The spreading of a liquid on a solid surface is not only of fundamental interest. It is also relevant in many applications such as coating, printing, and nanotechnology. We analyse the dynamics of wetting of complex liquids and the wetting of soft or structured surfaces. Complex liquids are liquids, which are structured at different length scales, e.g. dispersions, polymer melts, or emulsions. The evaporation of macroscopic sessile drops of simple liquids from planar, smooth, homogeneous, inert, and hard surfaces is well understood. We study the evaporation of liquid mixtures and of simple liquids from soft or structured surfaces. To be able to also follow the evaporation of microscopic drops, a special technique was developed. Another focus is the evaporation of solvents from polymer surfaces. The aim is to better control the structures left as an imprint after the solvent has completely evaporated. With respect to condensation we are in particular interested in pattern formation and the condensation on soft polymeric films.