Abstract: A license plate character segmentation method based on multiple scale templates matching and part-based model was proposed to improve the precision of license plate character segmentation. Characters of single layer plates were extracted by sliding the multiple scale templates, which were designed according to the structures of the plates, in the plate candidate area. The double layer plates were modeled by part-based model, the top layer and the bottom layer are the two parts in the model. Candidates of the two parts were obtained by the multiple scale templates matching, and the geometrical constraint between the two parts was used to get the final segmentation result of the characters. The experiment results indicate that the proposed approach can segment characters for both single layer plates and double layer plates effectively.