A review is given of the recent studies on the preferred orientation of the crystallographic axis of crystalline aggregates. Two results of by Bauer's model which are helpful in the understanding the growth of oriented films on amorphous substrates, are explained. They are the equilibrium form of a crystal in a film formation and the angular dependence of the condensation on a given surface configuration. It is also shown, following the latest studies by Wilman et al, that the distribution function f(φ) for the relative area of the film surface elements, corresponding to the Bragg reflection arcs, can be calculated from the observed relation between the tilt angle δ of the orientation axis and the incident angle i for cubic and hexagonal materials. This is followed by a discussion on of the new technique “graphoepitaxy”, growth of a single crystal film with a preferred orientation on an amorphous substrate having an artificially created surface-relief grating.