The optical and functional properties of powder coatings depend on the particle size distribution of the powder. The production steps for powder paint are mixing and extrusion of the raw material, cooling. pre-crushing and grinding. Depending on the requirements, the ground material is either collected in a cyclone or an inline classifier. In order to be able to produce different product qualities, the classifier should allow to vary the size distribution easily in a wide range. In that context, the second generation of a newly developed inline classifier as well as typical results applying the actual grinding and classifying technology will be presented. Finally, it will be shown to what extent the size distribution of the powder paint effects the application process and the quality of the coating. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.