exactly 13 characters long then
no field separator is used (see space
i).
Richfield^
4 35 V-max R Name Priority is as follows, spaces A-Z
allowed;
last name$firstname$title .-’
This field shall be truncated with
a field separator ^ if less than 35 space
characters long. The “$” symbol
is used as a delimiter between
names (see i & iii).
5 29 V R Address The street number shall be as it A-Z
would appear on mail. The $ is
used as a delimiter between 0-9
address lines. This field shall be
truncated with a field separator .-’
(or padded with spaces) if less
than 29 characters long but can space
be longer (see i).
28 Atol Av$Suite 2$^
Hiawatha Park$Apt 2037^
340 Brentwood Dr.$Fall Estate
6 1 F R End This character shall be after the ?
sentinel last data character of the track.
7 1 F R LRC Longitudinal redundancy check see Table
is generated from all other A.2
characters and is the last
character encoded.
i Fields 3 and 4 may be shorter than the maximum listed. Total for fields 3,4 and 5 combined is
77 characters.
ii Allowable characters are further restricted to those defined in ANSI D-20.
iii The $ symbol is used for a delimiter rather than the @ symbol as defined in ANSI D-20. There
is no @ symbol in the 7 bit character set.
17

Field Length Length Req’d or Name Information Allowable
# in (char.) fixed or optional characters
order variable
iv For Fields 1 through 6 only the following characters from Table A.2 are allowed: A-Z 0-9 $ %
( ) - . / ^ ? space
A.4.2 Track 2
Table A.4 — Track 2 information content and format
Field Length Length Req’d or Name Information Allowable
# in (char.) fixed or optional characters
order variable
- 40 V-max O Track 2 Numeric data in 5 bit binary see Table
code for DL number, expiration A.1
date, birthdate.
1 1 F R Start This character shall be encoded ;
sentinel at the beginning of the track.
2 6 F R ISO IIN This is the assigned 0-9
identification number from ISO.
This number shall always begin
with a “6”.
This number shall be obtained
from the AAMVAnet Standards
Program Director.
3 13 V-max R DL/ID# This field is used to represent 0-9
the DL/ID number assigned by
each jurisdiction.
Overflow for DL/ID numbers
longer than 13 characters is
accommodated in field number
7.
4 1 F R Field A field separator must be used =
Separator after the DL/ID number
regardless of length.
18

Field Length Length Req’d or Name Information Allowable
# in (char.) fixed or optional characters
order variable
5 4 F R Expiration This field is in the format: 0-9
date YYMM
If MM=77 then license is “non-
expiring”.
If MM=88 the Expiration Date is
at the end of the month One
Year from the Month (MM) of
Field 6 and the Year (YY) of
Field 5 (Expiration Date).
If MM=99 then the Expiration
Date is on the Month (MM) and
Day (DD) of Field 6 (Birthdate)
and the Year (YY) of Field 5
(Expiration Date).
6 8 F R Birthdate This field is in the format: 0-9
CCYYMMDD
7 5 V O DL/ID# Overflow for numbers longer 0-9
overflow than 13 characters. If no
information is used then a field
separator is used in this field.
8 1 F R End This character shall be after the ?
sentinel last data character of the track.
9 1 F R LRC Longitudinal redundancy check see Table
is generated from all other A.2
characters and is the last
character encoded.
Rules governing DL/ID numbering format(s) will be kept by the Issuing DL/ID Agencies. DL/ID
Numbers containing printed Alpha characters will be represented by two numeric positions for each
Alpha character on Track 2.
Example: The character (A) = a numeric (01), character (B) = a numeric (02), character Z = a numeric
(26).
A.4.3 Track 3
Table A.5 — Track 3 information content and format
Field Length Length Req’d or Name Information Allowable
# in (char.) fixed or optional characters
order variable
- 82 V-max O Track 3 A/N data in 7 bit binary code see Table
for postal code, class, A.2 and ii
restrictions.
1 1 F R Start sentinel This character shall be %
encoded at the beginning of
the track.
2 1 F R Version # This field used to store the 02
mag stripe version used.
3 1 F R Security v.# This field used to store the 0-9
19

Field Length Length Req’d or Name Information Allowable
# in (char.) fixed or optional characters
order variable
security version being used
(00-63), 00 means no
security being used.
4 11 F R Postal code For an 11 digit postal or zip A-Z, 0-9,
code. (left justify fill with space
spaces, no hyphen)
5 2 F R Class Represents the type of DL A-Z, 0-9,
(ANSI codes modified for space
CDLIS).See i
6 10 F R Restrictions See i, iii A-Z, 0-9,
space
7 4 F R Endorsements See i, iii A-Z, 0-9,
space
8 1 F R Sex M for male, F for female. M,F
9 3 F R Height See i, iii 0-9, space
10 3 F R Weight See i, iii 0-9, space
11 3 F R Hair Color See i, iii A-Z, space
12 3 F R Eye Color See i, iii A-Z, space
13 10 V O ID # Discretionary data for use by see Table
each jurisdiction. A.2
14 22 V O Reserved Discretionary data for use by see Table
space each jurisdiction. A.2
15 5 V O Security Discretionary data for use by see Table
each jurisdiction. A.2
16 1 F R End sentinel This character shall be after ?
the last data character of the
track.
17 1 F R LRC Longitudinal redundancy see Table
check is generated from all A.2
other characters and is the
last character encoded.
i Allowable characters are further restricted to those defined in ANSI D-20.
ii All 64 characters may be used in data fields; this is different from the ISO use of Table A.2
coded characters. Special hardware or software may be required for readers and encoders.
iii If not present pad with spaces.
A.5 Encoding specifications
Track locations, start of encoding location, end of encoding location, average bit density, flux transition spacing
variation, and signal amplitude requirements shall be as described in ISO/IEC 7811-6 for tracks 1, 2, and 3.
A.6 Error detection
Inclusion of parity and LRC as described in ISO/IEC 7811-6 is required.
20

Annex B
(normative)
Mapping of driver license/identification card information to integrated circuit(s)
cards (ICC)
Introduction
This annex defines the mapping of the driver license/identification card data elements onto an integrated circuit card
(ICC). The ICC may be either a contactless ICC or an ICC with contacts.
This annex defines:
- physical characteristics of an ICC, in addition to those characteristics specified in ISO/IEC 7810.
- location and dimensions of the contact or coupling areas,
- electrical signals to support communications between the ICC and the Interface Device (IFD);
- transmission protocols and answer to reset;
- command set;
- the file structure for the driver license/identification card application; and
- the data element mappings to the files.
All these requirements are aligned with the ISO/IEC standards for integrated circuit cards. There is one form of ICC
with contacts and there are three forms of contactless ICCs. All are defined the respective groups of standards:
ISO/IEC 7816 Identification cards - Integrated circuit(s) cards with contacts
ISO/IEC 10536 Identification cards - Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards - Closely coupled cards
ISO/IEC 14443 Identification cards - Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards - Proximity cards
ISO/IEC 15693 Identification cards - Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards - Vicinity cards
This annex defines the card structure and commands to be used when the ICC card is in operation (used by the
cardholder) but does not address the means used to manufacture or issue such a card. The issuance phases
(initialization, personalization, distribution) are beyond the scope of this standard.
Note The choice of technologies may affect interoperablity of the ICC, especially with POS systems that have
already been installed. The use the technologies defined in ISO/IEC 10536 and ISO/IEC 15693 may not be
appropriate for that environment.
21

B.2 Physical characteristics
The physical characteristics of the ICC shall adhere to the physical characteristics specified in the standard for the
respective type of card.
B.3 Location and dimensions of coupling areas
The location and dimension of the contact or coupling areas of the ICC shall adhere to the location and dimension
specified in the standard for the respective type of card.
B.4 Electronic signals
The electronic signals and reset procedures are given in the standard for the respective type of card.
B.5 Transmission protocols and answer to reset
B.5.1. Transmission protocols
The driver license/identification card may support a variety of protocols in accordance with the standard for the
respective type of card. Both the IFD and the ICC shall support at least the protocol T = 0 (see ISO/IEC 7816-3).
Other protocols that may be used are defined in the respective standards.
B.5.2. Answer to reset
The answer to reset shall adhere to the answer to reset specified in the standard for the respective type of card. A
contact ICC shall not specify a separate programming voltage. The use of historical bytes in the answer to reset is a
vendor option, but shall be in compliance with the respective standard.
B.6 Application selection
ICCs may support more than one application. The driver license application shall be the default application if none is
selected. There may be only one active driver license application in the ICC.
The driver license application shall be selected by use of the Application Identification (AID) as a reserved DF name.
The AID shall consist of the Registered Application Identifier (RID) assigned by ISO according to ISO/IEC 7816-5.
The AID shall not contain a Proprietary Application Identifier Extension (PIX). The RID is ‘A0 00 xx xx xx’.
B.7 File structure
Information on an ICC is stored in a file system defined in ISO/IEC 7816-4. The card file system is organized
hierarchically into dedicated files (DFs) and elementary files (EFs). Dedicated files (DFs) contain elementary files or
other dedicated files. A master file (MF) is the root of the file system.
One DF as defined by this specification contains driver license information about the cardholder. The DF has the name
‘A0 00 xx xx xx’ for the application (the registered AID) and is selected by this name. It can be placed anywhere in the
DF tree attached to the MF of the card, including the MF itself.
22

The EFs defined by this specification store the driver license/identification information elements in a record structure.
The records contain specific data elements as described in B.9. The Issuer file contains the control data elements for
the issuing authority. The License data file contains the data elements for the driver license. The Photo file contains
the digitized photo image if present. The issuer may use additional files for other information as desired. Additional
security controls may be placed these additional files as desired.
B.8 Command set
The commands to be supported by the driver license/identification card are as follows:
- SELECT FILE by DF name (full name) to select the application
- READ RECORD by short EF identifier with a specified record number
These commands, formats, and their return codes are defined in ISO/IEC 7816-4. When a READ RECORD command
is issued to the card on a file that does not exist (e.g., optional files) or that is not accessible (see clause B.10 on
security), the card will return an error code according to ISO/IEC 7816-4.
Example of application selection
The application shall be selected by use of the following parameters for the APDU.
CLA ‘00’
INS ‘A4’
P1 ‘04’ – (select by DF name – the AID)
P2 ‘00’
L ‘05’ – (length of AID)
c
Data field ‘A0 00 xx xx xx’ – (the AID)
L ‘00’ – return the application label if present
e
The response data field contains the application label. The label shall be ‘Driver License’.
23

Example of reading a record from a file
The READ command shall be used to access a specific record number. This example reads record number one from
the issuer file that is known by the short file identifier ’01.’ The APDU parameters for this action are shown below.
CLA ‘00’
INS ‘B2’
P1 ‘01’ - specifies record number one
P2 ‘0C’ - read by record number from SFI ‘01’
L Empty
c
Data field Empty
L 0 - specifies to read the entire record
e
The response data field contains the record.
B.9 File contents
This clause defines the mapping of the machine-readable information elements defined in clause 6. The files contain
the data elements as data objects within specific records. The structure and coding of data objects are defined in
ISO/IEC 7816-4 and 7816-6. Each data object has an identification tag that is specified in hexadecimal coding (for
example, ‘5A’). Standard tags are used wherever possible. The tags defined in this standard use the proprietary
coding option with tag values from ‘C0’ to ‘DF20’. Each data object has a unique tag, a length and a value. The data
objects that may be present in a file are identified as mandatory (M) or optional (O). The definitions contain the
specific reference to the data element number defined in clause 6.
This definition provides for two additional data elements that are not available with magnetic stripe or bar code
technologies. These elements provide for the storage of a digitized photographic image (tag ‘5F40C’) and a digitized
handwritten signature image (tag ‘5F43’) as defined in ISO/IEC 7816-6. These data elements are stored in a separate
file since they may require the reading of multiple records to obtain the data.
B.9.1. EF (Issuer Information) SFI ‘01’
ISSUER
This EF contains the identity of the issuer of the driver license/identification card and any information related to the
issuing of the driver license. The identity of the issuer in the United States is defined by the ISO IIN assigned to each
state and is in data object ’42.’ In anticipation of use by other countries, the record may contain the country code of
the issuer in data object ‘41’ instead. (See ISO/IEC 7816-6 for additional information.) The data objects defined below
will be read as the first record in the file. Additional records with other data objects may be present in the file at the
issuer’s discretion. These records are beyond the scope of this standard.
The maximum size of this record is 127 bytes.
24

Short EF Identifier: '01'H Structure: Record Mandatory EF
Tag Description M/O Length Char Set Data Element
‘42’ Issuer Identification Number M Fixed - 6 N 15
‘44’ Application Version Number M Fixed - 2 N n/a
‘DF00’ Security Version Number M Fixed - 2 N n/a
‘5A’ Driver License/ID Number M Var - 25 N or AN 6 (and 7)
‘5F25’ Issue Date M Fixed – 8 AN 14
‘DF0C’ Issue Timestamp O Var - 26 N 45
‘DF0D’ Number of Duplicates O Fixed - 2 N 46
‘DF08’ Unique Customer Identifier O Var - 25 AN 50
B.9.2. EF (Driver License data) SFI ‘02’
DL
This EF contains the required and optional data elements for the cardholder as data objects in fixed content records.
The mapping of data objects to records is specified below. The contents and maximum sizes of these records are:
Record number Contents Maximum size
1 Mandatory data elements 201
2 Personal characteristics 192
3 Permit data elements, 186
Residence address and mailing
address
4 ‘AKA’ data elements 189
25

The file is variable length and may contain additional records. The file must contain at least one record, the mandatory
data elements.
B.9.2.1 Record 1 – mandatory data elements
Short EF Identifier: '02'H Structure: Record Mandatory EF
Tag Description M/O Length Char Set Data Element
‘42’ Issuer Identification Number M Fixed - 6 N 15
‘5A’ Driver License/ID Number M Var - 25 AN 6 (and 7)
’5F20’ Driver License Name M Var - 35 AS 1
’5F42’ Driver Address M Var - 29 ANS 2
’D7’ Driver Mailing City M Var - 15 AS or AN 3
‘D8’
Driver Mailing Jurisdiction Code M Fixed - 2 AN 4
‘D9’
Driver Mailing Postal Code M Fixed - 11 ANS 5
‘C0’
Driver License Classification M F ixed - 4 AN 8
Code
‘C1’
Driver License Restriction Code M F ixed - 10 AN 9
‘C2’
Driver License Endorsement M F ixed - 5 AN 10
Code
‘5F24’
Driver License Expiration Date M F ixed - 8 N 11
‘5F2B’
Date of Birth M F ixed - 8 N 12
‘5F35’
Driver Sex M F ixed - 1 N 13
‘5F26’
Driver License or ID Document M F ixed - 8 N 14
Issue Date
26

B.9.2.2 Record 2 – personal characteristics
Short EF Identifier: '02'H Structure: Record Mandatory EF
Tag Description M/O Length Char Set Data Element
‘CA’
Height (FT/IN) O Fixed - 3 N 20
or
or
‘DF0A’
Height (CM) 43
‘CB’ Weight (LBS) O Fixed - 3 N 21
or or
‘DF0B’ Weight (KG) 44
‘CC’ Eye Color O Fixed - 3 N 22
‘CD’ Hair Color O Fixed - 3 N 23
‘D0’ Driver Last Name O Var – 35 AN 31
‘D1’ Driver First Name O Var – 35 AN 32
‘D2’ Driver Middle Name or Initial O Var – 35 AN 33
‘D3’ Driver Name Suffix O Fixed – 3 AN 34
‘D4’ Driver Name Prefix O Fixed – 5 AN 35
‘C9’
Social Security Number O Fixed – 9 N 24
‘DF06’
Medical Indicator/Codes O Var – 20 AN 47
‘DF07’
Organ Donor O Fixed – 10 AN 48
27

B.9.2.3 Record 3 – permit data elements, residence address and mailing address
Short EF Identifier: '02'H Structure: Record Mandatory EF
Tag Description M/O Length Char Set Data Element
‘C3’ Driver Permit Classification O
Code
F ixed - 2 A 2 5
‘C4’ Driver Permit Expiration Date
O F ixed - 8 N 2 6
‘C5’ Permit Identifier
O F ixed - 25 AN 2 7
‘C6’ Driver Permit Issue Date
O F ixed - 8 N 2 8
‘C7’
Driver License Restriction Code O F ixed - 10 AN 2 9
‘C8’
Driver License Endorsement O F ixed - 6 AN 3 0
Code
‘D5’
Driver Mailing Street Address 1 O V ar – 20 AN 36
‘D6’
Driver Mailing Street Address 2 O V ar – 20 AN 37
‘DA’
Driver Residence Street O V ar – 20 AN 38
Address 1
‘DB’
Driver Residence Street O V ar – 20 AN 39
Address 2
‘DC’
Driver Residence City O V ar – 15 AN 40
‘DD’
Driver Residence Jurisdiction O F ixed - 2 AN 41
Code
‘DE’
Driver Residence Postal Code O F ixed - 11 AN 42
‘CE’
Non-Resident Indicator O Fixed - 1 A 49
28

B.9.2.4 Record 4 – “AKA” data elements
Short EF Identifier: '02'H Structure: Record Mandatory EF
Tag Description M/O Length Char Set Data Element
‘DF2B’
Driver "AKA" Date of Birth O Fixed - 8 N 51
‘DF09’
Driver "AKA" Social Security O Fixed - 9 N 52
Number
‘DF20’
Driver "AKA" Name O Var – 35 AN 53
‘DF01’
Driver "AKA" Last Name O Var – 35 AN 54
‘DF02’
Driver "AKA" First Name O Var – 35 AN 55
‘DF03’
Driver "AKA" Middle Name or O Var – 35 AN 56
Initial
‘DF04’
Driver "AKA" Name Suffix O Fixed - 3 AN 57
‘DF05’
Driver "AKA" Name Prefix O Fixed - 5 AN 58
B.9.3 EF (Magnetic Stripe Information) SFI ‘03’
MAG
This EF contains the image of the data contained in the magnetic stripe(s) All driver license information contained in a
magnetic stripe shall be stored in this file. Any combination of the three tracks on the magnetic stripe may be present.
The data shall be written in ASCII character coding structure. The data objects exclude the special characters used for
start sentinel, end sentinel and LRC.
The maximum size of this record is 201 bytes.
Note The use of this data format should be maintained until the use of the magnetic stripe has been completely
phased out and all interface devices (terminals) have been revised to use only the data in EF or EF . This format
DL ISSUER
may be needed during the lengthy transition process and migration to the use of the ICC in place of the magnetic
stripe.
29

Short EF Identifier: '03'H Structure: Record Mandatory EF
Tag Description M/O Length Char Set Data Element
‘56’ Track 1 in ASCII O Var – 79 ANS Track 1
‘57’ Track 2 in ASCII O Var – 37 N Track 2
‘58’ Track 3 in ASCII O Var - 79 AN Track 3
B.9.4 EF (Digitized Portrait Image) SFI ‘04’
POR
This EF contains the digitized image of the cardholder’s portrait image. This data element is contained in a
cardholder image template ‘6C.’ Use of the template code is optional. See ISO/IEC 7816-6 for a more detailed
description of additional data elements that may be in the template. Since the data element may be large, multiple
READ RECORD commands may have to be issued to obtain the full record. See ISO/IEC 7816-4 for more
information.
Short EF Identifier: '04'H Structure: Record Mandatory EF
Tag Description Length Char Set Data Element
M/O
‘6C’ Template for digitized image O Var B N/a
information
‘5F40’ Portrait image O Var B N/a
(See ISO/IEC 10918-1)
B.9.5 EF (Digitized Handwritten Signature Image) SFI ‘05’
SIG
This EF contains the digitized image of the cardholder’s handwritten signature. This data element is contained in a
cardholder image template ‘6C.’ Use of the template code is optional. See ISO/IEC 7816-6 for a more detailed
description of additional data elements that may be in the template. Since the data element may be large, multiple
READ RECORD commands may have to be issued to obtain the full record. See ISO/IEC 7816-4 for more
information.
Short EF Identifier: '05'H Structure: Record Mandatory EF
30

Tag Description Length Char Set Data Element
M/O
‘6C’ Template for digitized image O Var B N /a
information
‘5F43’ Handwritten signature image O Var B N /a
(see ISO/IEC 11544)
B.10 Security
lCCs can be used to secure and protect the information they contain. For example, because of privacy issues, an
issuer may decide to restrict the access of some information stored in the card to the cardholder and may require a
PIN for authentication. This standard does not impose any security structure. This standard does acknowledge the
fact that security restrictions imposed by a given issuer may induce the IC card to reject a command when used in an
incorrect security context (e.g., UPDATE RECORD of a file protected against modification such as the Issuer Number
EF). A security scheme version number may be specified in the data file with the issuer information, EF .
ISSUER
Some of the optional data elements may require more security. These data elements may be placed in other files,
with separate security constraints for each file. The recommended technique is to use the record structures defined
above in another EF with the next available short file identifier: '06'H, '07'H, etc.
The magnetic stripe data in EF should not be encrypted and it should be available to be read by any interface
MAG
device. The data in EF should be updated only by the issuer.
MAG
The portrait and handwritten signatures images should not be encrypted and should be available to be read by any
interface device. The data in EF and EF should be written once by the issuer. The security risks coincident with
POR SIG
the ability to update these images should be carefully considered by the issuer. It is recommended that the card be
reissued if this data must be changed.
31

B.11 Data element tags
Ref. # Data element/label Tag SFI Record
1 Driver License Name ‘5F20’ ‘02’ 1
2 Driver Address ‘5F42’ ‘02’ 1
3 Driver Mailing City ‘D7’ ‘02’ 1
4 Driver Mailing Jurisdiction Code ‘D8’ ‘02’ 1
5 Driver Mailing Postal Code ‘D9’ ‘02’ 1
6 Driver License/ID Number ‘5A’ ‘01’ 1
‘02’ 1
7 ID/DL # * - - -
8 Driver License Classification Code ‘C0’ ‘02’ 1
9 Driver License Restriction Code ‘C1’ ‘02’ 1
10 Driver License Endorsement Code ‘C2’ ‘02’ 1
11 Driver License Expiration Date ‘5F24’ ‘02’ 1
12 Date of Birth ‘5F2B’ ‘02’ 1
13 Driver Sex ‘5F35’ ‘02’ 1
14 Driver License or ID Document Issue Date ‘5F26’ ‘02’ 1
15 ISO Issuer Identifier Number (IIN) ‘42’ ‘01’ 1
‘02’ 1
16 Driver License or Identification Card Identifier ‘4F’ DF
name
17 Color Photograph or Image ‘5F40’ ‘04’ Multiple
template ‘6C’
18 Signature ‘5F43’ ‘05’ multiple
template ‘6C’
19 Security Features ** - - -
32

Ref. # Data element/label Tag SFI Record
20 Height (FT/IN) ‘CA’ ‘02’ 2
21 Weight (LBS) ‘CB’ ‘02’ 2
22 Eye Color ‘CC’ ‘02’ 2
23 Hair Color ‘CD’ ‘02’ 2
24 Social Security Number ‘C9’ ‘02’ 2
25 Driver Permit Classification Code ‘C3’ ‘02’ 3
26 Driver Permit Expiration Date ‘C4’ ‘02’ 3
27 Permit Identifier ‘C5’ ‘02’ 3
28 Driver Permit Issue Date ‘C6’ ‘02’ 3
29 Driver Permit Restriction Code ‘C7’ ‘02’ 3
30 Driver Permit Endorsement Code ‘C8’ ‘02’ 3
31 Driver Last Name ‘D0’ ‘02’ 2
32 Driver First Name ‘D1’ ‘02’ 2
33 Driver Middle Name or Initial ‘D2’ ‘02’ 2
34 Driver Name Suffix ‘D3’ ‘02’ 2
35 Driver Name Prefix ‘D4’ ‘02’ 2
36 Driver Mailing Street Address 1 ‘D5’ ‘02’ 3
37 Driver Mailing Street Address 2 ‘D6’ ‘02’ 3
38 Driver Residence Street Address 1 ‘DA’ ‘02’ 3
39 Driver Residence Street Address 2 ‘DB’ ‘02’ 3
40 Driver Residence City ‘DC’ ‘02’ 3
41 Driver Residence Jurisdiction Code ‘DD’ ‘02’ 3
42 Driver Residence Postal Code ‘DE’ ‘02’ 3
43 Height (CM) ‘DF0A’ ‘02’ 2
44 Weight (KG) ‘DF0B’ ‘02’ 2
45 Issue Timestamp ‘DF0C’ ‘01’ 1
33

Ref. # Data element/label Tag SFI Record
46 Number of Duplicates ‘DF0D’ ‘01’ 1
47 Medical Indicator/Codes ‘DF06’ ‘02’ 2
48 Organ Donor ‘DF07’ ‘02’ 2
49 Non-Resident Indicator ‘CE’ ‘02’ 3
50 Unique Customer Identifier ‘DF08’ ‘01’ 1
51 Driver "AKA" Date Of Birth ‘DF2B’ ‘02’ 4
52 Driver "AKA" Social Security Number ‘DF09’ ‘02’ 4
53 Driver "AKA" Name ‘DF20’ ‘02’ 4
54 Driver "AKA" Last Name ‘DF01’ ‘02’ 4
55 Driver "AKA" First Name ‘DF02’ ‘02’ 4
56 Driver "AKA" Middle Name ‘DF03’ ‘02’ 4
57 Driver "AKA" Suffix ‘DF04’ ‘02’ 4
58 Driver "AKA" Prefix ‘DF05’ ‘02’ 4
Magnetic Stripe Track 1 ‘56’ ‘03’ 1
Magnetic Stripe Track 3 ‘57’ ‘03’ 1
Magnetic Stripe Track 3 ‘58’ ‘03’ 1
Application version number ‘44’ ‘01’ 1
Security version number ‘DF00’ ‘01’ 1
* The driver license number extension is included in element 6.
** The smart card provides its own security features.
34

Annex C
(normative)
Finger imaging
Introduction
This annex defines standards to ensure interoperability in the collection and use of finger imaging with driver license
and identification cards.
C.1 Conformance
The use of finger imaging and finger image data with driver license and identification cards shall comply with the
following: ANSI/NIST-CSL1-1993, CJIS/FBI IAFIS-IC-0110, and CJIS-RS-0010, BioAPI Specification Version 1.00,
The BioAPI Consortium, March 30, 2000.
C.2 Application Definitions
C.2.1 Verification
A one-to-one comparison of the currently collected finger image with a previously collected finger image associated
with the claimed identity being verified. The previously collected finger image may be either retrieved from a database
or placed in machine readable form on the card.
C.2.2 Search
A one-to-many comparison on a database to determine the unknown identity of the individual being processed or to
determine uniqueness of the individual being enrolled to ensure one identity per person. This process reduces the
possibility of one person having multiple identities in the database.
C.2.3 Core
The approximate center of the fingerprint pattern as defined for the various pattern types.
C.3 Finger Selection
A Driver License or Identification Card shall include biometric data collected from a minimum of two fingers. Selection
of fingers collected shall be in the following order:
1) Left Fore (Index)
2) Right Fore (Index)
3) Left Thumb
4) Right Thumb
35

5) Left Middle
6) Right Middle
7) Left Ring
8) Right Ring
9) Left Little
0) Right Little
Figure C.1 — Finger Selection
If an individual is missing the selected finger, the next finger in this order shall be used. Where usable finger images
are not available, this shall be noted in the record describing the hand configuration.
C.4 Image Quality
There are two factors in collecting quality finger images: the collection device performance and the actual quality of
each image collection in terms of repeatability and consistency needed for successful matching processes.
C.4.1 Finger Image Collection Device
Finger live-scan collection devices shall conform to CJIS-RS-0010 Appendix G. This specification sets performance
standards on finger image scanners for resolution, geometric image accuracy, modulation transfer function, signal-to-
noise ratio, grayscale range, grayscale linearity, and grayscale uniformity.
C.4.2 Finger Image Collection Result
The imaging of the finger pattern shall result in an image in which the core of the pattern is positioned within 25% of
the image center. The ridge pattern shall be clearly visible (smudge-free) with differentiable ridges and valleys for the
entire area around the core.
C.5 Compression
If compression is used it shall be Criminal Justice Information Services CJIS/FBI IAFIS-IC-0110 Wavelet Scalar
Quantization (WSQ). The average compression ratio applied using WSQ shall not be greater than 15:1.
36

C.6 Data Format
Finger image data shall be interchanged between jurisdictions using the data format specified in ANSI/NIST-CSL1-
1993 “Data Format for the Interchange of Fingerprint Information”. The configuration of the data shall include Record
type1 Transaction information, record type 2 User-Defined Text, and record type 4 Fingerprint image data (high-
resolution grayscale).
NOTE Because different AFIS use minutiae and potentially use other features extracted from the finger image to improve
speed and performance, interchange between jurisdictions shall be accomplished using finger images, not minutiae data, so that
the best possible matching performance can be achieved.
C.7 Minutiae Extraction Introduction
This section of the Annex provides interoperability between different finger matchers for the purposes of one-to-one
verification of an individual’s identity against a previously collected and stored finger record. The interoperability is
based on defining the finger minutiae extraction rules and record format that are common to most all finger matchers
for acceptable matching accuracy, while allowing for proprietary data to be attached so that the highest accuracy can
be maintained for matching accomplished with the same matcher type.
C.8 External Standards Referenced
BioAPI Specification Version 1.00, The BioAPI Consortium, March 30, 2000
C.9 Definitions
C.9.1
Filtering
partitioning a database through the use of exogenous information about the user not discernible from the biometric
patterns, such as sex, age or race
C.9.2
Friction Ridge
The ridges present on the skin of the fingers and toes, the palms and soles of the feet, which makes contact with an
incident surface under normal touch. On the fingers, the unique patterns formed by the friction ridges make up
fingerprints.
C.9.3
Live-Scan Print
a fingerprint image that is produced by scanning or imaging a live finger to generate an image of the friction ridges
C.9.4
Minutia (single)
Minutiae (pl)
Friction ridge characteristics that are used to individualize a fingerprint. Minutiae occur at points where a single friction
ridge deviates from an uninterrupted flow. Deviation may take the form of ending, division, or immediate origination
and termination.
C.9.5
Resolution
the number of pixels (picture elements) per unit distance in the image of the fingerprint
37

C.9.6
Ridge Ending
The point at which a friction ridge terminates or, alternatively, begins. A ridge ending is surrounded on three sides by
valley.
C.9.7
Ridge Bifurcation
the point at which a friction ridge splits into two ridges or, alternatively, where two separate friction ridges combine into
one
C.9.8
Valley
the area surrounding a friction ridge, which does not make contact with an incident surface under normal touch
C.10 Minutiae Description
C.10.1 Principle
Establishment of a common feature-based representation must rest on agreement on the fundamental notion for
representing a fingerprint. A significant number of technology providers follow a traditional approach of encoding a
fingerprint through location of “minutia” points. These minutiae are points located at the places in the fingerprint image
where friction ridges end or split into two ridges. Describing a fingerprint in terms of the location and direction of these
ridge endings and splits provides sufficient information to reliably determine whether two fingerprint records are from
the same finger.
Fingerprint images can be represented with “light ridges” or “dark ridges”. The minutia points shall be located in such a
way that the points and their directions do not change when the light and dark polarity of the image is inverted. This
decision not only provides for consistent data extraction regardless of image polarity, but also ensures equal behavior
of ending and bifurcation points with respect to image degradations such as noise and contrast variance. The
specifications of minutia location and minutia direction described below accomplish this. See Figure C.2 for an
illustration of the definitions below.
C.10.2 Minutia Type
Each minutia point has a “type” associated with it. There are two major types of minutia: a “ridge ending” and a “ridge
bifurcation” or split point. There are other types of “points of interest” in the friction ridges that occur much less
frequently and are more difficult to define precisely. This standard defines a category of “other” minutia for points that
are not clearly a ridge ending nor a bifurcation.
C.10.3 Minutia Location
C.10.3.1 Coordinate System
The coordinate system used to express the minutia points of a fingerprint shall be a Cartesian coordinate system.
Points shall be represented by their X and Y coordinates where X is increasing to the right and Y is increasing upward.
Note that this is in agreement with typical mathematical graphing practice, but the direction of the Y-axis is the
opposite of most imaging and image processing use. The X and Y coordinates of the minutia points shall be in pixel
units, with the spatial resolution of a pixel given in the “X Resolution” and “Y Resolution” fields of the format. X and Y
resolutions are stated separately.
C.10.3.2 Minutia Placement on a Ridge Ending
The minutia point for a ridge ending shall be defined as the point of forking of the medial skeleton of the valley area
immediately in front of the ridge ending. If the valley area were thinned down to a single-pixel-wide skeleton, the point
38

where the three legs intersect is the location of the minutia. In simpler terms, the point where the valley “Y”’s, or
(equivalently) where the three legs of the thinned valley area intersect.
C.10.3.3 Minutia Placement on a Ridge Bifurcation
In corresponding fashion, the minutia point for a ridge bifurcation shall be defined as the point of forking of the medial
skeleton of the ridge. If the ridge were thinned down to a single-pixel-wide skeleton, the point where the three legs
intersect is the location of the minutia. In simpler terms, the point where the ridge “Y”’s, or (equivalently) where the
three legs of the thinned ridge intersect.
C.10.3.4 Minutia Placement on Other Minutiae Types
For minutiae other than a bifurcation or ridge ending the placement and angle of direction shall be vendor defined.
C.10.4 Minutia Direction
C.10.4.1 Angle Conventions
Angles are expressed in standard mathematical format, with zero degrees to the right and angles increasing in the
counterclockwise direction.
C.10.4.2 Angle of a Ridge Ending
The angle of a ridge ending is defined as the angle of a line segment originating at the minutia point location, and
extending to the end of the medial skeleton of the ridge itself. In other words, the angle of a line from the minutia point
to the point at the end of the thinned ridge.
C.10.4.3 Angle of a Ridge Bifurcation
The angle of a ridge bifurcation is defined as the angle of a line segment originating at the minutia point location, and
extending to the end of the medial skeleton of the area between the two ridge branches. In other words, the angle of a
line from the minutia point to the endpoint of the enclosed valley.
39

q
Bifurcation
Ridge Ending
Figure C.2 - Minutia Location
40

C.11 Finger Minutiae Record Format
The minutiae record format shall be used to achieve interoperability between finger matchers providing a one-to-one
verification. The minutia data shall be represented in a common format, containing both public and private (proprietary)
data. With the exception of the Format Identifier and the Version number for the standard, which are null-terminated
ASCII character strings, all data is represented in binary format. There are no record separators or field tags; fields are
parsed by byte count.
All multibyte quantities are represented in Big-Endian format; that is, the more significant bytes of any multibyte
quantity are stored at lower addresses in memory than (and are transmitted before) less significant bytes. All numeric
values are fixed-length integer quantities, and are unsigned quantities.
The organization of the record is as follows:
· A fixed-length (26-byte) record header containing information about the overall record, including the number of
fingers represented and the overall record length in bytes;
· A Single Finger record for each finger, consisting of:
· A fixed-length (4-byte) header containing information about the data for a single finger, including the number of
minutiae;
· A series of fixed-length(6-byte) minutia point descriptions, including the position, type, angle and quality of the
minutia point;
· One private data areas for each finger, containing vendor-specific information.
C.11.1 Record Header
There shall be one and only one record header for minutiae record to hold information describing the identity and
characteristics of device that generated the minutiae data.
C.11.1.1 Format Identifier
The Finger Minutiae Record shall begin with the three ASCII characters “FMR” to identify the record as following this
standard, followed by a zero byte as a NULL string terminator.
C.11.1.2 Version Number
The version number for the version of this standard used in constructing the minutiae record shall be placed in four
bytes. This version number shall consist of three ASCII numerals followed by a zero byte as a NULL string terminator.
The first and second character will represent the major revision number and the third character will represent the minor
revision number.
Upon approval of this specification, the version number shall be “ 10” (an ASCII space followed by an ASCII ‘1’ and an
ASCII ‘0’).
C.11.1.3 Length of Record
The length of the entire record shall be recorded in two bytes.
41

C.11.1.4 System Vendor ID
These two bytes shall uniquely identify the vendor or “owner” of the encoding equipment. This “owner code” shall use
values defined and maintained by the International Biometric Industry Association (www.ibia.org). A value of zero will
not be allowed.
C.11.1.5 Feature Extraction Software ID
The feature extraction version shall be recorded in two bytes. A value of all zeros will be acceptable and will indicate
that the SW ID is unreported. The value of this field is determined by the vendor. Applications developers may obtain
the values for these codes from the vendor.
C.11.1.6 Scanner ID
The scanner ID shall be recorded in two bytes. A value of all zeros will be acceptable and will indicate that the scanner
ID is unreported. The value of this field is determined by the vendor. Applications developers may obtain the values for
these codes from the vendor.
C.11.1.7 Size of Scanned Image in X direction
The size of the original image in pixels in the X direction shall be contained in two bytes.
C.11.1.8 Size of Scanned Image in Y direction
The size of the original image in pixels in the Y direction shall be contained in two bytes.
C.11.1.9 Scan Rate in X direction
The resolution of the finger scanner shall be recorded in two bytes having the units of pixels per centimeter. The value
of the sensor X resolution shall not be zero.
C.11.1.10 Scan Rate in Y direction
The resolution of the finger scanner shall be recorded in two bytes having the units of pixels per centimeter. The value
of the sensor Y resolution shall not be zero.
C.11.1.11 Number Of Fingers
The number of fingers contained in the minutiae record shall be recorded in one byte.
C.11.1.12 Reserved Byte
A single byte is reserved for future revision of this specification. For Version 1.0 of this standard, this byte must be set
to 0.
C.11.2 Single Finger Record Format
C.11.2.1 Finger Header
A finger header shall start each section of finger data providing information for that finger. There shall be one finger
header for each finger contained in the finger minutiae record. The finger header will occupy a total of four bytes as
described below. Note that it is permissible for more than one finger record to represent the same finger, with
(presumably) different data, perhaps in the private area.
42

C.11.2.1.1 Finger Position
The finger position shall be recorded in one byte. The codes for this byte shall be as defined in Table 5 of ANSI/NIST-
CSL 1-1993, “Data Format for the Interchange of Fingerprint Information”. This table is reproduced here for
convenience. Only codes 0 through 10 shall be used; the “plain” codes are not relevant for this standard.
Table C.1 - Finger Position codes
Finger position Code
Unknown finger 0
Right thumb 1
Right index finger 2
Right middle finger 3
Right ring finger 4
Right little finger 5
Left thumb 6
Left index finger 7
Left middle finger 8
Left ring finger 9
Left little finger 10
Plain right thumb 11
Plain left thumb 12
Plain right four fingers 13
Plain left four fingers 14
C.11.2.1.2 Impression Type
The impression type of the finger images that the minutiae data was derived from shall be recorded in one byte. The
codes for this byte shall be as defined in Table 4 of ANSI/NIST-CSL 1-1993, “Data Format for the Interchange of
Fingerprint Information”. This table is reproduced here for convenience. Only codes 0 through 3 shall be used; the
“latent” codes are not relevant for this standard.
Table C.2 - Impression Type codes
Description Code
Live-scan plain 0
Live-scan rolled 1
Nonlive-scan plain 2
Nonlive-scan rolled 3
Latent impression 4
Latent tracing 5
Latent photo 6
Latent lift 7
43

C.11.2.1.3 Finger Quality
The quality of the overall finger minutiae data shall be between 0 and 100 and recorded in one byte. This quality
number is an overall expression of the quality of the finger record, and represents quality of the original image, of the
minutia extraction and any additional operations that may affect the minutia record. A value of 0 shall represent the
lowest possible quality and the value 100 shall represent the higher possible quality. The numeric values in this field
will be set in accordance with the general guidelines contained in Section 2.1.42 of the “BioAPI H-Level Specification
Version 1.00”. This value may be used by the matcher to determine its certainty of verification.
C.11.2.1.4 Number of Minutiae
The number of minutiae recorded for the finger shall be recorded in one byte.
C.11.2.2 Finger Minutiae Data
The finger minutiae data for a single finger shall be recorded in blocks of six bytes per minutia point. The order of the
minutiae is not specified.
C.11.2.2.1 Minutiae Type
The type of minutiae will be recorded in the first two bits of the upper byte of the X coordinate. There will be two bits
reserved at the beginning of the upper byte of the Y coordinate for future use. The bits “00” will represent a minutia of
“other” type, “01” will represent a ridge ending and “10” will represent a bifurcation.
C.11.2.2.2 Minutiae Position
The X coordinate of the minutia shall be recorded in the rest of the first two bytes (fourteen bits). The Y coordinate
shall be placed in the lower fourteen bits of the following two bytes. The coordinates shall be expressed in pixels at the
resolution indicated in the record header. Note that position information shall be present for each minutia point,
regardless of type, although position for minutiae of type “other” is vendor defined.
C.11.2.2.3 Minutiae Angle
The angle of the minutia shall be recorded in one byte in units of 2 degrees. The value shall be a non-negative value
between 0 and 179, inclusive. For example, an angle value of 5 represents 10 degrees. Note that angle information
shall be present for each minutia point, regardless of type, although angle for minutiae of type “other” is vendor
defined.
C.11.2.2.4 Minutiae Quality
The quality of each minutia shall be recorded in one byte. The quality figure shall range from 100 as a maximum to 1
as a minimum. Any equipment that does not supply quality information for individual minutia points shall set all quality
values to 0.
C.11.3 Proprietary Data
The optional section of the finger minutiae record is open to placing proprietary data required by the matcher to
maintain its highest performance level. The size of this section should be kept as small as possible, augmenting the
data stored in the standard minutiae section. The proprietary data for each finger shall immediately follow the standard
minutiae data.
C.11.3.1 Type Identification Code
The type identification code shall be recorded in two bytes, and shall distinguish the format of the private area (as
defined by the Vendor specified in field C.11.1.4). A value of zero shall indicate that there is no following proprietary
data. This code shall be maintained by the vendor.
44

C.11.3.2 Length of Data
The length of the proprietary data section, including the vendor identification and length of data fields, shall be
recorded in two bytes. This value is used to skip to the next finger minutiae data if the matcher cannot decode and use
this data. If the type identification (field C.11.3.1) for the private area is zero, indicating no private data, this field shall
not be present.
C.11.3.3 Private Data
The data field of the proprietary data is specifically defined by the equipment that is generating the finger minutiae
record. If the type identification (field C.11.3.1) for the private area is zero, indicating no private data, this field shall not
be present.
45

Minutiae Record Format Summary
The following table is a reference for the fields present in the Finger Minutia Record format. For more specific
information, please refer to the text and to the Record Format Diagrams in the next section.
Table C.3 - Minutia Record Format Summary
Field Size Valid Values Notes
Format Identifier 4 bytes ‘F’ ‘M’ ‘R’ 0x0 “FMR ” – finger minutiae record
Version of this standard 4 bytes n n n 0x0 ” XX”
Length of total record 2 bytes >= 26 In bytes
Scan System
Vendor / Format owner ID 2 bytes Registration authority controlled
Feature Extraction SW Ver. 2 bytes Vendor specified
Scanner ID 2 bytes Vendor specified
Image Size in X 2 bytes in pixels
Image Size in Y 2 bytes in pixels
Sensor X Resolution 2 bytes in pixels per cm
Sensor Y Resolution 2 bytes in pixels per cm
Number of Fingers 1 byte
Reserved 1 byte 0x00 Always 0x00 currently
Finger Position 1 byte 0 to 11 Refer to ANSI/NIST standard
Impression Type 1 byte 0 to 3 Refer to ANSI/NIST standard
Finger Quality 1 byte 0 to 100 0 to 100
Number of Minutiae 1 byte
X 2 byte Expressed in image pixels
(minutia type in upper 2 bits)
Y 2 byte Expressed in image pixels
(upper 2 bits reserved)
q 1 byte 0 to 180 Resolution is 2 degrees
Quality 1 byte 0 to 100 1 to 100 (0 indicates “quality not reported”)
Type Code for Private Area 2 bytes 0x0000 = no private area
Length of private feature area 2 bytes only present if Type Code non-zero
Private feature area Specified in only present if Type Code non-zero
previous
field
46
drocer
regnif
aitunim
regnif

C.12 Record Format Diagrams
C.12.1 Overall Record Format
C.11.2 C.11.2
C.11.3
C.11.1 Finger Minutia Finger Minutia C.11.3
Private Data
Record Header Record Record Private Data
see C.12.2 belowsee C.12.3 below see C.12.3 belowSeeC.12.5 below see C.12.5 below
One header One finger minutia One private data area per
per record – record per finger finger (Type ID = 0 if no
private data)
22 bytes
C.12.2 Record Header
C.11.1.1 C.11.1.2 C.11.1.3 C.11.1.4 C.11.1.5 C.11.1.6
Format ID Spec Version Record Length Vendor ID SW ID Scanner ID
’F’‘M’‘R’0 ’ ’‘X’‘X’0 length vendor ID software ID scanner ID
4 bytes 4 bytes 2 bytes 2 bytes 2 bytes 2 bytes
C.11.1.7 C.11.1.8 C.11.1.9 C.11.1.10 C.11.1.11 C.11.1.12
X image size Y image size X scan rate Y scan rate # of fingers Reserved byte
X image size Y image size X scan rate Y scan rate # of fingers 0x00
2 bytes 2 bytes 2 bytes 2 bytes 1 byte 1 byte
C.12.3 Single Finger Minutia Record
C.11.2.1.1 C.11.2.1.2 C.11.2.1.3 C.11.2.1.4 C.11.2.2 C.11.2.2
Finger Position Impression Type Finger Quality Number of Minutiae Finger Minutia data Finger Minutia data
Finger number 0 -3 quality 0 - 100 # of minutiae See C.12.4 below See C.12.4 below
1 byte 1 byte 1 byte 6 bytes 6 bytes 6 bytes
47

C.12.4 Finger Minutiae Data
C.11.2.2.1 C.11.2.2.2 C.11.2.2.1 C.11.2.2.2 C.11.2.2.3 C.11.2.2.4
Minutia Type X location Reserved Y location Minutia Angle Minutia Quality
type xcoordinate reserved ycoordinate angle in 2 deg quality, 0-100
2 bits 14 bits 2 bits 14 bits 1 byte 1 byte
2 bytes 2 bytes
C.12.5 Private (Proprietary) Data
C.11.3.1 C.11.3.2 C.11.3.3
Type ID Length Private Data Private Data
Type ID code Length private
2 bytes 22 bbyytteess (‘Length’ – 4)
bytes
48

C.13 Interoperable Matcher Performance (Informative)
The concept of operation for 1 to 1 verification matching is as follows. All compliant equipment will provide a minutia
records consisting of at least the public areas defined above. Based on the data contained in these fields, and the
common definitions of minutia points and their locations and angles, all compliant vendors will be able to achieve some
reasonably high level of performance in verifying a live sample against the public record. This is represented by
“Algorithm B” matching in the diagram below. Note that “Algorithm A” produces the record, and “Algorithm B” reads
only the public area.
However, the optimum in performance (defined as minimal False Accept Rate and False Reject Rate) may be
achieved by using proprietary methods and features. To allow vendors to support this enhanced level of performance,
the proprietary or “private” data area allows additional data to be present. If the reading and matching equipment can
interpret and make use of this additional data (either because the same vendor supplies it, or because of cross-
licensing of technology or other collaboration), then higher levels of performance may be achieved. This situation is
represented by “Algorithm A” matching below.
Finger Algorithm A
Standard Standard Algorithm A
Image Template
Header Minutiae Proprietary
Collection Generation
Finger Image Algorithm A
Verification
Collection Matching
Results
Finger Image Algorithm B
Verification
Collection Matching
Results
Figure C.3 - Interoperability Concept
49

C.14 Compliance (Informative)
Interoperability of one-to-one matching relies on each matcher to adhere within a tolerance to the determination of the
minutiae. Compliance with this specification is important in two areas: format compliance and minutiae extraction
accuracy.
Testing for compliance is not described in this standard; refer to applicable Best Practices documents for further
description.
C.14.1 Record format compliance
Equipment and algorithms that are compliant with this standard must observe the format and syntax described herein.
This includes: order and size of fields, presence of all required fields, adherence to range limits on values, and internal
consistency (the number of single finger records must match the number of fingers, for example).
C.14.2 Finger Minutiae Extraction
Finger images of sufficiently good quality should generate minutiae records that are “sufficiently similar” for all
compliant equipment and algorithms. This is essential to the underlying goal of interoperability. Testing for this
requirement may consist of encoding and formatting of data from a test set of sample images, with a known set of
minutiae features. The equipment under test may be evaluated based on the number of minutiae points that differ from
the known standard by a significant degree, and on the number of minutiae points detected by one system and not the
other. Standards for these metrics (degree of difference, allowable numbers of differences) are dependent on the
specific application.
50

C.15 Example MInutiae Record (Informative)
This example minutiae record demonstrates the format for a given set of data.
C.15.1 Data
Scan System: Vendor ID = 0x42, Feature Extraction SW Version code 0x11, Scanner ID = 0x00B5
(these values are determined by the IBIA (for the Vendor ID) and by the vendor)
Sensor Resolution: 500 dpi in both X and Y axes; 196.85 pixels per cm, Image was 512 by 512 pixels
Plain live-scan prints of the left and right index fingers
Left Index: Finger quality is 90% of the maximum possible
27 minutia, listed in table below.
No private feature data
Right Index: Finger quality is 70% of the maximum possible
22 minutia, listed in table below.
Private feature data area (Type 01) consisting of six bytes: 0x01, 0x44, 0xBC, 0x36, 0x21, 0x43
Record length = 340 = 26 (record header) + 2 * 4 (finger headers) + 27 * 6 (minutia for 1st finger) +
22 * 6 (minutia for 2nd finger) + 2 (null private area for 1st finger) + 10 (private area for 2nd finger)
Minutia Left Index Finger Right Index Finger
# Type X Y Angle quality Type X Y Angle quality
0 Ending 100 14 112 90 ending 40 93 0 90
1 Ending 164 17 85 80 bifurcation 116 100 0 80
2 Bifurcation 55 18 22 90 ending 82 95 12 70
3 Bifurcation 74 22 76 60 bifurcation 140 113 15 70
4 Ending 112 22 90 80 ending 122 135 18 80
5 Bifurcation 42 31 44 90 bifurcation 55 72 21 50
6 Bifurcation 147 35 51 90 ending 94 74 24 60
7 Ending 88 38 165 40 ending 155 62 42 80
8 Bifurcation 43 42 4 80 bifurcation 42 64 55 70
9 Ending 56 48 33 70 ending 155 85 59 80
10 Ending 132 49 72 90 bifurcation 96 192 62 80
11 Bifurcation 71 50 66 80 ending 114 86 85 80
12 Other 95 51 81 90 bifurcation 142 90 90 70
13 Ending 112 53 132 50 ending 57 137 90 90
14 Bifurcation 135 58 32 80 ending 131 75 90 80
15 Other 41 60 59 70 ending 45 113 98 80
16 Bifurcation 67 62 145 90 bifurcation 111 171 114 50
17 Ending 91 63 132 80 ending 95 62 156 60
18 Ending 112 65 33 60 bifurcation 61 114 165 80
19 Ending 53 71 45 90 bifurcation 143 72 171 80
20 Bifurcation 104 74 12 80 ending 63 104 172 70
21 Ending 75 79 21 90 bifurcation 125 73 173 40
22 Bifurcation 48 80 92 90
23 Ending 130 89 45 80
24 Bifurcation 63 95 126 80
25 Ending 47 108 164 90
26 Bifurcation 126 115 172 30
51

C.15.2 Example Data Format Diagrams
C.11.1.1 C.11.1.2 C.11.1.3 C.11.1.4 C.11.1.5 C.11.1.6
Format ID Spec Version Record Length Vendor ID SW ID Scanner ID
’F’‘M’‘R’0 ’0’‘1’‘0’0 0x0154 0x0042 0x0011 0x00B5
C.11.1.7 C.11.1.8 C.11.1.9 C.11.1.10 C.11.1.11 C.11.1.12
X image size Y image size X scan rate Y scan rate # of fingers Reserved byte
0x0200 0x0200 0x00C5 0x00C5 0x02 0x00
512 decimal 512 decimal 197 decimal 197 decimal # of fingers reserved
C.11.2.1.1 C.11.2.1.2 C.11.2.1.3 C.11.2.1.4
Finger Position Impression Type Finger Quality Number of Minutiae
0x07 0x00 0x5A 0x1B
left index plain live-scan 90 decimal 27 minutiae
C.11.2.2.
C.11.2.2. C.11.2.2.3 C.11.2.2.4
X2 Location
Y2 Location Minutia Angle Minutia Quality
and Type
0x4064 0x000E 0x70 0x5A
0x4000 (type) 14 decimal 112 90 decimal
& 100 decimal decimal
C.11.2.1.1 C.11.2.1.2 C.11.2.1.2 C.11.2.1.3
Finger Position Impression Type Finger Quality Number of Minutiae
0x02 0x00 0x46 0x16
right index plain live-scan 70 decimal 22 minutiae
C.11.2.2.
C.11.2.2. C.11.2.2.3 C.11.2.2.4
X2 Location
Y2 Location Minutia Angle Minutia Quality
and Type
0x4028 0x005D 0x00 0x5A
0x4000 (type) 93 decimal 0 decimal 90 decimal
& 93 decimal
C.11.3.1 C.11.3.1 C.11.3.2 C.11.3.3
Private Area Type IDPrivate Area Type ID Private Data Length Private data
0x0000 0x0001 0x000A 0x0144BC362143
52

C.15.3 Raw Data for the Resulting Minutiae Record
Record Header:
0x464D52003031300001540042001100B50200020000C500C50200
1st Finger Header:
0x07005A1B
1st Finger Minutiae data:
0x4064000E705A 0x40A400115550 0x80370012165A
0x804A00164C3C 0x407000165A50 0x802A001F2C5A
0x80930023335A 0x40580026A528 0x802B002A0450
0x403800302146 0x40840031485A 0x804700324250
0x005F0033515A 0x407000358432 0x8087003A2050
0x0029003C3B46 0x8043003E915A 0x405B003F8450
0x40700041213C 0x403500472D5A 0x8068004A0C50
0x404B004F155A 0x803000505C5A 0x408200592D50
0x803F005F7E50 0x402F006CA45A 0x807E0073AC1E
2nd Finger Header:
0x02004616
2nd Finger Minutiae data:
0x4028005D005A 0x807400640050 0x4052005F0C46
0x808C00710F46 0x407A00871250 0x803700481532
0x405E004A183C 0x409B003E2A50 0x802A00403746
0x409B00553B50 0x806000C03E50 0x407200565550
0x808E005A5A46 0x403900895A5A 0x4083004B5A50
0x402D00716250 0x806F00AB7232 0x405F003E9C3C
0x803D0072A550 0x808F0048AB50 0x403F0068AC46
0x807D0049AD28
1st Private Data Area:
0x0000
2nd Private Data Area:
0x0001000A0144BC362143
53

54

Annex D
(normative)
Mapping of driver license/identification card information to optical memory
cards
Introduction
This annex defines mapping of the driver license/identification card machine-readable data elements, as defined in
clause 6, onto an optical memory card.
D.1 Conformance
A driver license/identification card that incorporates optical memory shall comply with the following standards; ISO/IEC
11693 and 11694 Parts 1 - 4.
D.2 File location
The Information content of the magnetic stripe, defined in annex A of this standard shall be written to both the first and
last user data tracks of the optical memory card. The data shall be written as ASCII exactly duplicating the data format
and structure defined in A.4. Unused sectors in the first and last user data tracks shall be reserved for future use.
D.3 Updating of data
The data written to the first and last user data tracks shall be read-only. If updating of the data is permitted, additional
sectors in the first and last user data tracks may be used to control access for updating purposes and to specify the
location of the updated data. The original data in the first and last user data tracks shall remain unchanged in order to
provide an audit trail.
55

56

Annex E
(normative)
Mapping of driver license/identification card information to 2 dimensional bar
codes
Introduction
This annex defines mapping of the driver license/identification card machine-readable information elements, as defined
in clause 6, onto a 2 Dimensional bar code.
E.1 Conformance
A prerequisite for conformance with this standard for bar coding is conformance with ANSI X3.182, ANSI/ASQC Z1.4,
ASCII/ISO 646, ASCII/ISO 8859-1, ISO/IEC 15438, and MIL-L-61002.
E.2 Symbology
The PDF417 symbology (see ISO/IEC 15438 Automatic Identification and Data Capture Techniques - International
Two-dimensional Symbology Specification - PDF417) shall be used for the Drivers License application.
For the Drivers License Application, the following PDF417 symbology variants as defined in the ISO/IEC 15438
Automatic Identification and Data Capture Techniques - International Two-dimensional Symbology Specification -
PDF417 shall NOT be used.
¾ Compact PDF417
¾ MicroPDF417
¾ MacroPDF417
E.3 Card Characteristics
E.3.1 Symbology Characteristics
The symbology characteristics shall conform to ISO/IEC 15438.
E.3.2 Dimensions and Print Quality
E.3.2.1 Narrow element dimension
The narrow element dimension (X dimension) range shall be from .170mm (.0066 inch) to .380mm (.015 inch) as
determined by the printing capability of the supplier/printer. Symbols with narrow elements at the lower end of this
range, i.e., .170mm (.0066 inch) to .250mm (.010 inch), may require special care to meet the print quality
requirements of this standard.
57

E.3.2.2 Row height
The PDF417 symbol shall have a minimum row height (height of the symbol element) of three (3) times the width of
the narrow element (“X” dimension). Increasing the row height may improve scanning performance but will reduce the
number of characters that can be encoded in a given space.
E.3.2.3 Quiet zone
The PDF417 symbol shall have a minimum quiet zone of 1X (X = the narrow element dimension) above, below, to the
left, and to the right. The quiet zone is included within the calculation of the size of the symbol.
E.3.2.4 Print Quality
The AIMUSA Uniform Symbology Specification PDF417 and ANSI X3.182 Bar Code Print Quality - Guideline shall be
used to determine the print quality of the PDF417 symbol.
For the drivers license application the minimum symbol grade shall be 3.5/10/660, where:
Recommended Print Quality grade 3.5 (A) at the point of printing the symbol before lamination and a Print Quality
Grade of 2.5 (B) after lamination.
Measurement Aperture = .250mm (0.010 inch)
Light Source Wavelength = 660 nanometers (nm) ± 10 nm
The above symbol quality and measurement parameters assure scanability over a broad range of scanning
environments.
It is important that the bar code be decodable throughout the system of use. For this reason, quality tests shall not be
limited to production inspection but also shall be followed through to the end use.
E.3.2.5 Sampling
To ensure that printed on-demand bar code symbols meet the above Print Quality specification, it is recommended
that a sample set of symbols, produced in their final form, be verified a minimum of once per day.
Military Standard, Sampling Procedures and Tables for Inspection by Attributes (ANSI/ASQC Z1.4), provides useful
guidelines for statistically valid sampling plans. Acceptable quality levels (AQL) may be established prior to quality
control inspection.
E.3.2.6 Symbol Durability
If Bar Code Symbol durability is required then the test method in Annex G, G.5, should be used.
E.3.3 Bar code area
The bar code area shall be located on the back side of the drivers license card. The maximum width of the PDF417
symbol shall be 75.565 mm (2.975”). The maximum height of the PDF417 symbol shall be 38.1 mm (1.50”).
E.3.4 Orientation and Placement
E.3.4.1 PDF417 Orientation
All PDF417 symbols and linear bar codes shall have the same orientation. The bars of the PDF417 symbol shall be
perpendicular to the natural bottom of the card. (see Figure E-1).
58

The symbol skew shall not be more than ±5 degrees.
E.3.4.2 Designing the Card Layout
Figure E.1 — Orientation of PDF417 symbol on bottom
Plan for the maximum amount of data:
Determine the mandatory and optional fields that will be required in the message, and the maximum anticipated length
of each field. Add in the additional characters needed for formatting.
Plan for the maximum “X” dimension(s) that may be used:
Since the supplier/printer of the card ultimately determines the “X” dimension at which the symbol will be printed, it is
possible that a PDF417 symbol could be printed at any “X” dimension from .0066 inch to .015 inch. The largest “X”
dimension that allows all the data to fit in the maximum area available shall be used when printing the symbol.
E.4 Information contents and formats
E.4.1 Data Structure
All compliant 2D symbols shall employ a HEADER which shall allow interested parties to interpret the encoded data.
SUBFILES shall be employed to carry the specific information. The combination of a HEADER and one or more
SUBFILE DESIGNATORS shall make up a compliant 2D symbol.
Each 2-Dimensional bar code shall begin with a file header that will identify the bar code as complying with the
standard. The header shall be followed by a Subfile Designator “DL” to identify the Drivers License data type stored in
the file. Each data element contained in a Subfile shall be prefaced by a Field Identifier as defined in E.4.4.1 and
E.4.4.2. The use of a field separator character shall serve to both terminate a field and indicate the presence of a
following field identifier.
E.4.2 Header
Compliant 2D Symbol’s must begin with a Header in the following format:
Table E.1 — 2D symbols header format
Field Bytes Contents
1 1 Compliance Indicator: A 2D symbol encoded according to the rules
of this standard shall include a Compliance Indicator. The Compliance
Indicator as defined by this standard is the Commercial At Sign (“@”)
(ASCII/ISO 646 Decimal “64”) (ASCII/ISO 646 Hex “40”). The
Compliance Indicator is the first character of the symbol.
59

Field Bytes Contents
2 1 Data Element Separator: The Data Element Separator is used in this
standard to indicate that a new data element is to follow, and that the
current field is terminated. Whenever a Data Element Separator is
encountered (within a Subfile type which uses Data Element
Separators), the next character(s) shall either be a Segment
Terminator or shall define the contents of the next field according to
the template of the specific Subfile. The Data Element Separator as
defined by this standard is the Line Feed character (“L ” ASCII/ISO 646
F
Decimal “10”) (ASCII/ISO 646 Hex “0A”). The Data Element Separator
is the second character of the symbol.
3 1 Record Separator: The Record Separator as defined by this
standard is the Record Separator character (“R ” ASCII/ISO 646
S
Decimal “30”) (ASCII/ISO 646 Hex “1E”). As this report is presented
for ratification, there is no special case defined for when this field will
be used. It is embodied within the recommendation for future growth.
The Record Separator is the third character of the symbol and shall
always be reflected within the header in a compliant symbol.
4 1 Segment Terminator: As used in this standard the Segment
Terminator is used to end Subfiles where Field Identifiers are
employed. The Segment Terminator as defined by this standard is the
Carriage Return character (“C ” ASCII/ISO 646 Decimal “13”)
R
(ASCII/ISO 646 Hex “0D”). The Segment Terminator is the fourth
character of the symbol.
5 5 File Type: This is the designator that identifies the file as an AAMVA
compliant format. The designator is defined as the 5 byte upper
character string “ANSI “, with a blank space after the fourth character
.
6 6 Issuer Identification Number (IIN): This number uniquely identifies
the issuing jurisdiction and can be obtained by contacting the ISO
Issuing Authority (AAMVA).
7 2 Version Number: This is a decimal value between “0 and 63”, that
specifies the version level of the Hi-Density bar code format. Version
“0” is reserved for bar codes printed to the specification of the
American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) prior
to the adoption of this AAMVA National Standard. All bar codes
compliant with this standard shall be designated Version “1” and are
likely to remain Version “1”, but should a need arise requiring major
revision to the format, this field provides the means to accommodate
revision.
8 2 Number of Entries: This is a decimal value between “01 and 99” that
specifies the number of different Subfile types that are contained in the
bar code. This value defines the number of individual SUBFILE
DESIGNATORS which follow. All subfile designators (as defined
below) follow one behind the other. The data related to the first Subfile
Designator follows the last Subfile Designator.
60

E.4.3 Subfile Designator
All compliant 2D bar code symbols must contain the “DL” subfile structure as defined below immediately after the
Header as defined in E.4.2.
Field Bytes Contents
1 2 Subfile Type: This is the designator that identifies what type of
data is contained in this portion of the file. The 2 character
uppercase character field “DL” is the designator for Drivers License
Subfile type containing Required and Optional data elements as
defined in Sections 6.2, E.4.4.1 and E.4.4.2. Any jurisdiction has
the right to define a Subfile Type to contain jurisdiction specific
information provided that the Subfile type is a 2 character
uppercase character field whose first character is “Z”.
2 4 Offset: These bytes contain a 4 digit numeric value that specifies
the number of bytes from the head or beginning of the file to where
the data related to the particular sub-file is located. The first byte in
the file is located at offset 0.
3 4 Length: These bytes contain a 4 digit numeric value that specifies
the length of the Subfile in bytes.
E.4.4 Elements
Tables E.4.4.1 and E.4.4.2 define required and optional data elements which may be included in the “DL” subfile type.
Jurisdiction specific data elements may also be encoded provided that the Bar Code ID is a 3 character uppercase
character field beginning with “Z” Jurisdiction specific data elements shall be stored in a “Z” subfile type.
E.4.4.1 Required
Data Element Ref. # Bar Code ID
Driver License Name 1 DAA
Driver Mailing Street Address 1 2 DAG
Driver Mailing City 3 DAI
Driver Mailing Jurisdiction Code 4 DAJ
Driver Mailing Postal Code 5 DAK
Driver License/ID Number 6 DAQ
Driver License Classification Code 8 DAR
Driver License Restriction Code 9 DAS
Driver License Endorsements Code 10 DAT
Driver License Expiration Date 11 DBA
Date of Birth 12 DBB
Driver Sex 13 DBC
Driver License or ID Document Issue 14 DBD
Date
E.4.4.2 Optional
Data Element Ref. # Bar Code ID
Height (FT/IN) 20 DAU
Weight (LBS) 21 DAW
61

Data Element Ref. # Bar Code ID
Eye Color 22 DAY
Hair Color 23 DAZ
Social Security Number 24 DBK
Driver Permit Classification Code 25 PAA
Driver Permit Expiration Date 26 PAB
Permit Identifier 27 PAC
Driver Permit Issue Date 28 PAD
Driver Permit Restriction Code 29 PAE
Driver Permit Endorsement Code 30 PAF
Driver Last Name 31 DAB
Driver First Name 32 DAC
Driver Middle Name or Initial 33 DAD
Driver Name Suffix 34 DAE
Driver Name Prefix 35 DAF
Driver Mailing Street Address 2 36 DAH
Driver Residence Street Address 1 37 DAL
Driver Residence Street Address 2 38 DAM
Driver Residence City 39 DAN
Driver Residence Jurisdiction Code 40 DAO
Driver Residence Postal Code 41 DAP
Height (CM) 42 DAV
Weight (KG) 43 DAX
Issue Timestamp 44 DBE
Number of Duplicates 45 DBF
Medical Indicator/Codes 46 DBG
Organ Donor 47 DBH
Non-Resident Indicator 48 DBI
Unique Customer Identifier 49 DBJ
Driver "AKA" Date Of Birth 50 DBL
Driver "AKA" Social Security Number 51 DBM
Driver "AKA" Name 52 DBN
Driver "AKA" Last Name 53 DBO
Driver "AKA" First Name 54 DBP
Driver "AKA" Middle Name 55 DBQ
Driver "AKA" Suffix 56 DBR
Driver "AKA" Prefix 57 DBS
E.4.5 Example of 2D Symbol
Following is an example of a 2D symbol printed in accordance with this standard and containing the following
information:
Drivers License Number: 0123456789ABC
Driver License Name: John Q Public
Driver Street Address: 123 Main Street
Driver Mailing City: Anytown
Driver Mailing Jurisdiction Code: VA
Driver Mailing Postal Code: 123459999
Driver Class Code(s): DM
DL Restriction Codes: (none)
62

Driver License Endorsements: (none)
Height: 509
Weight: 175
Eye Color: BL
Hair Color: BR
DL Expiration Date: 20011201
Date of Birth: 19761123
Driver Sex: M
Driver License Document Issue Date: 19961201
Jurisdiction Defined Code: JURISDICTIONDEFINEDELEMENT
when decoded would result in a data stream as follows (Note: b = Blank):
@L R C ANSIb 6360000102DL00390187ZV02260031DLDAQ0123456789ABCL
F S R F
DAAPUBLIC,JOHN,QL DAG123b MAINb STREETL DAIANYTOWNL DAJVAL DAK123459999bb L
F F F F F
DARDMbb L DASbbbbbbbbbb L DATbbbbb L DAU509L DAW175L DAYBLb L DAZBRb L DBA20011201L
F F F F F F F F
DBB19761123L DBCML DBD19961201C ZVZVAJURISDICTIONDEFINEDELEMENTC
F F R R
This data, when broken down further, can be better understood as:
HEADER,
@ the first character in any compliant 2D symbol
L the character to represent a Data Element Separator
F
R the character to represent a Record Separator
S
C the character used represent a Segment Terminator
R
ANSIb which indicates that the symbol meets the AAMVA National Standard, and a blank space
636000 which indicates the jurisdiction (Virginia) that printed the symbol
01 which indicates that the rest of the data follows version 1 of the AAMVA National Standard
02 which indicates the number of Subfile Designators and indicates (in this example) that two follow
SUBFILE DESIGNATOR,
DL and ZV indicates the subfile types
DL (Drivers License)
0039 which indicates the offset from the beginning of the symbol to the start of the related subfile
0187 which indicates the length of the subfile type
ZV (Jurisdiction Defined)
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0226 which indicates the offset from the beginning of the symbol to the start of the related Subfile
0031 which indicates the length of the Subfile type
SUBFILE DATA,
DLwhich is the Subfile Identifier
DAQ0123456789ABCL which is the Field Identifier (FI) for our example, which would mean a Drivers License Number
F
follows, and a 13 position Drivers License Number, and Data Element Separator (DES)
DAAPUBLIC,JOHN,QL which is the FI for Name, the Name with required separators, and DES
F
DAG123b MAINb STREETL which is the FI for Street Address, the Street Address, and DES
F
DAIANYTOWNL which is the FI for City, and the City, and DES
F
DAJVAL which is the FI for Jurisdiction Code, and the Jurisdiction Code, and DES
F
DAK123459999bb L which is the FI for Postal Code, the Postal Code padded to an 11 digit fixed length, and DES
F
DARDMbb L which is the FI for Class Code, the Class Code padded to 4 digit fixed length, and DES
F
DASbbbbbbbbbb L which is the FI for the ANSI D-20 Restriction Codes, and the Restriction Codes padded to 10 digit
F
fixed length, and the DES
DATbbbbb L which is the FI for the ANSI D-20 License Endorsements, and the Endorsements padded to 5 digit fixed
F
length, and the DES
DAU509L which is the FI for Height, and the Height (ft/in), and DES
F
DAW175L which is the FI for Weight, the weight in lbs, and DES
F
DAYBLb L which is the FI for Eye Color, the ANSI D-20 Eye Color, and DES
F
DAZBRb L which is the FI for Hair Color, the ANSI D-20 Hair Color, and DES
F
DBA20011201L which is the FI for Expiration Date, the Expiration Date (YYYYMMDD), and DES
F
DBB19761123L which is the FI for Birthdate, the Birthdate (YYYYMMDD), and DES
F
DBCML which is the FI for Sex, the ANSI D-20 Sex Code, and DES
F
DBD19961201which is the FI for Document Issues Date, the Date (YYYYMMDD)
C which is a Segment Terminator
R
ZVwhich is the Subfile Identifier
ZVA JURISDICTIONDEFINEDELEMENT which is the FI for a Jurisdiction Defined Data Element, and the data
C which is a Segment Terminator.
R
64

E.5 Error Detection and Correction
PDF417 symbols shall use a minimum Error Correction Level of 3. Where space allows, an Error Correction Level of 5
is recommended.
E.6 Character Sets
The AAMVA community shall use the 256 character table known as ASCII/ISO 8859-1 as the character set table when
generating Hi-Density symbols and for efficiency shall use the 128 character subset TEXT COMPACTION TABLE as
defined in the specification.
E.7 Compression
No specific recommendation is presented at this time. The AAMVA community has no need to employ specific
Compression techniques beyond the field truncation constructs incorporated into the overall Data Structure option
recommended in this standard.
65

66

Annex F
(normative)
Driver license/identification card compression for digital imaging
Introduction
This annex contains the required elements to use JPEG and Greyscale compression for Storage and Transmission of
images between jurisdictions.
F.1 Conformance
A License or Identification Card photo and signature image that incorporates Storage and Transmission of said images
shall comply with the following: ISO 10918-1 and ITU-T Group III and IV.
F.2 Definitions
F.2.1
binary
Binary refers to black and white images. The data bit is either on or off.
F.2.2
CCITT
CCITT is the current standard for binary image compression. Primarily used in fax transmissions, CCITT Groups III
and IV were defined by the International Consultative Committee on Telegraph and Telephone. CCITT was
reorganized in 1993 and is now known as ITU-T.
F.2.3
color
a continuous tone image that has more than one component
F.2.4
Continuous Tone Image
an image whose components have more than one bit per sample
F.2.5
Gray Scale
a continuous tone image that has only one component
F.2.6
JPEG
JPEG is the proposed compression standard for continuous tone images. It was published in 1993 as ISO 10918-1
and ITU-T T.81. It was produced by the Joint Photographic Experts Group.
67

F.2.7
pixel
a pixel is a picture element - one of an n by m matrix of picture elements, where n is across (horizontal) and m is down
(vertical)
F.2.8
Still Image (Digital)
a set of two-dimensional arrays of data
F.2.9
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)
industry accepted practice for storing image information
F.2.10
(Adaptive) (Binary) Arithmetic Encoder
an entropy encoding procedure, which codes by means of a recursive subdivision of the probability of the sequence of
symbols coded up to that point
F.2.11
(Uniform) Quantization
the procedure by which discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients are linearly scaled in order to achieve
compression
F.2.12
8x8 Block
an 8x8 array of samples
F.2.13
Component
one of the two-dimensional arrays which comprise an image
F.2.14
Compressed Image Data
a coded representation of an image
F.2.15
compression
reduction in the number of bits used to represent source image data
F.2.16
Controlled Quality (Lossy)
A descriptive term for encoding and decoding processes which are not lossless. Controlled quality compression allows
for varying compression ratios at various quality levels.
F.2.17
decoding process
a process, which takes as its input, compressed image data and outputs a continuous tone image
F.2.18
encoding process
a process, which takes as its input a continuous tone image and outputs compressed image data
F.2.19
entropy decoder
a lossless procedure which recovers the sequence of symbols from the sequence of bits produced by the entropy
encoder
68

F.2.20
entropy encoder
a lossless procedure which translates a sequence of input symbols into a sequence of bits such that the average
number of bits per symbol approaches the entropy of the input symbols
F.2.21
hierarchical
A method of encoding an image in which the first frame for a given component is followed by frames which code the
differences between the source data and the reconstructed data from the previous frame for that component.
Resolution changes are allowed between frames.
F.2.22
Huffman Encoder
an entropy encoding procedure which assigns a variable length code to each input symbol
F.2.23
Huffman Table
the set of variable length codes required in a Huffman encoder and Huffman decoder
F.2.24
Interchange Format
the representation of compressed image data for exchange between application environments
F.2.25
interleaved
the descriptive term applied to the repetitive multiplexing of small groups of data units from each component in a scan
in a specific order
F.2.26
JFIF (JPEG File Interchange Format)
JFIF is a minimal file format, which enables JPEG bit streams to be exchanged between a wide variety of platforms
and applications
F.2.27
lossless
a descriptive term for encoding and decoding procedures in which it is guaranteed that no information is lost from input
to output
F.2.28
non-interleaved
the descriptive term applied to the data unit processing sequence when the scan has only one component
F.2.29
Progressive (Coding)
one of the DCT-based or hierarchical processes defined in the JPEG standard in which each scan typically improves
the quality of the reconstructed image
F.2.30
quantization tables
the set of 64 scalar quantization values used to the DCT coefficients
F.2.31
Run (Length)
number of consecutive symbols of the same value
69

F.2.32
Sample
one element in the two-dimensional array which comprises a component
F.2.33
scan
a single pass through the data for one or more of the components in an image
F.2.34
Sequential (Coding)
one of the lossless or DCT-based coding processes defined in the JPEG standard in which each component of the
image is encoded within a single scan
F.3 Information Contents and Formats
F.3.1 Requirements for Photographs and Signatures
F.3.1.1 Color Photo Images
Table F.3 defines the recommended requirement for color photo images by shading in the options recommended for
licensing/identification applications.
F.3.1.1.1 Image Data Formats
The image header can define the image size, the number of bits per pixel, the scan start and scan order. This allows
any application to process the images appropriately. For color photo images, 16 bits per pixel or 24 bits per pixel are
required. Typically, 16 bit acquisition devices are less expensive than 24 bit and give good quality results. If the
compression is 16 bit Y,Cb,Cr, then the input of 16 bit 5R,6G,5B or 5R,5G,5B or 6R,6G,4B or 24 bit RGB doesn't
matter.
F.3.1.1.2 Image Compression Standard
For color photo images, the JPEG baseline defined to be controlled quality, 8 bit per component, sequential DCT with
Huffman coding is required.
F.3.1.1.3 Associated JPEG Parameters
F.3.1.1.3.1 Interchange Format
Tables F.1 and F.2 specify the recommended file interchange format. This file interchange format is in the spirit of
JFIF and adds application specific information.
Table F.1 — Recommended File Interchange Format
Field Length Comments
(in bytes)
SOP 2 Start of Packet
Non JPEG 2 Indicates start of non-JPEG data
Length 2 Application data segment length
* Version 3 JPEG version
Units 1 Units for the X and Y densities:
units =0: no units, X & Y specific aspect ratio
units =1: X & Y are dots per inch
units =2: X & Y are dots per centimeter
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Field Length Comments
(in bytes)
X density 2 Horizontal pixel density
Y density 2 Vertical pixel density
X size 2 Horizontal size based on units
(in/cm)
Y size 2 Vertical size based on units (in/cm)
* Color Space 1 O=Y , Cb, Cr
Scan Order 1 Orientation of Image:
0 = 0 degrees, 1 = 90, 2 = 180, 3 = 270
(degrees in navigational terms)
Annotation 1-255 NULL terminated string could include name license
number, etc.
X’FF’, SOI 2 Start of Image (JPEG)
** X’FF’, DQT 2+N *65 Nq = number of quantization tables
Length (see Table F.2
Quantization Comments)
Table Parameters
** X’FF’, DHT 2+N*(17+m) Nh = Number of Huffman tables
Length Huffman Table (see Table F.2 m=S of number of codes of lengths 1 - 16
Parameters Comments)
X’FF’, SOFO 8+3*N Nf = Number of image components in a frame
Length Frame (see Table F.2
Parameters Comments)
X’FF’, SOS 6+2*N Ns = Number of image components in a scan
Length Scan (see Table F.2
Parameters Comments)
(entropy coded scan
data)
X’FF’, EOI 2 End of image
EOP 2 End of Packet
Table F.2 — Recommended file interchange format
Comments:
¾ All the AAMVA specific information and tables shall be “sent” once in an abbreviated stream to
minimize overhead cost.
¾ Type of compression, number of lines, and number of samples per line are included in the frame
header.
¾ Nq = Nh = 2 for color Nq = Nh = 1 for gray scale
Nf = Ns = 3 for color Nf = Ns = 1 for gray scale
For Color:
¾ 1st component C1 = 1= Y component
¾ 2nd component C2 = 2 = Cb component
¾ 3rd component C3 = 3 = Cr component
* Information is included for flexibility in the event of future changes
** Allows for a JPEG abbreviated table stream: X’FF’, SOI, X’FF’, DQT, table(s), DHT, table(s), X’FF’,
EOI where the tables are sent once before the first image and not with subsequent images.
71

F.3.1.1.3.2 Color Space Translation
TIFF and JFIF (JPEG File Interchange Format) suggest the CCIR recommendation 601-1 and the associated
translation to Y,Cb,Cr as shown below:
Y = 0.299R + 0.587G + 0.114B
Cb = 128 - 0.1687R - 0.3313G + 0.5B
Cr = 128 + 0.5R - 0.4187G - 0.0813B
If the numbers exceed 255, they shall be clamped at 255. Similarly, if they under flow, they shall be clamped at zero
(0).
Table F.3 — Required for color images
CATEGORY DECISION POINTS
Image Data · Size
Formats · Scan Start
· Scan Order
· Pixel Format
Bits Per Pixel 16 or 24 8, 10, 12, 32
Standard JPEG Baseline JPEG Extension
· Controlled Quality · Lossless;
· 8 Bit per Component; · Progressive DCT;
· Sequential DCT; · Arithmetic Coding; &
· Huffman Coding; and · Greater than 8 bits
· Restart Codes
Conversion Scheme Left Justify
Color Space R,G,B to Y, Cb, Cr Other
Translation Color Space Options
· RGB
CMYK
HIS
Others
Interleaved Yes No
Subsampling ratio 2 Horizontal & 2 Vertical Any Combination of
2 Horizontal
No Subsampling · 1, 2, 3, or 4
Horizontal &
· 1, 2, 3, or 4 Vertical
Huffman Tables Send Once Send with Each Data
Stream
Send Once Send with Each Data
Quantization tables Stream
F.3.1.1.4 Options to Optimize Performance
F.3.1.1.4.1 Sub sampling
It is required that the CrCb band subsampling be one of the following two options.
NOTE The intensity band Y is never subsampled.
72

¾ Every other sample in the horizontal and the vertical directions.
¾ Every other sample in the horizontal direction only, no subsampling in the vertical direction.
F.3.1.1.4.2 Interleaving
It is required that the data be interleaved and compressed as Y, then Cb, then Cr.
F.3.1.1.4.3 Table Signaling
It is required that both the Huffman Tables and Quantization Tables be sent one time.
F.3.1.2 Signatures
Tables F.4 and F.5 define the specifications for signatures by shading in the required elements for licensing /
identification applications.
F.3.1.2.1 Image Data Formats
The image header can define the image size, the number of bits per pixel, the scan start and scan order. This allows
any application to process the images appropriately. For signature images, 8 bits per pixel gray scale or binary images
are required.
F.3.1.2.2 Image Compression Methods
¾ For Gray Scale signatures use the shaded portions of Table F.4.
¾ For binary signatures use the shaded portions of Table F.5.
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Table F.4 — Requirements for signatures gray scale
CATEGORY DECISION POINTS
Image Type Gray Scale Binary
Bits per Pixel 8 · 4 1
· 10
· 12
Standards * JPEG Baseline JPEG Extension CCITT CCITT
· Controlled Quality; · Lossless; Group Group
· 8 Bit per Component; · Progressive DCT; III IV
· Sequential DCT; and · Arithmetic Coding; and
· Huffman Coding · Greater than 8 bits
Conversion Left Justify Not Applicable
Scheme
Quantization Send Once Send with each Data Not Applicable
Tables Stream
Huffman Tables Send Once Send with each Data Not Applicable
Stream
Image Data · Size
Formats · Scan Start
· Scan Order
· Pixel Format
Dimensionality Not Applicable 1 2 2
Only
Table F.5 — Requirements for Signatures Binary
CATEGORY DECISION POINTS
Image Type Gray Scale Binary
Bits per Pixel 8 · 4 1
· 10
· 12
Standards * JPEG Baseline JPEG Extension CCITT CCITT
· Controlled Quality; · Lossless; Group Group
· 8 Bit per Component; · Progressive DCT; III IV
· Sequential DCT; and · Arithmetic Coding; and
· Huffman Coding · Greater than 8 bits
Conversion Left Justify Not Applicable
Scheme
Quantization Send Once Send with each Data Not Applicable
Tables Stream
Huffman Tables Send Once Send with each Data Not Applicable
Stream
Image Data · Size
Formats · Scan Start
· Scan Order
· Pixel Format
Dimensionality Not Applicable 1 2 2
Only
74

F .3.1.3 Associated JPEG Parameters
F.3.1.3.1 Interchange Format
The recommended file interchange can be found in Table F.2. This interchange file format is intended to give the
receiver of image transmission a method of converting the images from one Pre-JPEG or JPEG image format to
another for viewing or printing.
F.3.1.4 Options to Optimize Performance
F.3.1.4.1 Table Signaling
It is required that both the Huffman Tables and Quantization Tables be sent one time.
F.4 Signature Compressed Vector Format
Signatures collected from digital signature tablets where the data takes the form of a list of x, y coordinates, the
compressed vector format may be used to losslessly store and transmit this data. The Signature Compressed Vector
Data format shall consist of a file header followed by a variable length field containing the vector data. The top left
coordinate of a signature shall be taken as the origin (0, 0). The x coordinate shall be defined as the horizontal
coordinate increasing to the right. The y coordinate shall be defined as the vertical coordinate increasing in the
downward direction.
origin (0 , 0) x
y
Figure F.1 Signature format
75

F.4.1 File Header Format
The file header shall consist of the identifying 3 byte tag “SIG” (hexadecimal values 53, 49, 47) followed by the x and y
resolution of the tablet and the number of points in the vector data portion.
F.4.1.1 Horizontal Resolution
The horizontal resolution of the signature shall be recorded in 2 bytes as an integer number representing pixels per
inch.
F.4.1.2 Vertical Resolution
The vertical resolution of the signature shall be recorded in 2 bytes as an integer number representing pixels per inch.
F.4.1.3 Number of Vectors
The number of vectors contained in the vector data shall be recorded as an integer number in 2 bytes.
F.4.2 Vector Data Format
The list of x, y coordinates shall be processed in the order recorded during the signature. All coordinates shall be
represented as a vector from the previously recorded point (X – previous X, Y – previous Y). The first vector of a
signature shall be considered to be taken from the top left coordinate (0, 0). Each vector shall be recorded with the
offset in x first, then the offset in y. Each offset shall be recorded either as a small offset or a large offset. Both offsets
in a vector need not be recorded using the same offset format. Each vector shall indicate a pen movement of nonzero
distance. It is not allowed to represent no movement of the pen using a vector of (0, 0), because this is reserved to
indicated the lifting of the pen.
F.4.2.1 Small Offset
A small offset shall be any difference greater than or equal to –63 and less than or equal to 63. A small offset shall be
recorded in one byte, where the most significant bit set 0 and the next significant bit is the sign bit followed by 6 bits of
magnitude. The sign bit shall be set to 1 if the offset is negative, 0 otherwise.
F.4.2.2 Large Offset
A large offset shall be any difference less than –63 or greater than 63. A larger offset shall be recorded in two bytes,
where the most significant bit set 1 and the next significant bit is the sign bit, followed by 14 bits of magnitude. The
sign bit shall be set to 1 if the offset is negative, 0 otherwise.
76

F.4.2.3 Pen Lift
Signature Compress Vector Data Stream
File Header
dx & dy offset pairs
one-byte offset
( -63 to 63)
T - offset type: 0 = one-byte, 1 = two-byte
T S M M M M M M
S - sign bit: 0 = non-negative, 1 = negative
M - magnitude bits
two-byte offset
(-16383 to 16383)
T S MM M M M M MM M M M M M M
Figure F.2 Signature data stream
The lifting of the pen shall be represented as a vector of (0, 0) in the vector data. The vector following an pen lift vector
(0, 0) shall indicate the jump to the next pen down of the signature from the point just before the pen lift vector. The
pen lift offset shall be counted as a vector for the number of vectors parameter in the file header. There is no
requirement to end the signature with a pen lift offset.
F.5 Digital Images
Digital Images shall be placed in, but not limited to, four categories:
¾ Category A: Digital Facial Portrait Images
¾ Category B: Digital Signature Images
¾ Category C: Digital Finger Images (See Finger Imaging Annex C)
¾ Category D: Ghosted Images
F.5.1 Category A - Facial Portrait Image (Capture)
F.5.1.1 Pose
The full-face or frontal pose is the most commonly used pose in driver licenses.
F.5.1.2 Depth of Field
The subject's captured facial image shall always be in focus from the nose to the ears.
77

F.5.1.3 Centering
The facial image being captured (full-face pose) shall be positioned to satisfy all of the following conditions:
a) The approximate horizontal midpoints of the mouth and of the bridge of the nose shall lie on an imaginary vertical
straight line positioned at the horizontal center of the image. See line AA in Figure 3.
b) An imaginary horizontal line through the center of the subject's eyes shall be located at approximately the 55%
point of the vertical distance up from the bottom edge of the captured image. See line BB in Figure 3.
c) The width of the subject's head shall occupy approximately 50% of the width of the total image width. This width
shall be the horizontal distance between the midpoints of two imaginary vertical lines. Each imaginary line shall be
drawn between the upper and lower lobes of each ear and shall be positioned where the external ear connects to
the head. See line CC in Figure 3.
Figure F.3 Centering facial image
F.5.1.4 Lighting
Adequate lighting shall be used to fully illuminate the subject during capture. Appropriate techniques shall also be
employed and light(s) positioned to minimize shadows and hot spots on the facial image.
F.5.1.5 Background
The subject whose image is being captured for the purposes of issuing a general drivers license document shall be
positioned in front of a blue background.
It is desired that utilization of a single color backdrop will allow for easier exchange and usage of previously captured
images between jurisdictions.
NOTE Currently 48 US and 8 Canadian jurisdictions utilize a blue color background for general driver licenses.
F.5.1.6Aspect Ratio
The Width:Height aspect ratio of the facial portrait image shall be in accordance with the universal camera standard of
1:1.333 for portrait images.
Cropping of the original captured image prior to compression and storage is permissible provided that the cropping
technique maintains the specified aspect ratio of 1:1.333 and the minimum and maximum pixel width:height
requirement and the image is stored with the defined aspect ratio above.
78

Applications outside of Driver Licensing utilizing the images for reproduction, display, etc. shall adhere to the defined
aspect ratio.
F.5.1.7 Color Space
Captured electronic color facial images shall adhere to the Color Space Translation requirements in F.3.1.1.3.2.
Additional color management techniques are available from the International Color Consortium. Information regarding
these techniques can be downloaded from the following URL: http://www.color.org
F.5.1.8 Compression Algorithm
The algorithm used to compress facial portrait images shall conform to the JPEG Sequential Baseline mode of
operation as described in Table F.3.
NOTE Applications which utilize the compressed JPEG facial portrait image may have to perform an analysis of the
information contained within the graphic file for external purposes. (i.e., Facial Recognition Matching Algorithm) A significant loss
of data resulting from image compression may interfere with these processes. The compression and lossy values utilized should
accommodate such external uses as may be necessary.
F.5.1.9 File Format
Please refer to the Transmission section F.3 of this Annex.
F.5.2 Category A - Facial Portrait Image (Document)
F.5.2.1 Aspect Ratio
The width:height aspect ratio of the printed facial portrait image shall be 1:1.333, in accordance with the capture
aspect ratio in Section F.5.1.6.
F.5.2.2 Facial Portrait Image Dimensions
The minimum width:height of a facial portrait image printed on a driver license document shall be 25.4 millimeters
(1.000 inches) in the horizontal direction by 33.9 millimeters (1.333 inches) in the vertical direction.
F.5.2.3 Borders
Colored borders or frames surrounding the facial portrait image are optional and may present useful purposes in
distinguishing various driver license types. These borders shall adhere to the following rules:
a) Borders shall not overlap nor interfere with the human-readable functionality of the facial portrait image.
b) Borders shall not obstruct the data contained within the image nor reduce or alter the image aspect ratio of
1.1.333.
c) Borders shall not form part of the original captured, stored or compressed facial portrait image, but shall be
applied through utilization of preprinting or another method during the production of the finished document.
F.5.3 Category B - Signature Images (Capture)
F.5.3.1 Digitization
Any method of converting a handwritten signature into a digital format for the purpose of inclusion on a driver license
document must meet the following criteria:
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Manual or automatic resizing or cropping of the captured image shall not alter the width:height aspect ratio of the
original signature.
a) A target aspect ratio of 4:1 width:height shall be utilized.
b) Cropping of the signature shall maintain the target 4:1 width/height aspect ratio.
c) The minimum (100 pixels per inch) resolution requirements shall be met.
F.5.3.2 Compression and Storage
Refer to section F.3 of this annex.
F.5.3.3 File Format
Refer to section F.3 of the annex.
F.5.4 Category B - Signature Images (Document)
F.5.4.1 Aspect Ratio
The target width:height aspect ratio of the printed signature image shall be 4:1, in accordance with the capture aspect
ratio in Section F.5.3.1 above.
F.5.4.2 Signature Image Dimensions
The minimum width:height of a printed signature image on a driver license document shall be 25.4 millimeters (1.000
inches) in the horizontal direction by 6.35 millimeters (0.25 inches) in the vertical direction.
F.5.4.3 Borders
Colored borders or frames surrounding the signature image are optional and may present useful purposes in
distinguishing various driver license types. These borders shall adhere to the following rules:
a) Borders shall not overlap nor interfere with the human-readable functionality of the signature image.
b) Borders shall not obstruct the data contained within the image nor reduce or alter the signature image aspect ratio
of 4:1.
c) Borders shall not form part of the original captured, stored or compressed signature image, but shall be applied
through utilization of preprinting or another method during the production of the finished document.
F.5.5 Category C - Finger Images (Capture)
F.5.5.1 Standards
The electronic capture and storage of finger image data is relatively new to the digital imaging industry and as such
there remains a lack of internationally recognized standards for the capture, quality, minutiae extraction, storage,
security, and exchange of resulting data. However, the following standards have been established and form a basis for
the capture and storage of electronic finger image data, and provide the image formats necessary to perform future
applications that may be required:
¾ ANSI/NIST-CSL 1-1993 Data Format for the Interchange of Fingerprint Information, ANSI, November 22, 1993.
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¾ WSQ Gray-Scale Fingerprint Image Compression Specification, IAFIS-IC-0110V2, Criminal Justice Information
Services (CJIS), Federal Bureau of Investigation, February 16, 1993.
Refer to annex C of this document for finger imaging standards.
F.5.6 Category C - Finger Images (Document)
Please refer to the applicable machine readable Annex sections of this document in regard to storing finger image data
on a document.
F.5.7 Category D - Ghosted Images (Capture)
Ghosted images refer to the increased reduction in data of an existing facial portrait image that has been decreased in
intensity, contrast and often overall dimensions.
Ghosted images used in a driver license document are utilized as an added form of security. For this purpose the
“ghosted” image shall refer to a duplication of the Facial Portrait Image manipulated during the card personalization
process and shall utilize those specifications in subclause F.5.1. in regard to capture and storage.
The ghosted image is not generally a separate image for the purposes of storage but most commonly a mechanical or
electrical manipulation of the existing primary facial portrait image.
F.5.8 Category D - Ghosted Images (Document)
No standards exist for the utilization of ghosted images; however, the following guidelines shall be applied when
ghosted images are applied to a driver license document:
a) The ghosted image utilized in a driver license document shall utilize the exact same Facial Portrait Image that
appears on the same document.
b) The ghosted image shall be easily recognizable by human-readable means as a replication of the Facial Portrait
Image contained elsewhere on the same document.
c) The ghosted image shall not interfere with the ability to recognize and decipher any human-readable or machine-
readable data contained elsewhere on the document.
d) The ghosted image shall maintain the aspect ratio specified in subclause F.5.1, consistent with the facial portrait
image.
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Annex G
(normative)
Test Methods
Introduction (informative)
Driver license jurisdictions need some level of assurance about card service life. Therefore, jurisdictions are requiring
card durability test results when requests for proposal (RFP) are made. The RFPs often include inadequately defined
test methods that leave test details up to the test laboratory’s discretion. The result is that test data will often be
significantly affected by the discretionary details.
The ANSI NCITS 322 test methods were developed by industry experts from card component suppliers, card
manufacturers, and card personalization companies. The objective was to provide standardized tests capable of giving
reproducible results.
These accelerated laboratory test methods are the group’s best effort to simulate field failures. Relevancy and
correlation between predicted card service life and ANSI NCITS 322 test data has not been established at the time of
publication. Test results only provide a means of ranking or comparing one card structure to another. Future work is
planned to determine relevancy of and correlation between card test methods and card service life.
G.1 Scope
This annex provides a set of precisely defined card durability test procedures based on ANSI NCITS 322. The
usefulness of results obtained from these test methods is only to compare or rank the relative durability of one card
structure to another.
G.2 Conformance
A test result is in conformance with this annex if it meets all the mandatory requirements specified directly or by
reference herein. Test results shall not be represented as equivalent to card service life.
G.3 Normative references
The following normative documents contain provisions which, through reference in this text, constitute provisions of
this annex. For dated references, subsequent amendments to, or revisions of, any of these publications do not apply.
For undated references, the latest edition of the normative document referred to applies.
ANSI NCITS 322, For information technology-Card durability test methods: 1998
ISO 10373-1, Identification cards - Test methods - General characteristics tests
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G.4 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this annex, the following terms and definitions apply:
G.4.1 card service life
period of time between card issuance and expiration date
G.5 Test methods and sample size
Only the test methods described in ANSI NCITS 322 shall be used. Performing multiple tests on the same card shall
not be done. Sample size is not specified, however some tests require more than 1 card in order to obtain a single
result.
Note (Informative) Test precision is unknown for the individual test methods. Therefore, caution should be taken
when determining if the test result differences between card types is large enough to be statistically significant. It is
strongly recommended that one laboratory perform comparison testing for all card types being evaluated. If possible,
cards from different vendors should also be tested simultaneously to minimize test variability. Sample sizes necessary
to reach statistical confidence are unknown. Typical sample sizes used by industry are shown in the tables below.
ANSI NCITS 322 recommended sample size (Informative)
Clause Test description Card orientation Typical
sample
size
NA = not applicable # cards
5.1 Delamination-90 degrees NA 6
5.2 Delamination-180 degrees NA 6
5.3 Delamination-Heat Transfer Film Layers NA 6
5.4 ID-1 Card Flexure axis A, face up 4
axis A, face down 4
axis B, face up 4
axis B, face down 4
5.5 ID-1 Card Static Stress axis A, face up 25
axis A, face down 25
axis B, face up 25
axis B, face down 25
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5.6 ID-1 Card Stress and Plasticizer Exposure axis A, face up 4
axis A, face down 4
axis B, face up 4
axis B, face down 4
5.7 Impact Resistance NA 25
5.8 Card Structural Integrity NA 15
5.9 Surface Abrasion NA 6
5.10 Bar Code Abrasion NA 6
5.11 Mag Stripe Abrasion NA 6
5.12 Image Abrasion NA 6
5.13 Temperature and Humidity Induces Dye Migration NA 6
5.14 Plasticizer Induced Dye Migration NA 6 sets of 5
5.15 Ultraviolet (UV) Light Exposure Stability test both sides of card 6
5.16 Daylight Image Stability-Xenon Arc test both sides of card 6
5.17 Laundry Test NA 6
5.18 Embossed Character Retention-Pressure NA 6
5.19 Embossed Character Retention-Heat NA 6
ISO 10373-1 recommended sample size (Informative)
Test description Card orientation Typical
sample
size
clause NA = not applicable # cards
5.9 DDyynnaammiicc ttoorrssiioonnaall ssttrreessss ((ttoorrssiioonn)) NA 6
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G.6 Test report
For each test performed, the following information shall be included in the test report:
- ANSI NCITS 322 or ISO 10373-1 date and clause number
- test method title
- sample size used
- date when testing was completed
- identifying name or number to describe the type/color/style of card tested
- result for each card tested (numeric and/or qualitative)
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Annex H
(informative)
Physical security features for the driver license/identification card
Introduction
This annex represents a sample of possible physical security features that may be used in the construction of a DL/ID.
This is NOT an all inclusive list and is for informational purposes only.
H.1 Features
(C = Covert, O = Overt, 1 = First Line Inspection, 2 = Second Line Inspection, 3 = Third Line Inspection)
(O1) Core Inclusion - It is possible to manufacture a plastic document with several different layers of core stock. A
colored core material can be added to the card construction to create a colored edge along the card. This technique is
currently used in the new INS Work Permit Card as a means of identifying a genuine document.
(C2/3) Deliberate Errors or Known Flaws - A feature or attribute known only to the manufacturer or inspection
officials.
(O2) Directional Metamerism - Directional metamerism refers to the use of colors that differ in spectral composition
but match one another under certain lighting conditions. Using this technique, designs can be created that will show
colors that appear to be identical under incandescent light but, under colored light, appear as different colors and
patterns.
(O1) Embossed Characters - Embossing is the impressing of raised characters to render a tactile pattern. The raised
characters will also render the card uneven/not flat, thereby making the card more difficult to reprint. It is possible to
develop unique embossing characters or logos that would not be included in commercially available embossers.
(C1/2) Fine Line Background - Commonly called “guilloche patterns,” this detailing prevents accurate reproduction
by copiers or standard document scanners, especially when used in conjunction with Rainbow Printing. A fine line
background is constructed by using two or more intricately overlapping bands that repeat a lacy, web-like curve pattern
on fine unbroken lines.
(O1) Ghost Image or Ghost Printing - Digital printing technology has made possible the printing of a “ghost” image,
a half tone reproduction of the original image, which is typically printed in the same area as the personal data. The
second image appears as a light background to text data, significantly increasing the difficulty of altering the photo
image or the data.
(O1) Holograms - A hologram is a microscopically fine diffraction structure by which two or three-dimensional images
are generated. The metallized reflective hologram has been a security feature for Visa and MasterCard cards for more
than 10 years. The intrinsic security of the hologram results from a moveable image when viewed from different
angles. It is not receptive to photography, photocopying, or scanning, and it requires highly specialized equipment to
replicate designs.
(C2/3) Ink Taggants - Special inks have been formulated with specific elements called “taggants.” These elements
react to electromagnetic energy sourced from a remote reader. By using these inks and measuring their reflection, it is
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possible to identify designated card groupings or types. These taggant-carrying products are known as “smart” (or
“intelligent”) inks.
(O1) Kinegrams - Kinegrams, like holograms, can be produced on a reflective or transparent material. However,
unlike holograms, Kinegrams have only two-dimensional effects, and effects are observable under a wider variety of
lighting conditions. Also, Kinegrams can incorporate asymmetric optical effects that is, different optical variable effects
are viewable as the Kinegram is completely rotated (360 degrees).
(O1/3) Laser-Encoded Optical Image - The image and text files used to personalize and issue a document is laser-
encoded on to optical WORM media as a visible diffraction pattern image that is eye-readable under a variety of
lighting conditions. The personalized laser-encoded optical image is extremely difficult to simulate as it has a two-
dimensional appearance and the encoding registration on to the optical WORM media is at a sub-micron level of
accuracy. The laser-encoded optical image cannot be removed from the reflective optical WORM media nor can it be
duplicated or simulated by photocopying, photography or scanning. The laser-encoded optical image can be updated
by incorporating new diffraction pattern images or alphanumeric text as the document is updated or processed.
Furthermore, covert physical protection can be added by interleaving a copy of the digital file within the laser-encoded
optical image. This personalized security feature is currently used in the Permanent Resident Card ("Green Card”)
issued by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Border Crossing Card issued by the U.S.
Department of State.
(O1/2) Laser Engraving - Laser engraving has been used in Europe for more than 10 years on high-security plastic
cards for printing highly tamper-resistant variable data on a card. Using an intense laser beam, data is burned (or
“engraved”) into the inner core of the card. The information cannot be mechanically or chemically removed without
damaging the surface of the card, thereby providing an extremely effective tamper-resistant barrier. Laser engraving
can be performed with alpha-numeric characters, digitized images (such as photos or signatures), or bar-codes and
OCR characters.
(O1/2) Laser Perforation - This is the perforation of a document using laser technology. Unlike mechanical punching
techniques, the holes made by the laser beam are free from burrs and can easily be confirmed by feeling. The holes
created are also conical shape, with the entrance being larger than the exit.
(C2/3) Machine-Readable Technologies - The card design can incorporate inclusion of many machine-readable
technologies such as magnetic stripe, integrated circuit, 1D or 2D bar-codes, OCR, optical WORM media, machine-
readable holograms, etc. Verification of the authenticity of the document, the data, and/or the person presenting the
document can be accomplished with a card reader, depending on the technology employed. Common techniques to
ensure data integrity include:
– Check digits and data encryption (presumably with public key encryption)
– For IC cards, tamper detection and chip disabling; and digital signatures for all data written to the chip.
(O1) Metallic and Pearlescent Inks - Special iridescent inks fluctuate in brilliance depending upon the angle of
illumination and viewing. The typical appearance of metallic or pearl luster inks cannot be mimicked by color copiers or
reproduced by scanning and reprinting.
(O1/2) Micro Optical Imaging - Text, line art, gray scale images and multi-reflectivity images can be engineered into
optical WORM media at a resolution over 12,000dpi. This extremely high resolution is over 4 times higher than current
security printing techniques and therefore extremely difficult to simulate. The micro optical images cannot be removed
from the reflective optical WORM media nor can it be duplicated or simulated by photocopying, photography or
scanning. Micro optical imaging is mainly made up of visible images but can also incorporate digital data that can be
used for covert machine-readable security. Micro optical imaging is currently used in the U.S. Permanent Resident
Card, Border Crossing Card and several other commercial applications.
(O2) Microprinting - Miniature lettering, which is discernible under magnifying readers, can be incorporated into the
fine line background or can be placed to appear as bold lines. Visa, MasterCard, and American Express include
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microprint as a standard security feature. Microprint was also added to U. S. currency in 1990. Accurate reproduction
of microprint cannot be accomplished as yet by photocopying or by commercially available color photography or color
scanners.
(C1/2) Moiré Pattern - A new pattern formed by the superpositioning of two patterns whose periodicities are not
identical. Security designs can be made so that a scanner or copier will only display part of the pattern, resulting in a
visible effect different from the original document. The original image can be designed so that a copy would reveal
indication of reproduction - typically showing the word “VOID” or “COPY”. This process is also referred to as aliasing.
(O1) Opacity Mark - The opacity mark, which is similar to a watermark, is a plastic that contains a unique translucent
opacity mark. It is similar in principle and effect to a watermark found in paper documents and enjoys a high level of
familiarity as a security feature.
(O1/2) Optical Variable Device - Optically Variable Device (OVD) is a general term describing a security feature
which changes appearance in some way when the angle of illumination or observation is changed. OVDs derive their
significance for valuable documents and goods from the impossibility of copying them with usual reproduction
techniques like color scanners and copiers. OVDs are often distinguished by being identified as either iridescent or
non-iridescent.
(O1/2) Optical Watermark - Fine line images can be engineered into optical WORM media at a resolution over
12,000dpi. The optical watermark is then overwritten with a laser-encoded optical image, interlocking in sub-micron
register, a preformatted document security feature with a laser encoded personalization security feature. This
extremely high resolution is over 4 times higher than current security printing techniques and therefore extremely
difficult to simulate. The optical watermark cannot be removed from the reflective optical WORM media nor can it be
duplicated or simulated by photocopying, photography or scanning. Attempting to tamper or alter the optical watermark
destroys the laser-encoded optical image. The optical watermark is currently used in the U.S. Permanent Resident
Card and Border Crossing Card.
(O1) Optically Variable Inks - Optically variable inks (OVI) can be incorporated into designs to create a striking color
shift (for example, green to purple, gold to green, etc.) depending on the angle of light used in viewing the card. This
material consists of a transparent colorless ink containing microscopic, advanced multi-layer interference structures.
OVI is precious, and production is available to secure printers only. Since the availability of these inks is highly
restricted, true counterfeiting is unlikely.
(O1) Overlapping Data - Variable data, such as a digitized signature or text, can be “overlapped” with another field,
such as a photo image. This technique makes it necessary to alter both fields if either one of them is changed, thereby
increasing the tamper resistance of the card by making it more difficult to alter.
(C2/3) Radio Frequency Technology - Use of radio frequency waves to activate and retrieve information from
another source.
(O1) Rainbow Printing - Sometimes called “iris printing,” involves a very subtle shift in color across a document.
Well-designed patterns cannot be accurately reproduced on color copiers or through the use of document scanners.
Widely perceived in Europe and Asia as an element of a secure document design, it is commonly used in conjunction
with a fine line or medallion pattern in the background of the document.
(O1) Redundant Data - Data can be displayed in more that one location on the ID, thereby raising the resistance to
alteration. A simple visual inspection is required to determine if all data fields match. Redundant data can also be
displayed in differing colors or fonts.
(O2) Retroreflective Devices - Optical constructions that reflect light such that covert logos become visible over the
entire document, and/or overt logos become more visible and reflective, when the document is viewed using a focused
light source.
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(O1) Seal/Signature over Photo/Information - A type of unique identification that overlaps the photo and text area.
It can be a specific equipment number, state seal, coat of arms, flag, etc. The significance of this is to deter
substituting the photo and/or personal information.
(C2) Security Bonding - The card periphery on an optical memory card can incorporate a security bonding material
with known characteristics to bond all layers together. Tampering with the card periphery in an attempt to access
internal structures damages the known characteristics within the security bonding. This creates a tamper evident
feature.
(C2/3) Security Code - It is possible for high-resolution color printing systems to print a security code within the body
of the color printed photograph. For example, a security code can be printed in a non-proportional font that can imbed
characters on the edge or the bottom of the printed picture. The text can be printed on the image in colors that are
complementary to the image or in black.
(O1/2) Security Laminate - Transparent layers or films with an integrated security feature can be applied to a
document with an adhesive or fused by heat. Available in a number of forms security laminates are designed to protect
a document from alteration and provide tamper evidence.
(O1/2) Security Thread - First seen in U.S. banknotes the thread is visible by viewing in reflected or transmitted light
and can have text (positive or reverse) or other features on/in the thread. Security threads can be metal or plastic,
transparent or opaque, colored or colorless. With special metallized film, demetallized text is invisible in reflected light
and therefore cannot be copied reprographically. When viewed in transmitted light, however, the opaque aluminum
letters are clearly visible.
(C2/3) Specialized Inks - Special inks have been formulated with specific elements called “taggants.” These elements
can be detected by a remote reader or viewer. By using these inks and measuring their presence, it is possible to
identify designated card groupings or types. These taggant-carrying products are known as “smart” (or “intelligent”)
inks.
(O2) Thin-Film Interference Filters - Multiple-layer structures that produce color effects by interference.
(O1/2) Transparent Holograms - It is possible to incorporate holographic effects in a clear, transparent topcoat that
can be applied over variable printing. Through careful design and physical registration, the clear holographic topcoat
can serve as a deterrent to alteration in addition to its counterfeit protection features. If an attempt is made to remove
or alter the topcoat, tampering will be detectable without the need of special equipment. Because the transparent
hologram design reflects light at differing angles, accurate reproduction with a copier or scanner is cannot be
accomplished.
(C2) Ultraviolet (UV) Printing - Ultraviolet ink, which can be applied either through offset or silk screen techniques,
has long been accepted as a security feature for plastic cards. This invisible printing can be produced with the
availability of a color shift when viewed under long-wave UV light sources. UV radiation is not visible to the human eye,
but becomes visible when irradiated with a UV light. Custom UV fluorescing colors can be formulated that are not
normally available commercially, thereby increasing resistance to counterfeiting.
(C2) Void Pattern - A security device consisting of a period structure as an overt but not visible feature. When copied
on a machine with a different periodicity, the resulting moiré pattern displays the word “VOID” or some other message.
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