The invention relates to a control method for producing ground markings (M), with a reference beam generator (4) for determining a reference plane, a reception of the reference beams by means of an optical detector (3), wherein the position of an application unit (2) for the marking substance can be derived relative to the reference plane by using the received reference beams, a derivation of the orientation relative to the reference plane, and a control of an application of the marking substance to produce ground markings (M) according to the orientation. According to the method, the intensity in the solid angle covered by the reference beam is varied in time during the production of the marking.