Pigmented coating compositions are used in a wide variety of applications including paints, inks, and inkjet inks. For inkjet inks in particular, the trend towards both inorganic and organic pigments has been driven by the need to produce more lightfast images with improved durability and water resistance. A challenge with using pigments is achieving stable, fine-particle pigment dispersions. This is especially the case for aqueous pigment dispersions. Thus, it is desirable that a dispersant is optimized to effectively wet, disperse and stabilize pigments during the milling process. These objectives can be met by using a dispersant comprising an acrylic/polyether comb-branched polymer. We will review the sensitivities of pigment dispersion processing and properties to variations in the composition and molecular distributions of comb-branched copolymeric dispersants. The influence of these variations on end use performance for several applications will be reviewed. lnkjet ink performance, in particular, will be emphasized.