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We present a method to determine the magnetic configuration of an in-plane magnetized permalloy layer using Fourier transform holography with extended references in an off-normal geometry. We use a narrow slit as an extended holographic reference to record holograms with the sample surface orthogonal to the incident x-ray beam, as well as rotated by 30° and 45° with respect to the beam. To demonstrate the sensitivity of the technique to in-plane magnetization, we present images of flux closed ground states in thin (∼50 nm) permalloy elements, less than 1  μ m in lateral size. Images of the in-plane domain pattern which is magnetostatically imprinted into a permalloy film by the stray fields generated by an adjacent Co/Pt multilayer were obtained. It is found that, whilst the domain patterns within the two magnetic layers show a strong resemblance at remanence within a pristine sample, the similarities disappear after the sample is exposed to a saturating magnetic field.