The effect of the step of chemical etching before anodic oxidation on the properties of electrolytically colored anodic film on aluminium were investigated in this study. It is expected that the step of chemical etching before anodizing on aluminium can obtain a colored film with better absorptivity. The experimental results show that the chemical etching step increase the number of pores of the colored film. If the chemical etching step is used, the thickness of the colored film would become thinner, and that the hardness would become larger, the anticorrosive property would effectively enhance. Besides, reflectivity, △Eab value and gloss of the colored film are lower than that without chemical etching. The roughness of the colored film are higher than that without chemical etching. The optimal operating conditions for obtaining the blackest colored film with the lowest reflectivity are: chemical etching at HCl 15% for 45 min, and anodizing current density of 1A/dm2 for 30 min, and electrolytic coloring at voltage of 20VAC for 30 minutes. Therefore, the addition of chemical etching step in the anodizing process of aluminium is surely beneficial to the subsequent black colored treatment.