Method for leakage flux testing of ferromagnetic material to be tested, in particular ferromagnetic pipes, for detecting defects, in which a test volume of the material to be tested is magnetized by means of a magnetic field, a surface of the material to be tested is scanned by means of a probe arrangement for capturing magnetic leakage fields caused by defects while there is relative motion in a scanning direction between the probe arrangement and the surface of the material to be tested, wherein the probe arrangement comprises a probe array with a multiplicity of magnetic-field-sensitive probes arranged next to one another in a first direction and held at a finite testing distance from the surface of the material to be tested during the testing, electrical probe signals are evaluated for qualifying the defects, and use is made of a probe arrangement in which the probes each have a probe width in the first direction which lies in the range from 0.1 mm to 10 mm, wherein an evaluation of the probe signals comprises the following steps: a mapping operation, in which signal information representing the probe signal is linked to spatial information representing the creation location of a probe signal for each probe signal in order to form spatially dependent signal data, a matrix-forming operation, in which the spatially dependent signal data, or signal data derived therefrom, are stored in fields, assigned with the correct location, of a basis matrix having at least three dimensions, wherein a first dimension of the basis matrix represents the signal information, a second dimension of the basis matrix represents the position in the first direction, and a third dimension of the basis matrix represents a position in the scanning direction, and at least one evaluating operation, in which spatially dependent signal data from at least two fields of the basis matrix, adjacent to one another in an evaluating direction which extends at any desired angle in relation to the first direction, are linked to one another using at least one evaluating algorithm. in which a test volume of the material to be tested is magnetized by means of a magnetic field, a surface of the material to be tested is scanned by means of a probe arrangement for capturing magnetic leakage fields caused by defects while there is relative motion in a scanning direction between the probe arrangement and the surface of the material to be tested, wherein the probe arrangement comprises a probe array with a multiplicity of magnetic-field-sensitive probes arranged next to one another in a first direction and held at a finite testing distance from the surface of the material to be tested during the testing, electrical probe signals are evaluated for qualifying the defects, and use is made of a probe arrangement in which the probes each have a probe width in the first direction which lies in the range from 0.1 mm to 10 mm, wherein an evaluation of the probe signals comprises the following steps: a mapping operation, in which signal information representing the probe signal is linked to spatial information representing the creation location of a probe signal for each probe signal in order to form spatially dependent signal data, a matrix-forming operation, in which the spatially dependent signal data, or signal data derived therefrom, are stored in fields, assigned with the correct location, of a basis matrix having at least three dimensions, wherein a first dimension of the basis matrix represents the signal information, a second dimension of the basis matrix represents the position in the first direction, and a third dimension of the basis matrix represents a position in the scanning direction, and at least one evaluating operation, in which spatially dependent signal data from at least two fields of the basis matrix, adjacent to one another in an evaluating direction which extends at any desired angle in relation to the first direction, are linked to one another using at least one evaluating algorithm. a mapping operation, in which signal information representing the probe signal is linked to spatial information representing the creation location of a probe signal for each probe signal in order to form spatially dependent signal data, a matrix-forming operation, in which the spatially dependent signal data, or signal data derived therefrom, are stored in fields, assigned with the correct location, of a basis matrix having at least three dimensions, wherein a first dimension of the basis matrix represents the signal information, a second dimension of the basis matrix represents the position in the first direction, and a third dimension of the basis matrix represents a position in the scanning direction, and at least one evaluating operation, in which spatially dependent signal data from at least two fields of the basis matrix, adjacent to one another in an evaluating direction which extends at any desired angle in relation to the first direction, are linked to one another using at least one evaluating algorithm.