This article presents an industrially feasible method to effectively reduce vessel picking tendency by a simple chemical modification of pulp. ECF-bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp was treated with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) under specified conditions. The aim was to study the effects on vessel element structure and vessel picking tendency of the laboratory sheets prepared. In addition to the improved strength properties of the sheets, a significant decrease in vessel picking tendency was noted in the laboratory printing test. Whereas refining improved mainly the bonding ability of fibers, CMC treatment effectively enhanced the bonding of vessels as well. Moreover, filmlike structures were formed in the fibrillated areas of the CMC-treated handsheets, and they were concluded to reinforce bonding within the sheet. Also, fragmentation of vessel elements through CMC modification was found to be important and to result in a decreasing picking tendency.