In order to set an inspection area, a measurement target is disposed onto a stage, a reference data of the measurement target is summoned, and a measurement data of the measurement target is acquired. Then, at least one feature object is selected in the measurement data and the reference data of the measurement target, and at least one feature variable for the selected feature object is extracted from each of the reference data and the measurement data. Thereafter, a change amount of the measurement target is produced by using the feature variable and a quantified conversion formula, and the produced change amount is compensated for to set an inspection area. Thus, the distortion of the measurement target is compensated for to correctly set an inspection area.