In this paper an overview of arc welding control systems is given. At first some basic physical background of the process is given. Then the two most important subtypes Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) and Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) are presented in some detail. In order to understand the logic of feedback control systems, the most essential control theory is outlined shortly. In the overview of control systems a feedback signal is used a means of division. The analysis of recent research papers in the area has shown that recently image processing based control systems seem to be the most popular ones.