Self-assembled monolayer films of a metallotetraazaphthalocyanine were prepared using two different reaction conditions. The films were characterized by ellipsometry, AFM, electronic absorption spectroscopy, semiempirical MO calculations, core-level XPS, and projection of a calculated structure of the chromophore onto a surface to obtain its silhouette area for comparison with surface concentration from absorption spectroscopy. A denser packing of the chromophores is found in the SAM film prepared with bromonaphthalene at 250 degreesC as compared with the film from the more polar solvent DMF at 120 degreesC. Data is consistent with an almost vertical orientation of the chromophores in the former film. A different number of bonds connecting the chromophore with the coupling molecule is suggested as an explanation to differences in the absorption bands for the two films.