Different mixtures of hydrogen, nitrogen and argon were tested for the cleaning and nitriding of cold-working, high chromium tool steel, prior to TiN deposition with the aim of improving adhesion of the TiN layer. It is well known that the condition of the substrate surface and hardening of the substrate by nitriding have a large influence on the adhesion strength of films. Good adhesion was achieved when nitrogen-hydrogen atmosphere with 40%-80% nitrogen (and 20%-60% hydrogen, respectively) was used, the best adhesion quality values were achieved (HF 1-2) with 40% nitrogen. With higher or lower fractions of nitrogen in the pre-treatment gas, adhesion was reduced. Argon addition also had negative effects on the adhesion strength. The microstructure and chemical composition of the near-interface region of the differently pretreated samples were analysed using secondary ion mass spectrometry, X-ray diffraction and light optical microscopy. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.