This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of coating pigments on the printability by investigating the pore structure of casting layer such as the number, size and distribution of pores and the pore rate. The coating structure was mainly determined by the interaction between pigment and binder. It means that the structure of pores was chiefly affected by the shape and size distribution of pigments and their packing rate. The physical properties of pore have close relationships with ink set-off, the speed of ink penetration and printing gloss. The results suggested that the rate and number of pores were greatly affected by the particle size distribution and shape of pigments. The rate of pore increased with the reduction of particle size distribution of pigments. Calcite was effective to improve greatly the printability of coated paper.