a substrate coating is provided for application in association with ink jet ink imaging on the substrate . the coating material , for application on a printable substrate for use with an ink jet printing system , includes a substrate property enhancing component , a surfactant , and deionized water . when the coating material is applied to the printable substrate , prints are produced which have improved print quality . the coating can result in enhanced permanence of black and specialty non - black color ink jet prints , when the substrate enhancing component is a polymer . the coating material of the present invention can also be applied to the porous substrate as a pre - print coating to reduce paper cockle and curl , when the substrate enhancing component is a polyhydroxy compound .