In this paper two optical coating techniques that utilize photons, laser-assisted evaporation and photo-assisted chemical vapor deposition (photo-CVD), are reviewed. Laser-assisted evaporation can produce high quality thin films and can be used advantageously to reproduce the stoichiometry of source materials of multielement compounds. Photo-CVD is a deposition technique that can be used to coat large area substrates and selectively small areas of a substrate. Both techniques are amenable for low substrate temperature deposition.