A method of and an apparatus for automatically estimating the tilting angle in tilted images enables level correction of the images. A preferred orientation of objects in an image and the deviation of the current orientation from the preferred orientation is determined by tilt image analysis without object recognition. Tilt image analysis includes several steps such as gradient feature computation, line segment tracking, line segment estimation and orientation deviation estimation. Once the tilt angle is determined, the image can be corrected so that an object or scene is not tilted or is tilted by only the appropriate amount.