This document presents a histogram-based approach for automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) using MATLAB. The proposed methodology involves 4 main steps: 1) image acquisition and pre-processing, 2) dilation, 3) horizontal and vertical edge processing to generate histograms, and 4) filtering, segmentation, and region of interest extraction to isolate the number plate region. The algorithm is tested on images with different lighting conditions, tilts, and backgrounds, and is able to accurately recognize plates in all cases. The histogram-based approach aims to reduce computational complexity compared to other ANPR methods.