The footprint, in and of itself, does not mean the Smith birth certificate is bogus.
On the birth certificates issued by hospitals, it’s common for there to be a footprint. Not on the government-issued birth certificates — but on the ones issued by the hospital which may be used by parents until the official certificate is completed and issued by the registrar. Both of my kids have hospital-issued birth certificates with footprints on them that we’ve kept over the years. It even has the doctor’s name, signature, birth date & time, etc.
The raised seal on the Smith birth certificate says Coast Regional General Hospital. They are the issuing authority of this document, not the
registrar’s office. As such, IMO, the Smith document is still plausible, especially considering the footprint.
If you look at the letters the words themselves have been made more intense...almost in bold...Document has been darkened, therefore the footprints also appear darker.... It doesn't rule out the original just because a secondary has been altered to make it more readable.