Determining authenticity

[Autofreak2842]

Just wondering how to tell if an autograph is auto-pen or a pre print? How do you determine if an aoutograph is one of these or is authentic?

thanks,
Alec

[TheHeel]

I generally look if there is a like a marker dot at the beginning or end of the signature. I will put it like this...if you take a sharpie and press down hard at the beginning of a signature.

[Autofreak2842]

ok so if there is does that mean it is authentic? whats the difference between auto pen and pre print?

[wherron13]

A preprint is an autograph that is part of the photo. In other words, the photo was printed at the same time as the autograph. An autopen will be used on an existing photograph, so it's basically marker on top of a picture.

How to tell the difference between those two and original? Like Heel says, you can look for a Sharpie mark. I like comparing multiple signatures, if they're different, spacing, size, etc, then it's not autopen. If it's exact, then the odds aren't good. To tell if it's a preprint, I usually try to look for glare differences. If I'm looking at the auto and as I move it around and tilt it, the auto has the same glare as the photo, then it's a preprint, if the picture has some glare on it, but the auto doesn't, then it could be Sharpie. This would be much easier to show you than it is to explain. Hopefully this helps...

[Autofreak2842]

It helps a lot. Thank you!