What is the purpose of using high-intensity light sources when analyzing fingerprints?

Using high-intensity light sources when analyzing fingerprints serves to enhance visual contrast. This enhancement is critical because fingerprints, especially when collected from non-porous surfaces, can be faint or difficult to see. High-intensity lights, such as ultraviolet lights or specific wavelengths of visible light, can illuminate the ridge patterns of fingerprints, helping forensic analysts to better distinguish these unique patterns against the background surface. This increased contrast allows for easier identification and analysis, making it a vital step in the forensic examination process.

While drying wet fingerprints can be a necessary part of the fingerprinting process, it is not the primary purpose of high-intensity light sources. Similarly, while high-intensity lights can aid in making marks more visible, they do not create a permanent record themselves; instead, this involves other methods such as capturing images or making lifts of the prints. Unearthing hidden marks may also be a result of proper lighting but is a broader application that encompasses more than just fingerprint analysis, thus is not the main focus of using high-intensity light sources.