The granularity and surface roughness of a-axis YBa2Cu3O7−x films grown on (100) LaAlO3, (100) SrTiO3, and (100) LaSrGaO4 by pulsed laser deposition has been studied. For fixed deposition conditions, the size and the shape of the grains varied from substrate to substrate, while the mean roughness remained the same. We were able to systematically control the grain size and smoothness of films on LaSrGaO4 and LaAlO3. By gradually reducing the oxygen pressure during the deposition we obtained films with increased grain size and much reduced surface roughness (mean ∼40 Å over 5 ×5 μm2). Cracks observed in the films deposited on LaSrGaO4 at very low O2 pressures (∼20 mTorr) were successfully eliminated for deposition pressures above 40 mTorr.