Using a diamond-tipped stylus, scratch tests were conducted on biaxially oriented polypropylene and poly(ethylene terephthalate) films in the two draw directions, i.e., the machine-direction (MD) and the transverse-direction (TD) along which the draw ratios are different. Atomic force microscopy study of those scratches revealed a significant anisotropy in the scratch resistance between the MD and TD for both of the polymer films. We confirmed that the scratch resistance of polymer strands is closely related to the draw ratios, which determine the mechanical strength and optical clarity of biaxially oriented polymer films. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.