Without any preptocessing, palyester fabric has lower ability to hold on water and inks due to the smooth morphology of polyester fibers. Therefore, patterns directly printed with pigment inks have poor color yields and bleed easily. Pretreatmonts of polyester fabric were carried out with atmospheric air plasma under different experimental conditions. After plasma treatment the samples were printed with magenta pigment ink. Scanning electron microscopy (SEAM) and X-ray photoelelctron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses indicated that the enhanced color performance was mainly contributed by not only the etching effect but also oxygen-containing palar groups induced onto fiber surfaces through plasma treatment. Thereby the surface modification of polyester fabrics using atmospheric-pressure air plasma offers a potential way to fabric pretreatment for pigment inkier printing with the advantages of environmental friendly and energy saving over traditional pretreatment methods.