We develop an experimental approach with the aim to bring a contribution to the comprehension of the occurring phenomena during laser color marking of steels. A home-made marking device using a pulsed fiber laser has been used to treat steel samples under different laser beam operating parameters, for different compositions of the processed steel, and at normal atmospheric conditions. The treated samples were analyzed either by optical and scanning electronic microscopy, as well as by energy dispersion spectroscopy. The results show the influence of the operating parameters on the obtained colors. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.