Recent X-ray methods for determining dislocation densities in texture components of deformed metals are described. They are based on the Wilkens' model of a restrictedly random distribution of dislocations and new methods for separating out the respective broadening contributions due to strain and domain size. By appropriate choice of the goniometer angles of a diffractometer one can obtain peaks from selected texture components in a deformed metal. The basic principles for the profile analysis are described and the method then applied, using both laboratory equipment and high energy Synchrotron radiation, to the determination of the orientation dependency of stored energy in cold rolled iron and hot rolled Al-Mg. It is also shown how the results of a Taylor type crystal plasticity calculation can be used to understand anisotropic peak broadening.