Pigments are granular solids incorporated in the paint to contribute color. Dyes are colorants that dissolve in the paint. Fillers are granular solids incorporated to impart toughness, texture, give the paint special properties, or to reduce the cost of the paint. During production, the size of such particles. Rather than using only solid particles, some paints contain dyes instead of or in combination with pigments. Hiding pigments, in making paint opaque, also protect the substrate from the harmful effects of ultraviolet light. Hiding pigments include titanium dioxide, phthalo blue, red iron oxide, and many others.

An alkyd is a polyester resin modified by the addition of fatty acids and other components .Alkyds are derived from polyols and organic acids including dicarboxylic acids or carboxylic acid anhydride and triglyceride oils. The term alkyd is a modification of the original name "alcid", reflecting the fact that they are derived from alcohol and organic acids. The inclusion of a fatty acid confers a tendency to form flexible coatings. Alkyds are used in paints, varnishes and in moulds for casting. They are the dominant resin or binder in most commercial oil-based coatings. Alkyd resins are produced. The original alkyds were compounds of glycerol and phthalic acid sold under the name these were sold as substitutes for the darker-colored copal resins, thus creating alkyd varnishes that were much paler in color. From these, the alkyds that are known today were developed.

Binders, being liquids, do not exhibit a static internal structure. The droplets dispersed in the continuous phase. 

(Sometimes referred to as the "dispersion medium") are usually assumed to be statistically distributed to produce roughly spherical droplets. The term "emulsion" is also used to refer to the photo-sensitive side of photographic film. Such a photographic emulsion consists of silver halide colloidal particles dispersed in a gelatin matrix. Nuclear emulsions are similar to photographic emulsions, except that they are used in particle physics to detect high-energy elementary particles Binder or film former.

The binder is the film-forming component of paint. It is the only component that is always present among all the various types of formulations. Many binders are too thick to be applied and must be thinned. The type of thinner, if present, varies with the binder. The binder imparts properties such as gloss, durability, flexibility, and toughness