User's Guide to NIST Fingerprint Image Software (NFIS)

Published

November 1, 2001

Author(s)

Michael D. Garris, Craig I. Watson, R. McCabe, Charles L. Wilson

Abstract

This report documents a public domain fingerprint image software distribution developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The software technology contained in this distribution is a culmination of a decade's worth of work for the FBI at NIST. Provided are a collection of application programs, utilities, and source code libraries. These are organized into four major packages: 1. PCASYS is a neural network based fingerprint pattern classification system; 2. MINDTCT is a fingerprint minutiae detector; 3. AN2K is a reference implementation of the ANSI/NIST-ITL1-2000 Data Format for the Interchange of Fingerprint, Facial, Scar Mark & Tattoo (SMT) Information standard; and 4. IMGTOOLS is a collection of image utilities, including encoders and decoders for Baseline and Lossless JPEG and the FBI's WSQ specification. This public domain source code distribution is written in 'C', and has been developed to compile and execute under the Linux operating system using the GNU gcc compiler and gmake utility. The source code may also be installed to run on Win32 platforms that have the Cygwin library and associated tools installed. A Reference Manual describing each program in the distribution is included at the end of this document.

Citation

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR) - 6813

Report Number

6813

NIST Pub Series

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

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Keywords

ANSI/NIST, FBI, fingerprint, image, JPEG, minutiae detection, neural network, pattern classification, public domain software

Citation

Garris, M. , Watson, C. , McCabe, R. and Wilson, C. (2001), User's Guide to NIST Fingerprint Image Software (NFIS), NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=151534 (Accessed October 17, 2025)