About GlossAtlas
What it is
GlossAtlas is an independent reference for one narrow question: when two paint brands give a finish the same name, or different names, do their published gloss figures actually match? It compares the gloss and sheen ranges that manufacturers print on their own product data sheets, finish by finish, at the same measurement angle.
Why it exists
"Flat", "Matte", "Eggshell", "Satin" and "Semi-Gloss" are marketing names, not a shared standard. Each manufacturer decides which gloss numbers a name covers, so a "Satin" from one brand can measure like an "Eggshell" from another, and two "Satin" finishes can be several gloss units apart. Someone switching brands to match a room they already painted has no easy way to see that. The side-by-side tables and the guide on Satin show it with the manufacturers' own numbers.
Where the data comes from
Only manufacturer documents. The dataset currently holds 33 finishes from 4 brands across 8 interior product lines, each transcribed from the product or technical data sheet the manufacturer publishes for it, and each linked from the source register with the document's own revision date. The figures were last checked against those live documents on 2026-10-10. Retailer copy, forums and estimates are not used as evidence. Where a manufacturer publishes a figure at only one angle, or not at all, that is shown as such; nothing is inferred.
What GlossAtlas does not do
- It does not measure paint. There are no laboratory tests, no glossmeter readings and no independent measurements behind any figure. These are ranges manufacturers publish, not readings from a sample on your wall.
- It does not convert between angles. A 60° figure is never turned into an 85° figure. Two finishes are compared only when both were published at the same angle.
- It does not say two paints are identical. A strong overlap means two published ranges share most of their span. Colour, base, application and lighting change how a sheen looks.
How a comparison is produced
A fixed, published rule turns two published ranges into a result: how much of the narrower range the other one covers, or how far apart they are when they do not touch. The same code produces the result in the tool and on every page. The full rule, its thresholds and its limits are on the methodology page.
Editorial standards
GlossAtlas publishes three different kinds of statement, and labels which is which:
- Manufacturer data. Ranges taken from each manufacturer's own data sheet (extracted with a script and checked against the document), never scraped from retailers or generated. The set of finishes and lines is a curated selection.
- GlossAtlas derived analysis. The analysis pages and worked examples are GlossAtlas's own interpretation of those figures: the tables and headline numbers are computed from the dataset when the site is built, using the formulas on the methodology page, and each page states what it does not show. The text was drafted by an AI model from the computed tables; how pages are produced and checked is under how pages are produced and checked.
- GlossAtlas first-party measurements. Readings GlossAtlas takes itself with a gloss meter. None has been published yet; when one is, it will sit in its own section, beside the manufacturer figure and never mixed into it. The protocol is public.
None of this is paint-industry expertise or laboratory work, and GlossAtlas does not claim either. Corrections and data changes are logged with their dates in the change log.
Independence
GlossAtlas is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore, Behr, Valspar or any other paint manufacturer, and nothing on the site is a paid placement. Brand and product names belong to their owners and are used only to identify the products being compared. See the brand independence statement.
Who runs it
GlossAtlas is run by Enrique Rubio, an individual based in Madrid, Spain; the Legal Notice has the full operator details. His professional background is in data-platform engineering and operations, not in the paint industry, and the site makes no claim of paint-industry expertise. The reason to trust what it says is that every figure can be checked against the manufacturer's own document.
Report a correction
If a figure here differs from a manufacturer's current data sheet, or a page is unclear, email hello@glossatlas.com with the finish, the page, and a link to the document. Reports are reviewed against the manufacturer's document and, where it supports the correction, the data is updated.
Use the comparison tool · Analysis and worked examples · Methodology and sources · Same name, different range