Magnetic force microscopy of amorphous compressed Terfenol‐D films of micron thickness on both crystalline Si and glassy silica shows that their ferromagnetic domain structure is one dimensional and periodic. On Si the structure is aligned with respect to the easy elastic direction of the substrate. The square of the domain period is proportional to the thickness of the film. All facts indicate that the domain morphology in these films is determined by a substantial elastic contribution to the domain wall and film/substrate interaction energies. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.