A study of aging in cold‐worked Al&sngbnd;Ag and Al&sngbnd;Zn alloys during the first stage of precipitation was made, by means of small‐angle x‐ray scattering. (a) The rate of growth of the Ag or Zn clusters was very little affected by cold‐work. (b) Evidence was found that the amount of clustered solute is not altered by aging. (c) The clusters were deformed by cold‐work, giving rise to an anisotropic small‐angle scattering. This cannot be explained by large amounts of glide taking place in a limited number of slip planes, but rather speaks in favor of zones of homogeneous deformation. The deformation of precipitated particles by cold‐work is a new and powerful means of investigating the mechanism of plastic deformation in the interior of a material.