Nanoporous Cu (np-Cu) materials can be easily prepared by chemical dealloying of Zn-Cu alloys. Tuning the surface area, the number of defects, the content of the less noble metal, and the mass transport properties of the nanoporous materials allows us to control its chemical, physical and catalytic properties as well as its mechanical properties for different applications. We present how the formation of the np-Cu films is controlled by the annealing temperature and kind of electrolyte. The Zn-Cu alloy films were prepared by electrodeposition of Zn onto a Cu surface. After the thermal annealing at three different temperatures, the Zn-Cu alloy films were dealloyed in acidic and alkaline media. Based on our results obtained from SEM, EDX, XPS and XRD, we correlate the structural changes (ligament size, pore size, composition) with the experimental dealloying conditions (annealing temperature, kind of electrolyte) to better understand the dealloying processes for the np-Cu films.