An apparatus classifies a material, which may include identifying the material, identifying the type of the material, or identifying the type of the material's surface. The apparatus includes a detector for capturing an image of a surface of the material, and a processor classifies the material by analyzing the image. When incorporated in a mechanism, this apparatus can classify the material on which the mechanism is operating, and, thus, the mechanism can tune some or all of its settings to the material without inconvenience to and with no susceptibility to error by a human operator. For example, when incorporated in a printer, this apparatus can identify the type of media being printed, and, thus, the printer can tune its print settings to the identified media type without relying on operator input.