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When mixed mail enters a postal facility, it must firstbe faced and oriented so that the address is readable bymail processors.Existing USPS systems face and orientdomestic mail by searching for flourescing indicia oneach mail piece.However, stamps on foreign-originatedmail do not flouresce, so the processing systems cannotsort foreign mail.Furthermore, even the facing ofdomestic mail is subject to processing problems such asmechanical malfunction and misplaced or partiallyflourescing indicia, which cause a significant fraction ofmail to be rejected.Previously, rejected domestic mailand all foreign mail had to be faced and oriented byhand, thus increasing mail processing costs for the USPS.This work aims to eliminate these costs by developing animage-based facing system that processes scannedimages of both sides of each envelope and automaticallyfaces and orients it in real time.TheUSPS began todeploy this technology nationwide in November 2002.