Paper was pre-calendered in a pilot scale configuration with a traditional soft nip calender and a metal belt calender. All calendering strategies reduced surface roughness and permeability of the samples, but different strategies affected the surface roughness and permeability differently. Six test points from the pilot calendered papers were chosen for laboratory coating studies. Uncalendered paper was included as reference samples. The calendered samples and the reference were pre-coated with a regular pigmented coating consisting of a GCC pigment and a SA latex. Both uncoated and pre-coated substates were barrier coated with a PVOH solution in one and two layers. The coating pick up was determined gravimetrically and the barrier properties were evaluated with TAPPI T454 grease resistance tests.