A method for identifying a pair of genuine red eye artifacts in a captured image includes the steps of determining the presence of a face in the captured image, substantially encompassing the face within a shape, and determining the presence of three or more candidate red eye artifacts within the shape. The method continues with measuring the distance from an edge of the shape to each of the three or more candidate red eye artifacts and identifying, as genuine red eye artifacts, two candidate red eye artifacts of the three or more candidate red eye artifacts that are within a predetermined vertical distance from the edge of the shape.