The identification of the material properties in sheet metal is usually achieved using uniaxial tests performed along different texture directions. The article focuses on the comparison of strain fields and stress fields for different directions of rolling. Notched specimens made from anisotropic material were used for the identification of strains in the plastic area. That geometry generates a heterogeneous strain field which has been measured during the test using a digital image correlation system. The advantage of using a heterogeneous strain field in the identification procedure is that a complex state of stress–strain can be analyzed at the same time and much more information can be obtained in a single test. On the other hand the stress field cannot be directly computed from the test and a suitable identification procedure has to be developed. Here, the virtual fields method (VFM) adapted for plastic strain has been used to identify the hardening behaviour and the anisotropy of the material. The values obtained with the VFM have been compared with the results coming from a standard identification made with uniaxial tensile tests for different directions of rolling.