Abstract. A method is presented for obtaining good images of a sprayed speckle pattern on specimen surfaces at high temperatures, suitable for strain measurement, by digital image correlation (DIC) using plasma spray for speckle preparation in which a bandpass filter, neutral density filters, and a linear polarizing filter are used to reduce intensity and noise in images. This is accomplished by speckle preparation through the use of plasma spray and suppression of black-body radiation through the use of filters. By using plasma spray for speckle preparation and the filters for image acquisition, the method was demonstrated to be capable of providing accurate DIC measurements up to 2600°C. The full-field stretching deformation of the specimen was determined using the DIC technique. Experimental results indicate that the proposed high-temperature DIC method is easy to implement and can be applied to practical, full-field, high-temperature deformation measurements with high accuracy. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.