The main design features of paint spraybooths are; to provide an environment that protects the goods during the painting process, to provide safe operating conditions for the operator, to contain all waste products and provide an effective method to collect and remove waste products.

In spraying operations paint is atomised into a fine mist and propelled towards the goods to be painted by the pressure of the gun, a significant amount misses the goods, either through the action of the painter, or by bouncing off the goods.  Paint waste is known as over-spray and in conventional spray painting as much as 70% of the paint can be over-spray.  Different methods are available that reduce the amount of over-spray, but this is dependent on the type of paint used and the quality of paint finish required.

All spraybooths rely on the movement of air inside the booth to capture paint waste, and air movement (or velocity) of 0.75M per second is an industry norm.

Spraybooth are generically named according to the method of operation; for example
“down-draught” refers to a system where air is extracted from low level, often through the floor of the booth. 

The volume of air taken from a booth needs to be replaced; it can be drawn from the paintshop, but in a small paintshop this will seriously affect the shop heating.  It is also important that the incoming air is filtered to prevent contamination of the wet paint.  The most suitable approach is to include a dedicated air replacement unit that can filter and heat the incoming air.  In systems that require specific finishes the air replacement unit can also provide cooling and humidity control.