A new numerical method to predict the initial blank geometry from the desired objective shape of parts is pre-sented. Based on the conditions that the deformations in material are most evenly distributed and that the volume remainsconstant, a positive definite functional for blank design is constructed. The functional is minimized by an iterative schemeof finite element, and then the optimal initial configuration is obtained. The method is easy and expedient to use. The re-sults of numerical simulation of forming process and multi-point forming experiments for sheet metal demonstrate thatgood precision is achieved by the proposed method.