Imagine this: you’ve prepped your car meticulously for a fresh coat of paint. You’ve even found the perfect factory-matched color to breathe new life into its exterior. You eagerly spray it out on the car and your excitement builds as the paint dries. But then you notice subtle differences in the shade and tone that threaten your perfect finish. It’s close, but not quite the way you expected it to look, and now the whole car is covered in it.
This is where the simple, humble paint spray test card emerges as a silent hero. An initial sprayout on a test card (also known as a Leneta card) offers a preview of the final outcome. Made of pure white paper to prevent influencing the color, they may also contain black printed elements to demonstrate contrast. Their special coating allows the paint to lay down uniformly without absorbing into the paper. Critically, these test cards provide you an opportunity to dial in and fine-tune several variables before it’s too late.
Here are three great reasons to use a test card before you lay down a bunch of expensive paint material. Unless, of course, you prefer the excitement of the “spray and pray” method.
1. Color Matching
There’s never a guarantee that freshly mixed paint will perfectly match an existing finish. Even when mixed to precise code, there can be slight variations in color and tone. And that’s before accounting for blending new paints with aged, faded finishes.
Running an initial spray on a test card helps assure the accuracy of the color being applied. By comparing the color on the test card to the desired color, painters can sometimes make adjustments to achieve a better match. Sometimes vehicle manufacturers use multiple paint codes for a color despite using the same name. Slight variations may exist for different model years, and this is your chance to confirm you got the color you expected.
If your paint supplier offers a guarantee, the test card will be your best chance to prove the error was theirs and not yours. Notes about gun settings, number of coats, and other factors can help you demonstrate you’ve done everything correctly on your end if there’s a dispute.
2. Spray Pattern Evaluation
Each paint job will require slightly different paint gun settings, depending on temperature, humidity, and various other factors. The test card provides a surface for you to perfect the spray pattern before you spray the vehicle. Because the test card behaves like a paint-prepped surface, you can adjust gun settings to get your desired pattern. You can dial in your ideal distance and overlap as well as your pressure and flow settings.
3. Coating Thickness Evaluation
Depending on your paint color, as well as any undercoats or primer, you may need to apply multiple coats to get the correct finish. By analyzing the paint coverage on the test card, you can gauge the thickness of each coat being applied. This is crucial not only for getting the correct finish, but also for ensuring durability and performance of the coating.
