Galvannealing is an important commercial processing technique used to protect steel components exposed to corrosive environments. This process involves a number of complex reactions and their precise mechanisms are still a matter of debate. The good performance of the coating is closely related to the Fe-Zn intermetallic phases present in the coating. The understanding of the mechanisms for phase nucleation and growth during the galvannealing process is, therefore, essential to help improving current processes, mainly for cost reduction and new products development. In the present study, the MAXIM (MAterials Xrays Imaging) technique was used to identify the phases present in previously galvanized steel samples subjected to different annealing conditions. A diffractometer equipped with a novel imaging system comprising a micro-channel plate (MCP) in front of a CCD detector was used. This setup allows positionresolved X-ray diffraction investigation of materials, with a resolution of 12mm. The experiments involved two sets of conditions; (1) experiments based on the observation, at room temperature, of previously galvannealed samples. (2) in-situ annealing experiments, where the phase evolution was recorded in real time. It can be concluded that MAXIM, coupled to in-situ annealing, provides a useful method for observing the phase evolution and distribution in galvanized/galvannealed samples. The method is sensitive enough to detect the time/temperature evolution of these phases, with good spatial resolution.