A forensic examination of automobile paint may involve either a comparative analysis of two paint samples or an attempt to identify a recovered paint chip to determine the make, model, and year of the vehicle from which it originated. Along with microscopy, the main tool which most U.S. forensic laboratories use for such analyses is infrared spectroscopy. Paint binders are normally identified by this means together with some inorganic pigments. Until recently, however, there were no published reports describing the identification of organic pigments in the cured paint samples normally analyzed in the forensic laboratory. The main reasons for this stem from the difficulties in isolating these pigments from the inert paint matrices and the insolubilities of the pigments. Using infrared microspectroscopy and spectral subtractions, several organic pigments used in automotive finishes have now been identified in situ based on spectra of intact paint samples.

Infrared spectra were obtained of U.S. automobile original (OEM) finiśhes from the Reference Collection of Automotive Paints.