Are Steel Inquisitors Illiterate?

[Serity]

As I was rereading the original trilogy, I had a thought: since Inquisitors can't "see" strictly speaking but can only sense where things are with steel and iron, would they be able to read or would they just see a piece of paper as a flat surface? Are there any examples in the books of spikeheads reading?

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

Well, in AoL

 

Marsh had a book, but I don't know if he read it.

 

In the original trilogy, Marsh could read the note inscribed in the Tin plate that Spook sent. But that's metal.

[king of nowhere]

i think it depends on the metal content of the ink. I have no idea what they put into it, but most dyes are metal complexes, so an inquisitor should sense them. Huh, one could make an ink only with non-metal dyes that would be invisible to inquisitors, or one with colorless metal salts  that would only be visible to them

[Swimmingly he/him]

What about painting notes over with a transparent adhesive or laquer that has a high metal content, or writing nonsense on the paper in invisible ink, which the ironsight should be able to see equally well, underneath and above the actual impression? Also, using delicate brushes and little ink on a tough surface to avoid shaping the surface of the note into words.

[Melaan]

i think it depends on the metal content of the ink. I have no idea what they put into it, but most dyes are metal complexes, so an inquisitor should sense them. Huh, one could make an ink only with non-metal dyes that would be invisible to inquisitors, or one with colorless metal salts  that would only be visible to them

Ya. I was writing some Mistborn fan fiction with a friend and we had Marsh using metallic ink. Also, we have to remember that an  inquisitor can see even small traces of metal. I belive in the end of Final Empire, we see them able to tell where people are  by the metal on and in their bodies, even the small amount of metal in normal non-spiked bodies.

[Fatebreaker he/him]

i think it depends on the metal content of the ink. 

 

Man, that means I wasted money on that Birthday card...

[Pathfinder]

during the original trilogy you would kind of be screwed regardless. Put it in metal and the inquisitors can read it. put it on paper with non metallic ink and ruin can alter it. 

[killersquirrel59 he/him]

I've always figured that since they see the world through Steel and Iron lines but far more detailed, I assumed they see in the differences between metal content in various objects. So the ink would have a different metal content than the paper and thus be legible.