1. A method for a processing device to determine a two dimensional (2D) handprint image from a three dimensional (3D) data of the handprint, comprising: processing one or more handprint images captured with a structured light illumination technique to determine 3D coordinates in the one or more handprint images; extracting by the processing device handprint surface information using the 3D coordinates, wherein the handprint surface information includes ridge height information; generating a 2D handprint image from a set of the 3D coordinates; mapping by the processing device the handprint surface information onto the 2D handprint image; and translating the ridge height information to a grey-scale image index.