COLB Anomolies.

txt[8/3/2014 8:36:33 PM]

The White House PDF image "birth-certificate.pdf" contains anomolies which could not have resulted from scanning a
paper document or taking a screen shot of a digital image. Specifically, the PDF file contains multiple bitmap images
rather than just one. The multiple images differ in color space and pixel resolution. Also, the different types of images
differ greatly in terms of the clustering of pixels.
The images contained within the PDF file consist of both Black and White and Grayscale images. If the PDF file is
opened in Adobe Acrobat XI Pro, Adobe Illustrator CC (or CC 2014) or Adobe Reader XI or PDF-XChange Viewer Pro
then the PDF image opens in Black and White. However, when the same PDF image is opened in Adobe Photoshop CC
(or CC 2014) or Gimp 2.8.1 then the image opens in Grayscale. The Black and White images are all 200 PPI x 200 PPI
pixel resolution and the Grayscale images are all 300 PPI x 300 PPI resolution. Additionally, the Grayscale images
exhibit clustering of pixels whereas the pixels are not clustered in the Black and White images.
The statistics for the Black & White PDF images are:
Black & White
PDF
56KB
8.52 in. x 11.0 in.
1704 px x 2200 px
200 PPI x 200 PPI
Likewise the Grayscale PDF images have the following statistics:
PDF
56KB
8.0 in. x 10.6 in.
2400 px x 3180 px
300 PPI x 300 PPI
The difference in page size between the Black & White and GrayScale images is caused by the clipping mask. If the
clipping mask is removed, then the page size for the Black & White and GrayScale images is the same. For this case,
the pixel dimensions of the GrayScale image are 2556 px x 3300 px.

These findings were unexpected because the White House claims that they obtained their PDF copy of the COLB from
the Snopes.com J PG image "birth.jpg". However, none of the multiple bitmap images extracted from the WH J PG
"birth-certificate.pdf" is a J PEG image. The shear number and type of bitmap images extracted together with the many
different software tools used to extract them proves conclusively that the WH COLB PDF file does not contain a J PEG
image. However, the presence of multiple images of different color space, pixel resolution and pixel clustering,
eliminates the possibility that the WH COLB PDF file was created by scanning a single paper original or by a screen
shot of a single digital image.
These same findings were also obtained for bitmap images extracted from the WH COLB PDF image. The most
fundamental form for the bitmap images that are extractable from the COLB PDF file "birth-certificate.pdf" are PBM
and PGM file extension. The PBM files are Black & White and the PGM files are Grayscale. Two types of PBM files
and two types of PGM files have been extracted. As extracted, the B&W PBM images are typically either 72 PPI x 72
PPI or 200 PPI x 200 PPI pixel resolution. However, the Grayscale PGM images are either 72 PPI x 72 PPI or 300 PPI
x 300 PPI. The images which are 72 PPI x 72 PPI pixel resolution are each larger in page size (in inches) to be
equivalent to their higher resolution, smaller-size companion image. The companion images are equivalent in terms of
their inherent image resolution. The page dimensions in pixels are always equal for each companion pair for both the
PBM and the PGM image formats.
The PGM Grayscale images differ greatly in terms of the pixel clustering as compared to all of the B&W PBM images.
COLB Anomolies.txt[8/3/2014 8:36:33 PM]
If the WH PDF is first opened in Photoshop as a GrayScale image and then this image is saved as a Photoshop PDF file
then this new PDF file will thereafter open in Illustrator as a Grayscale image. This provides a convenient way to
compare the Black & White and Grayscale images in Illustrator.
The WH COLB PDF image can be downloaded from the WH web site here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/birth-certificate.pdf
Likewise the Snopes.com J PG image is found on the Snopes.com web site here:
http://msgboard.snopes.com/politics/graphics/birth.jpg
J PG
110KB
3.414in. x 3.333 in.
1024 px x 1000 px
300 PPI x 300 PPI
The URL of the Snopes.com J PG image is printed along the bottom left edge of the WH COLB PDF image and the date
04/25/2011 is printed along the bottom right edge. The MetaData extracted from WH COLB PDF image gives the
date/time of the creation for the PDF image as "2011-04-27T12:11:23Z". Hence we conclude that the WH acquired the
Snopes.com image two days before it was released. This would be an adequate time interval to edit the Snopes.com
image or to create a digital image.
The following pages contain screenshots comparing the Black & White and Grayscale images and the Snopes.com color
image to the Grayscale image.
The screenshots on the following two pages compare selected text between the Black & White and GrayScale images.
On the next page, selected isolated pixels in the seal region of the Black & White image are compared to isolated pixel
clusters in the GrayScale image.
The last two pages compare the Snopes.com color image to the Grayscale image.