A method and apparatus for an automated system to extract a high quality signature from an image having areas not relevant for specific identification purposes which can lead to misleading image signatures, the method comprising: identifying at least one region of interest within the image by determining local orientation information at each pixel position in the image, the at least one region of interest comprising elements useful for the specific identification purposes; creating and applying a mask for the image wherein only the at least one region of interest is exposed; extracting a signature for the image taking into account the at least one region of interest exposed by the mask.