Abstract: Paint-coated polymeric films which are bonded to substrates such as automobile panels, as a substitute for spray painted finishes, often develop surface blemishes or defects from the coating or web handling operations. These can be reduced or eliminated by vacuum thermoforming the film to the desired substrate in a plural stage procedure. The periphery of the film is clamped in a frame. Then the film is preheated to a temperature above its glass transition temperature until the film becomes taut in the frame. It is allowed to cool and is then reheated to at least the glass transition temperature and is then vacuum thermoformed to the substrate. This procedure eliminates many if not all of the visible surface defects in the thermoformed film.