Various examples are provided related to face identification of material. An image can be captured by a vision system and feature parameters determined and compared to a material feature database to determine which face of the material is being presented. The vision system can employ a set of parameters for configuration to acquire the image. The system can communicate the identification to downstream processes in real time. A near-universal, color agnostic, angular orientation independent identification of material faces can be determined without the need for physical manipulation of the material.