Abstract: An improved method for positioning a workpiece having at least one marking in a charged-particle beam apparatus relative to either a scanning field or a mask and in which a scanning beam linearly scans the workpiece and a signal is generated by the scanning and controls a writing beam which travels across the screen of a display means. The improvement of the invention comprises the step of scanning the workpiece with the scanning beam successively in opposite directions at the same velocity. The writing beam travels across the screen of the display means in response to the scanning in the same direction once for each scan of the workpiece by the scanning beam in a definite phase relationship to the scanning beam. The scanning of the workpiece generates two signals in response thereto and the positions of the two signals, which are displayed on the display means, are adjusted so that the signals are brought into coincidence.