Colloid interactions in clay coating colors have benn modified with either an anionic or a cationized starch cobinder. This paper reports on surface chemistry and structure of the coated papers as well as print gloss and ink demand. The thickness of the surface layer and the top layer of the coating was defined by the analyzing equipment and was about 0.01μm and a few μm respectively. The internal structure of the coating layer was characterized with air leak porous layer structure. These coatings also had much higher amounts of starch in the surface layer, while the coatings containig anionic starch had a higher content of latex in the top layer. The ink requirement to reach a certain print gloss was higher for the aggregated coatings i.e. those containing cationized starch. A higher ink demand was initiated by a more porous layer structure and a rougher surface.