A method including the steps of:) receiving (202) a search record; generating (206) at least one hierarchical cluster, each having a different minimum quality level; for each cluster, generating (210) at least one corresponding search package having a first set of search prints; selecting the highest quality cluster (218), a search package (222) and corresponding file records for performing a search (226); determining (230) whether a hit was found between any file print in the corresponding file records and any search print in the selected search package; and proceeding with the search process through the remaining quality clusters in an order based on decreasing quality until a match is found or until there are no remaining file records against which to compare a search package.