A series of documents (100) to be processed are optically inspected, and compared with a reference (h) standard to identify the relative orientation of each document. To this end, an image acquired from the document (preferably from each side of the document) is focused on an array (14) of picture elements (pixels) for electronically converting the acquired image to digital form. This produces a digitally encoded image, which can be enhanced if desired, defined by an array of pixels corresponding to the acquired image. For each acquired image, two reference areas, which are preferably symmetrically located on the document, are inspected for the presence of a pre-selected reference mark. Location of the reference mark in one of the two reference areas operates to determine the orientation of the document. Upon locating the reference mark on the document, identifying the orientation of the document relative to the apparatus, the document may then be mechanically re-oriented so that the documents are placed in a uniform orientation for further processing, if desired.