The proposed study using the elastic grid for the purpose of image identification gave highly successful positive results. This methodology was applied in the analysis of images of an individual clicked under different conditions and was also applied on photographs of different individuals for the pur¬pose of substantiation of the methodology adapted. The study gave positive results of identification even from photographs clicked under different conditions, the distorted images could also be positively identified using the proposed methodology and the grid/template also proved to be individual specific. It was found that the template prepared for one individual never matches with the image of another individual i.e. a template shows a positive match only for a single individual. It is evi¬dent from Fig. 6, the template/grid of the individual ‘X’ was used on the image of individual ‘Y’ and it shows difference in the locations of landmarks - Ectocanthion (Ec), Endocanthion (En), Alare (Al), Cheilion (Ch) and points - C and D. A small change in the location of landmarks and points majorly affects the distance between the two points and also the angles. So, the grid or template was found to be individual specific and may hence be positively employed in forensic investigations for the reliable identification of the individual in question.
The same methodology was also applied on the distorted images to find out if the template works on the distorted images or not. It was found that depending upon the kind of distortion applied on the image, if the features considered as nodal points are visible in the picture and the distortions applied involve the entire face as a whole, positive identifica¬tion can be successfully attained by laying similar effects on the template. The only pre-requisite of the present study is that the grid/template can only be prepared over the image of an individual in the Frontal plane with neutral expressions and the distorted images should contain all the features considered as nodal points in the present study. Any kind of alteration in terms of size or placement of features may lead to false positive or false negative results. For the analysis of the images with different head rotations or orientations, the template may fur¬ther be adjusted according to the desired orientation depend¬ing upon the image submitted for examination.