The eccrine and sebaceous fingermarks on A4 writing paper, metal, plastic and glass that were developed with acid-modified IC powder are shown in Fig. 3, Fig. 4, Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, respectively. The interaction between the acid-modified IC powder and fingermark constituents (eccrine and sebaceous) resulted in distinct ridge details on the developed fingermarks. The oil components in the sebaceous fingermarks in Figs. 3b, 4b, 5b and 6b were able to collect more powder thus resulting in higher contrast between the fingermarks and substrate compared to eccrine fingermarks in Figs. 3a, 4a, 5a and 6a.