Skip to content 
Factors Affecting the Color of Bronze Powder
Bronze powder is made from an alloy of copper and zinc, processed to produce a shiny metallic effect similar to real gold. It is a highly popular metallic pigment.
The metallic effect of bronze powder varies depending on particle size and copper content. For example, the coarser the particle size, the more pronounced the sparkle; the finer the particle size, the smoother and more delicate the effect. Higher copper content results in a more reddish-brown color, while lower copper content yields a more greenish-gold hue.
Therefore, the color effect of bronze powder is primarily determined by particle size and copper content (excluding factors such as application method, ambient temperature, or production date, focusing solely on the powder itself).
Case Study
We have a customer in Thailand who specializes in textile printing. This customer had previously purchased bronze powder from another brand, which we’ll refer to as Brand A (a pseudonym, the actual brand remains confidential). The customer wanted us to produce bronze powder in the same color as Brand A, so they sent us the technical documentation for Brand A.
The technical documentation provided by the customer is as follows:
The technical documentation clearly showed the particle size and copper content, so our technicians immediately formulated the corresponding bronze powder based on the customer’s technical document and arranged for the sample to be sent to the customer for testing.
Problem Encountered
After receiving the sample and conducting tests, the customer informed us that the color was not consistent and sent us photos of the test results. The test result photos are shown below:
From the images, we can see that the color of our bronze powder is noticeably redder than Brand A’s, and it did not meet the customer’s requirement for color consistency. As mentioned at the beginning of the article, “the higher the copper content, the more reddish-brown the color; the lower the copper content, the more greenish-gold the color.” Based on this, we can conclude that our bronze powder has a higher copper content than Brand A’s.
Solution
Since our product was adjusted according to Brand A’s technical documentation, we decided to request the customer to send a sample of Brand A’s powder. Our technicians would use professional instruments to test the particle size and color of Brand A’s powder, and then formulate our bronze powder based on the actual test results to meet the customer’s color consistency requirement.
Final Result
After communicating with the customer, they understood and sent us the bronze powder from Brand A.
Upon receiving the sample, we immediately arranged for our technicians to test Brand A’s bronze powder using professional equipment. Below is an introduction to our equipment.
Based on the test results, our technicians reformulated a new bronze powder and conducted a test print. The results are shown in the image below:
The left side shows the test result of the bronze powder sent by the customer from Brand A, and the right side shows the result of the bronze powder we formulated based on Brand A. As seen in the image, the similarity between the two is as high as 95%.
We sent the reformulated powder to the customer, and after testing, they expressed great satisfaction, confirming that the color was consistent with the Brand A powder they had been using. The customer quickly placed an order with us.
Conclusion
Due to factors like environmental temperature and production date, the color of bronze powder may vary slightly. If a customer wants bronze powder with a color similar to a specific brand, the best solution is to send us the original bronze powder. Our professional technicians will test and adjust the formula using specialized equipment to achieve the most accurate result.
If you also want a custom color, feel free to contact us! We will adjust it until you are completely satisfied!
