Patent US 9,870,549

A number of approaches for using a camera or other device to capture an image of an arbitrary signature, drawing and/or other scribble rendered on a package and utilizing the captured image as electronic postage for shipping the package to the recipient destination. A sender wishing to send a package handwrites a signature or other scribble directly onto the package that is to be shipped. A mobile device (e.g., smartphone) can be used to capture an image of the scribble and perform image recognition to determine whether the captured image contains sufficient features to be distinct from other images stored in a database. If the image is sufficiently distinct, the image can be accepted as electronic postage for the package. When the package is picked up, the delivery person scans the scribble and matches it to the image on file to determine the recipient address and other shipping information.