Laser induced forward transfer (LIFT) of ZnO and TiO2 thin films onto Si has been realized with femtosecond double pulses of equal intensity, as a basic form of pulse shaping. In an effort to investigate the possibility to control the spatial distribution of the transfer via pulse separation, we used separation times varying from 0 to 10 ps. We have found that the size of the transferred spots increases by as much as 50% for pulse separation up to 500 fs, while for longer pulse separations the transferred spots acquire a constant area. (C) 2010 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.