Iron ore pellets are produced from an ore fines agglomeration process called pelletizing, and are suitable for use in steel furnaces. In this dissertation two phenomena associated with the pellet surfaces were studied: crack formation and the presence of coating. During pelletizing, the pellets undergo various compressive forces and sudden changes in temperature. In this way, cracks are generated on its surface, which are detrimental to strength and performance in reduction furnaces. Already during the reduction process the formation of iron bridges can occur between the pellets, which clump forming clusters that compromise the flow of gases inside the furnaces. This problem can be minimized by coating the pellets with a magnesium oxide coating, which inhibits the formation of bridges. Given the importance of characterizing cracks and coating on the surface of the pellets, this dissertation developed methodologies for acquisition, processing and digital analysis of images acquired with a stereoscope. Adjustable sample holders were developed which allowed the acquisition of 2D images of approximately spherical pellets of different sizes, covering most of the surface and avoiding overlapping analysis regions. The crack analysis routine compared two segmentation methods and provided attributes such as mean thickness, area fraction and length. The coating analysis routine used threshold segmentation and measured the fraction of area occupied in each pellet. The use of the sample holders was fundamental to the success of the acquisition procedure. Crack analysis or coating routines were robust for different samples.