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PDF Layers in Obama’s Birth Certificate ( NRO: Much ado about nothing)
http://www.nationalreview.com/ ^ | April 27 2011 | Nathan Goulding

Posted on 04/27/2011 4:09:51 PM PDT by Para-Ord.45

We have received several e-mails today calling into question the validity of the PDF that the White House released, namely that there are embedded layers in the document. There are now several other people on the case. We looked into it and dismissed it.

The PDF is composed of multiple images. That’s correct. Using a photo editor or PDF viewer of your choice, you can extract this image data, view it, hide it, etc. But these layers, as they’re being called, aren’t layers in the traditional photo-editing sense of the word. They are, quite literally, pieces of image data that have been positioned in a PDF container. They appear as text but also contain glyphs, dots, lines, boxes, squiggles, and random garbage. They’re not combined or merged in any way. Quite simply, they look like they were created programmatically, not by a human.

What’s plausible is that somewhere along the way — from the scanning device to the PDF-creation software, both of which can perform OCR (optical character recognition) — these partial/pseudo-text images were created and saved. What’s not plausible is that the government spent all this time manufacturing Obama’s birth certificate only to commit the laughably rookie mistake of exporting the layers from Photoshop, or whatever photo editing software they are meant to have used. It’s likely that whoever scanned the birth certificate in Hawaii forgot to turn off the OCR setting on the scanner. Let’s leave it at that.

UPDATE: I’ve confirmed that scanning an image, converting it to a PDF, optimizing that PDF, and then opening it up in Illustrator, does in fact create layers similar to what is seen in the birth certificate PDF. You can try it yourself at home.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: birthcertificate; certifigate; colbfake; naturalborncitizen; officialbcrelease
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To: Steve Van Doorn

I’m not sure what you’re saying, Steve. If you’re saying it must be fake because it has no lines in it, there’s also a very simple explanation for that. According to the documentation we have, the copies were hand delivered by the DOH to Obama’s representative, not mailed. So no lines is not particularly surprising.

The big thing is the letter from the Director of Hawaii’s Department of Health testifying to the certificate’s authenticity. Anyone wanting to prove a fraud needs to somehow get past that.

But maybe you were saying something else.


61 posted on 04/27/2011 8:33:56 PM PDT by Jeff Winston
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To: Steve Van Doorn

Nope... nothing odd about that. My PDF of the scan of the printed BC did the same thing. You could select and move/hide/delete most of the black text and form boxes. A few artifacts were left behind as is shown in the animated GIF in that post.


62 posted on 04/27/2011 8:46:54 PM PDT by reegs
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To: sonic109
I was asking the same thing. There is no there, there. Why now ?
There still is the matter of dual allegiance because of his father.

If the BC issue goes away, so does the dual allegiance, plus, it might stop the states from enacting “NBC” laws.

63 posted on 04/27/2011 9:32:08 PM PDT by stylin19a
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To: reegs

There is a lot more on my links.
If you had looked at them.

Which debunk your one point.

To people that use Adobe this is a forgery.
Obama’s new Birth Certificate - Proven to be altered and changed, Now Just More Questions?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9CSvGrT0uM

President Obama’s Birth Certificate PDF has Layers - FAKE! (mirror)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-gDH5z0PKI
Obama’s Long Form Certificate of Birth Certificate is a Forgery ~ 04-27-11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQkulIT7iL
This guy tried to get multiple layers from a scanned in document. Couldn’t.

White House Birth Certificate is Forgery? 2 of 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPX33ZNdmlo

Obama’s Birth Certificate Is 100% Fake? Professional Graphics Designer Agrees It’s A Fake 1 of 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCMxVbPCPBY

Why does President Obama’s Birth Certificate PDF Have Layers? 3 of 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLTtengEvwk

Obama’s Birth Certificate Exposed Debunked as a Layered, Photoshopped, Fraud Hoax? 4 of 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeSzXcv3nXk

Obama Birth Certificate Scam? 2011-04-27 Obama.mp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eOfYwYyS_c


64 posted on 04/27/2011 9:37:19 PM PDT by cruise_missile (Obummer dumber than a teleprompter.)
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To: reegs

Why would Obama spend millions to hide this document and have military men locked up over it that asked Obama to produce it? BTW, this is a Certificate of Live Birth and not a Birth Certificate. Look at the top of the form.

You know in your heart that this doesn’t add up.


65 posted on 04/27/2011 9:41:07 PM PDT by Sprite518
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To: Jeff Winston

You could have saved a lot of that time by using the same reasoning you have shown tonight.

Obama said he had a certificate. Having said that, it was almost a certainty that there was a certificate. In fact, everything he did since the start could easily be interpreted as a guy who knew he had the goods, but wanted to let his opponents hang themselves until the opportune moment.

Sure, it was annoying. But it only took one person to push to the conclusion. For example, I left room for the possibility that something was wrong with Obama’s birth, but put no effort into caring about it or investigating. And here we are, and Trump did the work for me. And I’d dare say I had as much to do with the result as you did, with all the work you did, or any of the other freepers who spent so much time on the issue.

I’m not criticizing you. It was your life to use as you wished. I’m just saying that, unlike the CBS forgeries, where it was clear there could be a reason for trying to deceive, and the result was so important that it had to be dealt with, in this case there was almost no chance of turning out otherwise, and it was going to come out whether I worried about it or not.

I think Obama played us. It’s not the first time. It’s a classic manuever to keep the scent off real issues — set up a straw man, feed it, nurture it, and then swat it down when it’s politically helpful to do so.

As Palin said, it’s a distraction from the real issues of the day. And it played into Obama’s hands today, with the help of his media.


66 posted on 04/27/2011 9:42:14 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: Jeff Winston; JerseyDvl

“Oh, gosh. Honestly, Obama has basically STOLEN a significant part of my time and attention from me this week (and previously, too) by not releasing this damn certificate about 2 years ago.”

DITTOS. I have wasted too much time debunking false birther claims, trying to convince people that the dregs of evidence showed he was born in Honolulu. Now he releases this - proving what we already ‘knew’ and the thought is: What took you so long? He could have collapsed the birther movement a long time back!

Can we please move on?

Here’s a mantra to keep you focussed:
Obama may be American-born, but America will kick his butt out of office in November 2012!


67 posted on 04/27/2011 9:45:01 PM PDT by WOSG
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To: Sprite518

Well, we all know that over the past 2 years, Obama could have the best forgery possibly made and needed it now to quell the debate which had really caught fire once Trump got in the game. However, I think it’s more likely that Obama’s a narcissistic prick who will only play the game by his own rules and if peoples’ reputations are destroyed, so be it. From what I understand, he seemed out of sorts and embarrassed at his presser this morning (I didn’t see it), so his being forced to produce a birth certificate I believe was very difficult for him.


68 posted on 04/27/2011 9:56:57 PM PDT by reegs
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To: Jeff Winston
In fact, when it comes to the layers, it would’ve been a lot easier for them to just produce a fake certificate and scan a flat image than it would have for them to go to the lengths you describe. So that leaves the scenario you describe probably quite unlikely. If they were going to fake it, why not hide the changes in a flat image? Far, far easier, and fewer questions asked.

Were I a tinfoil hatter, I would suggest that this was done because they put their finger to the wind and decided most of the electorate was "anti-birther". So what more strategic move than to finally release the long-awaited BC with (oopsy!!) hidden flaws, thus portraying those who find those flaws as hair-splitting extremists with nothing better to do...while "sensible" people see the whole issue as "settled" and the so-called birthers as even more extreme than they were before.

69 posted on 04/27/2011 9:57:21 PM PDT by Ackackadack
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To: cruise_missile

Outstanding Post! Thanks!


70 posted on 04/27/2011 9:58:14 PM PDT by Sprite518
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To: maxwellsmart_agent
Something appear a little funny to everybody? A man and a political party spend more than 1 million dollars trying to keep from having to show that this guy is elligible when it could be this simple? Reserve judgement. There are still things wrong. Wait! I have a feeling there is more coming. Why would he and a political party spend more than three years and all that money trying to keep from having to do something this simple? It doesn’t add up and I don’t trust them.

This.

71 posted on 04/27/2011 10:05:49 PM PDT by TenthAmendmentChampion (Darwinism is to Genesis as Global Warming is to Revelations.)
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To: Talisker

It’s not nonsense: you’re simply ignorant of the tools.

If I were to scan and clean my Ohio birth certificate using Photoshop and Illustrator, it would turn out with all the same layers and variations displayed in the copy being presented to us by the White House.

I’ve done exactly the same thing with documents and photos, as have tens of thousands of graphics designers and editors around the world.

Mind you, I’m not making a judgement of the content or the validity of presenting it this way (i.e. cleaning it up, which I think was stupid to do), only the process.


72 posted on 04/27/2011 10:05:52 PM PDT by Psycho_Bunny (Public employee unions are the barbarian hordes of our time.)
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To: cruise_missile

Just like many of these people, I did the same thing: I downloaded the White House supplied birth certificate, opened it in Illustrator and was amazed that this layering was included in the PDF.

However, I wanted to prove to myself that this isn’t just a result of scanning directly to PDF. I then printed out the birth certificate, placed it on my copier at work, scanned it as a PDF which is sent electronically via email to my work PC.

I downloaded the PDF scan of the printed birth certificate in Illustrator and found that my PDF shared many similar layers. I could take the stamp at the bottom of the document and move it around, etc.

All I can tell you is what I have experienced for myself.


73 posted on 04/27/2011 10:06:10 PM PDT by reegs
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To: Jeff Winston
The director may have very well stated that he sent a valid and legal copy but there is no proof that what obama received or presented himself is THAT valid copy.

That is why there is a SEAL on the paper itself, it is the seal which proves authenticity, sot someones statement that there is an authentic copy somewhere.

74 posted on 04/27/2011 10:12:27 PM PDT by dglang
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To: dglang

I don’t see a seal on this document.


75 posted on 04/27/2011 10:29:40 PM PDT by EternalVigilance (Are you a principled patriot, or a political bookie? You can't be both.)
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To: cruise_missile

Video 4 of 4 was the best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeSzXcv3nXk

At 1:30, the “shading” that simulates a book page in a binder disappears with the safety paper layer. It’s not even part of the “scan” from the original document as you would expect if you were scanning a photocopy. It appears the shaded edge was photoshopped in with the phony safety paper.

Most of the news outlets posted the document with the edges cropped so the shading looked more realistic. This whole page document is just weird. Think about it: where does the shading come from?


76 posted on 04/27/2011 10:33:37 PM PDT by TenthAmendmentChampion (Darwinism is to Genesis as Global Warming is to Revelations.)
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To: gusty

What the heck are you talking about? Were you alive during the Clinton years? There were supposed conspiracies everywhere. That does not mean some of them weren’t true.


77 posted on 04/27/2011 10:40:29 PM PDT by PghBaldy (Like the Ft Hood Killer, James Earl Ray was just stressed when he killed MLK Jr.)
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To: reegs

I’m listening to you. Keep the logic commin’


78 posted on 04/27/2011 10:43:53 PM PDT by Marie (Obama seems to think that Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel since Camp David, not King David)
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To: TenthAmendmentChampion
Thanks for looking at them. I agree with what you posted.

There is more things wrong than the “layering” issue.

People should watch the movie “Catch Me If You Can.”
This would be child's play for that guy.

79 posted on 04/27/2011 10:49:49 PM PDT by cruise_missile (Obummer dumber than a teleprompter.)
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To: reegs; RummyChick

Maybe you can answer this... Why would the left edge appear to be bent? Simple answer is that there is a page attached to this long form, in front of the page we see. That is not the only document attached to that birth certificate. There is more. That might not even be the LEGALLY VALID version of the “long form” it might be something else entirely! My long form is a single sheet, not in a book or stapled to anything else! The one pictured isn’t. What do you think? Is there some simpler explanation? There is more than one page to Obamas long form!! Ok, shoot me down in flames guys n gals !


80 posted on 04/27/2011 10:52:50 PM PDT by Danae (Anailnathrach ortha bhais beatha do cheal deanaimha)
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