The invention relates to a process for plating a film on an aluminum or aluminum alloy substrate. The method comprises the following steps of: pretreating the surface of a substrate; preparing a target from the following components in percentage by weight: 0.06-0.10 percent of carbon, 9.0-9.5 percent of nickel, 17.5-18.0 percent of chromium, 1.80-2.20 percent of manganese, 0.80-1.20 percent of silicon, 0.01-0.05 percent of sulphur, 0.043-0.048 percent of phosphorus, 2.38-2.42 percent of molybdenum, 0.0001-0.0005 percent of tungsten, 0.08-0.12 percent of copper, 0.04-0.08 percent of vitriol and the balance of iron; loading the target into vacuum sputtering equipment; and finally, plating the target on the surface of the substrate by adopting a vacuum magnetic control cathode sputtering method, wherein before sputtering is carried out, the vacuum degree in a furnace is 3.0-4mTorr, the argon quantity used during sputtering is 25-60R, direct current is used for bombarding, the voltage is 180-200V, and the current is 10-15A. The process not only achieves the purpose of environmental protection but also meets the requirement on quality.