Dear Customer,
Southern Aluminum Finishing has been anodizing panels for architectural use for nearly sixty years.

We have been open about the fact that anodized coatings always have some variation in their color. To ensure the tightest range of color variation in the industry, we have implemented computerized color control. Until recently there was not an accurate way to measure and describe the color range inherent to anodizing. Visual inspection was the only way to implement quality control in the factory, and the beauty of an anodizing job was in the eyes of the beholder.

Computerized color control is truly on the forefront of anodizing. The technology is so new that industry standards have not yet been defined for it?s use. One thing is certain: the amount of variation in color caused by the anodizing process is getting smaller through continuous improvement. Most specifiers and designers do not know that the most significant reason for color variation experienced in anodizing is due to variances in the metals used. Different alloys anodize different colors.

The enclosed anodized samples are produced from a lot of alloy 5005 AQ we stocked at the time they were made in our laboratories. Different lots of the same alloy can anodize different colors because of the tolerances of the alloying constituents. It is likely that anodized sheet you bought from SAF will not have exactly the same color as these range samples because current inventory is a different lot from these samples. Metal supplied at different times will likely be from different coils or extrusion billets and thus different colors.

Because extrusions are never made from 5005, these sheet samples can not exactly match the color and texture of extrusions, yours or ours.

Note also that these are lab prepared color samples, and actual color will vary in production. These range samples are meant to be representative of the amount of variation one may expect on a given job when we supply all the metal and are able to anodize it in the same set-up.

These range samples are not intended to be used for your metal. We have no control over the source of your metal or whether it is from the same lot. We try to keep the amount of variation to a minimum when toll coating, but do not use these range samples to show the variation.

While color variation is inherent to anodized finishes, their beauty is in their translucence, or depth of metallic color; and this is exactly what makes the color difficult to control. Using our advanced technology, we can precisely measure the variables of color composition, and can produce finishes with better color uniformity than ever before.

Please call for more information on the differences in colors during anodizing and the causes of color range.

Note: As always; having an actual sample from you helps us do a better job of getting as close as we can to the color required. There are significant differences in color between suppliers of storefront systems, and having one of your actual color samples helps SAF improve color control.