Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) was employed in order to characterize microcapsules. Microcapsules were prepared by complex coacervation: gelatin and arabic gum were labelled with fluorescent markers. In the capsule wall a homogeneous distribution for both gelatin and arabic gum throughout the capsule wall was depicted. By the use of CLSM and a computational image analysis the quantification of the labelled polymer in the wall material was possible. Adding fluorescently labelled casein as a macromolecular model compound to the coacervation process, a gradiental distribution in the wall material was observed with highest concentration of casein at the oil-wall interface. The influence of casein concentration on its deposition behaviour in the capsule wall was imaged successfully and thereafter quantified by computational image analysis.