Abstract: A computer system for comparing complex coating mixtures with sparkle color can receive at least one image of a target coating. The computer system calculates a sparkle color distribution of the at least one image of the target coating, wherein the sparkle color distribution represents a relative number of sparkle points of one color compared to a number of sparkle points of one or more other colors in a measured area. Further, the computer system searches a database for a plurality of reference coatings with sparkle color distributions that match the sparkle color distribution of the target coating, wherein each reference coating in the plurality has a different sparkle color distribution. The computer system calculates a degree to which the plurality of reference coatings matches the target coating based on sparkle color distribution. Finally, the computer system identifies a closest matching reference coating from the plurality of reference coatings.