Abstract: A method for controlling a superplastic forming machine for imprinting a shape on a sheet, the machine comprising: a cover; a vat; a press and a peripheral seal for gripping the sheet at its periphery and sealing a pressurized forming chamber delimited by the sheet; members for heating the sheet directly by radiation, these being arranged facing the sheet; a programmable controller. The method involves: determining an initial heating configuration; a finite-element simulation relating to the temperature of the sheet and performed in such a way as to have a temperature that is substantially consistent across the sheet and substantially constant during the course of the forming, in order to obtain a forming specification comprising at least a cycle of powering the heating members and a cycle of pressure in the forming chamber; programming the programmable controller according to the forming specification yielded by the previous simulation.