The invention provides a security check tray article positioning method and system based on vision. According to the invention, through carrying out straight line detection, grid region division and contour detection on the tray image, the number of contour feature points in each grid region range is obtained. Therefore, when the number of the contour feature points in the area range exceeds a specified threshold P, it is judged that the to-be-detected article exists in the grid area, and then the area is marked as the to-be-detected area for X-ray detection, and X-ray detection on other areas where no to-be-detected article is placed is avoided. The to-be-detected area can be determined through the image processing technology, the safety inspection efficiency of the X-ray is improved, and the emission power consumption of the X-ray inspection equipment is reduced. According to the invention, stable, reliable and efficient article safety inspection can be realized in airports, customs and other scenes.