Selective adsorption of microcapsules was achieved by utilizing electrostatic interactions between the capsule surfaces and chemically and physically patterned substrates. Pressing a poly(dimethylsiloxane) stamp of periodic strips and inked with a poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) solution onto polyelectrolyte multilayers with an outermost poly(styrene sulfonic acid) layer creates patterns that can guide the linear alignment of the microcapsules.