AbstractThis article introduces an innovative method for the multi‐scale analysis of high value‐added surfaces, which consists of applying a method based on a new parameterization. This kind of surface parameterization refers to natural modes of vibration, and is therefore named modal parameterization. It allows us to characterize the form, waviness and roughness defects of a surface. This parameterization opens up new fields of analysis, such as the appearance quality of surfaces. It is thereby possible to decompose a measured surface in a vector basis, of which vectors are represented by plane natural eigenmodes sorted by frequency and complexity. Different filtering operations can then be produced, such as extracting the primary form of the surface. To analyze the perceived quality of surfaces, these investigations focus on two approaches: that appearance defects have small periodicity, and that there is a link between curvatures and the visual impact of an anomaly. This methodology is applied to two prestige lighters, whose surfaces were measured by extended field confocal microscopy. Moreover, a prospect of this work is to develop an augmented‐reality‐type monitoring tool for sensory experts. SCANNING 33: 332–341, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.