To investigate the influence of the cutting pressure on the laser cutting quality, an expermental facility was constructed which can measure the cutting pressure distribution for various cutting conditions. Flow visualization was performed using the Schlieren photography and the pressure acting on the workpiece surface was measured, corresponding to the important process variables such as the kind of assist gas, nozzle pressure, distance between the nozzle exit and the workpiece surface, and the presence of the secondary nozzle. The cutting pressure acting on the workpiece was largely influenced by the nozzle pressure and nozzle-workpiece distance. The secondary nozzle which is used to raise the effective working pressure had its obvious role only when the angle between it and the main nozzle was small and when the distance between the nozzle exit and the workpiece surface was large.