The invention provides a coating material that improves gravure printing characteristics of a printing surface of a printing base material, and with which beautiful gravure printing can be applied by favorably transferring ink supplied into cells of a gravure printing roll onto the printing surface of the printing base material. This coating material is a coating material for forming a surface layer which serves as a printing surface on a printing base material on which gravure printing is to be applied, the coating material being characterized by comprising a pigment including inorganic particulates, and a skin layer that is formed on the surface of the inorganic particulate and that includes an organic compound.本發明提供一種塗料，其可改善印刷基材之印刷面之凹版印刷特性，使供給至凹版印刷輥之凹坑(cell)中之油墨良好地轉印至印刷基材之印刷面而實施漂亮之凹版印刷。本發明之塗料係用以於實施凹版印刷之印刷基材上形成成為印刷面之表面層者，上述塗料之特徵在於含有顏料，該顏料具有無機微粒子、及形成於上述無機微粒子之表面且含有有機化合物的表皮層。
