In the field of latent fingerprints, the silver physical developer is the usual reagent that follows DFO or ninhydrin in the processing of latent prints on porous surfaces. The traditional formulation of the silver physical developer uses distilled water. In 1998, a change was made in the traditional formulation from using distilled water to using “RO/DI” water or water that is deionized and processed using reverse osmosis. This article presents an evaluation of the performance of the traditional silver physical developer and the newly formulated or modified silver physical developer with “RO/DI” water. The new formulation differs from the traditional formulation in that it is made with RO/DI water; it contains malic acid; and it uses less detergent, silver, citric acid, and ferrous salt. Additional research is suggested in exploring other complex acids besides citric and malic acid. References and appendix