The development of surface relief and density patterns in azobenzene polymer films was studied by diffraction at two different wavelengths. We used x-ray diffraction of synchrotron radiation at 0.124 nm in combination with visible light diffraction at a wavelength of 633 nm. In contrast to visible light scattering x-ray diffraction allows the separation of a surface relief and a density grating contribution due to the different functional dependence of the scattering power. Additionally, the x-ray probe is most sensitive for the onset of the surface grating formation.