This review mainly focuses on progress recently achieved in the growth of phthalocyanine molecules on single-crystal surfaces of sub-monolayer up to few-monolayer thin films studied by scanning tunneling microscopy in our groups. On metallic surfaces such as Au(111), Ag(111) and Cu(111), molecular superstructures are determined by combining directional intermolecular interactions caused by symmetry reduction, molecule-substrate interactions and indirect long-range interactions due to quantum interference of surface state electrons. On semiconducting TiO