[Polarik]

I don't know what criteria they use for "real" these days, but there are a few things unreal about the letter.

First of all, WND was right about spotting the HTML code-generated letter, but they did not say anything about the JPG image of BO'as signature (of course). Even if the letter was a complete image, the signature was forged. Anyone who bothered to look at it under magnification (which I strongly urge everyone to do), they can see how crudely it was TRACED.

Now, about that real letter, it looks like a letter lying on a desk and photographed at an angle, up and slightly off to the left side. You can see the receding edges of the paper as you go from bottom (closest) to top (furthest). You can see the perspective in the lines of text in the same way. But, what about the signature and the closing line?

Look at the green-boxed signature. It goes straight up and down, perpendicular to the typed text of his name. It is placed just too perfectly. the signature should have been receding towards the back. Also, the image is not the least bit blurry.The text of the closing ("Sincerely" and "Barack Obama") are much darker and clearer than the rest of the document.

What I see, IMHO, is a graphic of a closing and BO's signature (which is available in abundance on Google Images) taken from somewhere else, and whose color was changed to blue before being overlaid on top of a faux letter.

The same goes for the very blurry Seal at the top of the page. It looks nothing like the close up of the Seal they posted. Are we supposed to take their word for it? Why didn't they back the camera out so what we could at least see the salutation. Smae thing for the closing -- it's isolated from the rest of the document. I would not bet that these two graphics are a part of the whole letter:

Some things just do not look right to me, and I'm using correct about it.

[Red Steel]

Good work Polarik. It figures you would be on the case.

Traced. LoL!

[PhilDragoo]

[BP2]

THIS image:

is derived from THIS image, published on Page 8 of the Spring 2009 Inspire Magazine (Kapiolani Medical Center) in Hawaii:
http://www.kapiolanigift.org/press_room/Publications/Inspire%20Magazine%20Spring%202009.pdf

Pretty stupid of Kapiolani Med Center and Team Obama to put these out on the Internet for comparison ...

[thecodont]

From your post and the images shown, it looks as if though someone:

1. Took a REAL form letter from some nameless hospital beneficiary (someone who’d actually been born there);
2. copied it on to “White House” stationery; and
3. traced BO’s signature on it.

[LorenC]

"Even if the letter was a complete image, the signature was forged. Anyone who bothered to look at it under magnification (which I strongly urge everyone to do), they can see how crudely it was TRACED."

Presidents commonly rely on autopens to sign their correspondence. As stated here:

"When Barack Obama takes up residence in the White House, Autopens, and to a lesser degree, secretarial signatures (signatures signed by secretaries or other assistants) will fill the vast majority of autograph requests."

"Since President John F. Kennedy, presidents and politicians have relied on the Autopen. Kennedy himself was reported to have had six different Autopen signatures. The best way to detect one is to compare it against known Autopens. Autopen signatures from the same template will be virtually identical. If you superimpose one image over another, the signatures will align almost precisely."

A polite letter of congratulations is exactly the type that should be expected to be signed by autopen. So the fact that the signatures appear traced is just as easily testimony to their authenticity.