Thin walls of Alloy 718 were prepared by blown powder direct laser deposition and studied in the as- manufactured condition with advanced characterization techniques in both the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). The presence and distribution of γ” and γ’ precipitates were analysed with 4-D STEM using a dedicated pixelated STEM detector (EMPAD) and with traditional X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS) as a basis of comparison. Additionally, Nb and Ti carbonitrides are found in AM Alloy 718. Their effect on properties is determined by their size, composition, and distribution. Several techniques were utilized to describe the populations of nanoparticles (Automated Particle Workflow or APW), microparticles (Phenom ParticleX Steel) and a technique which goes beyond principal component analysis (Automated eXpert Spectral Image Analysis or AXSIA). Furthermore, electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) was performed on a cross section of the AM build. Full understanding of precipitation in the as manufactured condition is a necessary step that will allow optimization of processing parameters and necessary changes to powder compositions to minimize post-processing of AM components.