Surface replication is playing an important role in the assessment of creep damage and remaining life of high temperature components. As the replication procedures, however, have not been standardized in domestic industry, its standardization is proposed in this study. For this purpose, the 2.25Cr-IMo steel was heat treated(5 min at 1,300 0C and oil quenched) to produce a simulated HAZ microstructure, and crept in air at 575 0C and under 120 MPa to produce artificial cavities. Then, the effect of surface preparation procedures on the quality of replicas was investigated using this sample. As a result, it was demonstrated that the presence of cavities may be observed readily or missed depending on the surface preparation procedures followed. Therefore it is essential to repeat three polishing/etching cycles at least in order to reveal cavitation damage accurately, even though it may be tedious or time-consuming.