Studies on large-distance sputtering as an effective alternative to molecular beam epitaxy, pulsed laser deposition or off-axis sputtering for the deposition of epitaxial La1-xSrxMnO3 (LSMO) thin films, are reported. The focus of this study is on the quality of the samples and their structural and magnetic properties. The dependence of the characteristics of the LSMO films on the sputtering mode (rf, dc) and the sputtering parameters, in particular on the oxygen partial pressure is established and discussed. It is shown that large-distance sputtering can provide high quality LSMO thin films without the need for post-annealing. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.