A method of manufacturing a braking element, in particular a brake pad, that is highly reliable in use, comprising the steps of: - applying an adhesive to a first face of a metallic element designed in such a way as to constitute a metallic support of the braking element; - verifying the presence of the adhesive on the first face of the metallic element; and - applying to the first face of the metallic element a block of friction material in order to obtain the braking element; characterized in that the step of verifying the presence of the adhesive comprises the steps of: i)- detecting by means of a video camera the gray level of a plurality of points of at least a first zone of a predetermined width of the first face of the metallic element; ii)- comparing the gray level detected for each point with a first previously stored threshold value and counting the number of points that have a gray level that satisfies a predetermined mathematical relationship which is a function of the threshold value; iii) - calculating, based upon the total number of points of which the gray level has been detected, the percentage of points that satisfy said predetermined mathematical relationship; iv)- comparing the percentage calculated with a second threshold value; and v)- discarding the metallic elements for which the percentage calculated does not correspond to the second threshold value. - applying an adhesive to a first face of a metallic element designed in such a way as to constitute a metallic support of the braking element; - verifying the presence of the adhesive on the first face of the metallic element; and - applying to the first face of the metallic element a block of friction material in order to obtain the braking element; characterized in that the step of verifying the presence of the adhesive comprises the steps of: i)- detecting by means of a video camera the gray level of a plurality of points of at least a first zone of a predetermined width of the first face of the metallic element; ii)- comparing the gray level detected for each point with a first previously stored threshold value and counting the number of points that have a gray level that satisfies a predetermined mathematical relationship which is a function of the threshold value; iii) - calculating, based upon the total number of points of which the gray level has been detected, the percentage of points that satisfy said predetermined mathematical relationship; iv)- comparing the percentage calculated with a second threshold value; and v)- discarding the metallic elements for which the percentage calculated does not correspond to the second threshold value. i)- detecting by means of a video camera the gray level of a plurality of points of at least a first zone of a predetermined width of the first face of the metallic element; ii)- comparing the gray level detected for each point with a first previously stored threshold value and counting the number of points that have a gray level that satisfies a predetermined mathematical relationship which is a function of the threshold value; iii) - calculating, based upon the total number of points of which the gray level has been detected, the percentage of points that satisfy said predetermined mathematical relationship; iv)- comparing the percentage calculated with a second threshold value; and v)- discarding the metallic elements for which the percentage calculated does not correspond to the second threshold value.