A method of determining one or more color characteristics of a colored microsphere comprising: providing a microarray of microspheres, including at least one colored microsphere which has a color characteristic; producing a magnified optical image of individual microspheres of the microarray; locating a microsphere in the aperture of a spectrometer to confine the color region of interest of the located microsphere in order to determine one or more color characteristics thereof; and determining one or more color characteristics of the located microsphere by means of the spectrometer.