Abstract: Two steering air currents that can be controlled independently of one another are directed onto the atomizing cone from the steering air ring of an atomizer for the series coating of workpieces, e.g., car bodies, wherein said steering air currents emerge at different radial distances from the atomizer axis and serve to adjust the width of the spray jet in different regions, such that the spray jet of one and the same atomizer can be optimally adapted to the respective workpiece region to be coated.