The shape defects such as edge waves and center buckles may be formed in the rolled strip because rolling can easily produce non-homogenous elongation across the strip width. The main purpose of tension leveling is to remove such defects by eliminating the differences in elongation. In this paper, a new approach for the optimization of the process conditions in tension leveling is presented. The approach consists of an analytic model for the prediction of the strip curvature and the force at each roll. The accuracy of the proposed model is examined through comparison with the predictions from a finite element model.