Energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) can be used to acquire elemental distribution images at high lateral resolution within short acquisition times. In this article, we present an overview of typical problems from materials science which can be preferentially solved by means of EFTEM. In the first example, we show how secondary phases in a steel specimen can be easily detected by recording jump ratio images of the matrix element under rocking beam illumination. Secondly, we describe how elemental maps can be converted into concentration maps. A Ba-Nd-titanate ceramics serves as a typical materials science example exhibiting three different compounds with varying composition.