In this investigation nanocrystalline titania powders were produced by the chemical vapour synthesis (CVS) route and characterized by standard techniques of XRD, HRTEM and BET. The effects of precursor/gas flow rates, hotwall temperature and system pressure on the particle size and distribution, as well as phase composition of the synthesized nanocrystalline titania powder, were studied. It was demonstrated that by suitably adjusting the process parameters during CVS it becomes possible to control the anatase crystallite size, specific surface area and the rutile content in the synthesized nanocrystalline titania powders. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd.