An image of an article to be inspected is divided into image portions, and a search engine makes a comparison with the image portion and a library of reference images. The reference images have predetermined labels that indicate whether each indicates a defect or no defect. The one of the reference images that most closely matches the image portion is determined, and the label associated with the reference image is taken as indicating whether the image portion corresponds to a location with a defect or no defect. Locations indicated as being defective are considered candidate defects and may subsequently be inspected in more detail.