(pronounced PLAYT-ing)

In today’s cuisine-obsessed culture, plating refers to the how chefs artfully arrange their culinary creations on serving dishes. In the design industry, however, plating is the overlaying of a thin coating of metal on metallic components either chemically or electro-chemically. This metal overlay can be of various grades, thicknesses, and type – e.g., nickel, chrome, gold, copper, zinc, silver, etc. Plating is used for a variety of reasons. The most obvious being to decorate objects, and the less obvious being to inhibit corrosion, improve paint adhesion, alter conductivity, improve wearability, and reduce friction.

See also: anodized, metallizing