Drawdown Cards and Charts (Opacity Charts) are specially designed test charts used to evaluate the opacity, hiding power, color, and spreading characteristics of paints, inks, coatings, and other liquid materials.

Caltech India is the manufacturer and supplier of wide range of CES 998 Drawdown Cards and Charts for virtually any application and coating material. Stringent equality control during the production process assures that they have the most consistent color and gloss in the industry. Test charts are easy to use and an economical substrate to test a variety of coating properties, such as Opacity Charts, Checkerboard Charts and Plain White Charts. They are used for testing architectural, industrial, automotive, wood finishes or even cosmetic products e.g. nail polish. Depending on the material properties of the product to be tested and its usage different types of drawdown cards are available. Featuring black and white contrast patterns, these charts provide a consistent testing surface for accurate visual and instrumental assessment, making them ideal for quality control, product development, and laboratory applications.

Selection of test charts dependent on coating technology
Depending on the types of solvent used in paint formulations a drawdown chart needs to be more or less solvent resistant. The resin type requires different solvent types and dependent on the polarity of the solvent, the organic ingredients will be more or less activated.

Therefore, Caltech India offers two types of Drawdown Cards And Charts.

Clear-coated Charts

• Are ideal for a wide range of coating systems: water and solvent borne technologies
• Guaranteed non-fluorescent paper in compliance with ASTM D344
• Repeatable color and gloss-lot after lot
• Superior adhesion characteristics, especially with latex paints
• Rugged design to prevent warping and bending after the coating is applied.
• Package is shrink-wrapped with low permeability plastic to prevent moisture absorption during shipping and storage.

Film Laminated Charts

• With excellent solvent resistance
• Repeatable color and gloss-lot after lot
• Smooth, structure free surface
• Superior adhesion properties and flexibility
• Double film laminated will not warp and bend-even in high humidity environments.

Opacity Charts

The term “Opacity Chart” refers to charts on which the test pattern is a simple combination of black and white areas, large enough for wider aperture reflectance instruments, as well as for visual opacity and colour observations. Used to test the hiding power of the coating, using large black and white areas.

Checkerboard Charts

One of the earliest hiding power test surfaces was linoleum with a black and white checkerboard pattern, this was soon replaced by sealed paperboard charts. Checkerboard Rate Charts are typically used in drawdown hiding tests.

Plain White Charts

These drawdown charts are plain white with the coating on one side with no text or label on top.

Ordering Information:

Ordering Number	Description	Material	Dimensions (mm)	Qty/Box
CES 998/1	Opacity Charts (S)	Film Laminated / Clear Coated	100 x 150	500 sheets/box
CES 998/2	Opacity Charts (M)	Film Laminated / Clear Coated	140 x 250	500 sheets/box
CES 998/3	Opacity Charts (L)	Film Laminated / Clear Coated	187 x 265	500 sheets/box
CES 998/4	Checkerboard	Film Laminated / Clear Coated	100 x 246	500 sheets/box
CES 998/5	Twill (S)	Film Laminated / Clear Coated	145 x 262	500 sheets/box
CES 998/6	Twill (L)	Film Laminated / Clear Coated	195 x 286	500 sheets/box
CES 998/7	Plain White (S)	Film Laminated / Clear Coated	100 x 150	500 sheets/box
CES 998/8	Plain White (M)	Film Laminated / Clear Coated	140 x 250	500 sheets/box
CES 998/9	Plain White (L)	Film Laminated / Clear Coated	187 x 265	500 sheets/box