1. In a method for the automatic identification of fingerprints in which minutiae of a search print to be identified are matched with respect to their respective coordinates of location and angle against the coordinates of location and angle of minutiae of a plurality of file prints in a data base of fingerprints, in order to determine the existence or not of a match between said search print and one or more of said file prints, the improvement comprising the steps of (1) replicating at least one search print minutia by varying at least one of its coordinates of location and angle, thereby to obtain at least one additional minutia which is different from said search print minutia in at least one of said coordinates and (2) including said set of search print minutiae to be compared against the minutiae of said file prints.