The spreading and adhesion of latex binder in pigment coating layer plays a decisive role in the structure and properties of paper coating. However, some aspects of its influence are still controversial. This study deals with a comprehensive analysis of pigment coating structure prepared with different latex binders with varying levels of spreading. In situ analysis of different structural characteristics by cross-section SEM image analysis method revealed various correlations between the structural properties of coating layers. To vary the extents of latex spreading, coating layers were prepared with latexes of different glass transition temperatures and exposed to different drying and dry-sintering conditions. Quantitative analyses of the microscopic surface roughness, dimensional changes and pore structures were performed using cross-section image analysis. The resulting data was compared with the morphological characteristics of latex binder within the coating structure. Coating surface morphologies were found to be strongly correlated with the extent of latex spreading, while the thickness and porosity of coating layers did not show correlation with latex spreading. Pore size distributions were significantly different when the extent of spreading of latex binder was low, which showed high correlation with the change in adhesion behavior of binder to pigment particles. Pore shapes were strongly correlated with the extent of latex spreading.