This review paper is concerned about need of fingerprint along with exploring the different patterns of fingerprint by quoting the appropriate work for this assumed need. This work continues with focussing on reviewing the prior works related to fingerprint enhancement based on several key ideas. Some of the key idea includes applying wavelets along with specific filtering mechanism, achieving fingerprint image enhancement using Gabor filter based enhancement algorithm in wavelet domain, image enhancement using histogram equalization, achieving the principle of energy consumption while performing enhancement of fingerprint images. © Research India Publications.