Multiscale structured surfaces have roughness distributions at various spatial frequencies that affect surface properties of materials. A recently developed filtered power spectral density (FPSD) method for surface roughness characterization was generalized to comprise structures from micro- to nanoscale. Furthermore, a uniform analysis method for micro-and nanoscale characterization over five orders of magnitudes was found by combining optical profilometry data, at the microscale level and atomic force microscopy data, at the nanoscale level. The FPSD method was also combined with structure simulation for multiscales, thus the roughness distributions can be designed and studied without the fabrication of structures. Furthermore, the FPSD simulation offers a design tool for structure-property correlations. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.