The identification of misalignment and redesign of pinion surface were proposed to get favorable contact pattern and operating performance in actual conditions for spiral bevel gears. The relationship among different groups of misalignment which would lead to the same contact pattern was studied. The digital features of contact pattern were extracted, and the equivalent misalignment was obtained by an optimal method according to the minimum sum of contact path deviation. Machine settings of pinion were redesigned by local synthesis with consideration of misalignment. A numerical example is presented to illustrate this method, of which the effectiveness is verified by comparing the deviation between pinion surfaces redesigned according to actual misalignment and equivalent misalignment.