The present invention provides a coating material that can improve gravure printing characteristics of the printing surface of a printing substrate to favorably transfer an ink fed in the cell of a gravure printing roll to the printing surface of the printing substrate, thereby achieving the beautiful gravure printing. The coating material of the present invention is a coating material for forming a surface layer, serving as a printing surface, on a printing substrate on which gravure printing is to be performed, and the coating material is characterized by including a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate-unsaturated fatty acid copolymer that includes 80 to 90% by mass of a component of vinyl chloride, 9.2 to 19.5% by mass of a component of vinyl acetate, and 0.1 to 0.8% by mass of a component of an unsaturated fatty acid.