Standard image file formats make it possible for many different digital image processing systems to read and write the same image files by using a commonly understood format 3 . The Henry classification system could be thought of as a file specification for fingerprint cards. Rules determine where within the filing system a particular group of pattern types are stored, and in what order. A digital image file format is a filing system for pixel information. The type of format determines such things as the order in which pixel data is stored in a file, whether the image is color or black and white, the physical size of the image in inches or centimeters, and whether or not additional data is stored with the pixel information and what that data is.
Many formats can store more than one image in a single file.
The specification was developed by the FBI to include provisions for text data, multiple fingerprint images, result codes, minutia data, etc. The cost for implementing this new file format is going to be in the millions of dollars just for software development and integration with existing AFIS systems. Given the volume of ten prints the FBI receives on a daily basis, the need for minimal human intervention during the submission and search process, and the lack of any kind of existing file format capable of supporting the needs of the FBI, a new file format was probably the best solution. Latent fingerprints on the other hand are an entirely different matter. The ability to transmit images between local agencies and the State ID bureau is the real issue facing most of us.