So, these days, most savvy companies are utilizing these advances to spice up their corporate collateral,Web sites and multimedia presentations, right?

Well, some are, but not as many as you might imagine.

According to many experts, digital imaging is still not well understood by a large segment of business users.

The difficulty, ironically, is ease of use—the very goal imaging vendors have pursued for years. Anyone with a camera can follow the basic steps: point, click, download and print or post the resulting image. But it’s precisely because it’s so easy that many users never bother to learn how to shoot a digital image or improve it using software. They also don’t know how the file should be prepared for different uses, such as dressing up a corporate Web site or gracing the cover of an annual report.

The good news for the uninitiated is that the cost of entry is low, and the learning curve easy to ascend.

Getting the hardware Digital photography is well suited to corporate environments: the photos can be viewed and used immediately, there are almost no ongoing costs, and an image can be printed and distributed, posted on the Web or attached to an e-mail.

Also, because this type of photography is cheap and quick, companies quickly amass hundreds of photo files. Image management software, such as ACDSee from ACD Systems in Victoria, B.C., can aid the storage, retrieval and reuse of digital images.

“The U.S. military used ACDSee during the Gulf War to store and distribute their images.

These are images they are going to keep forever,” said Diane Escude, ACDSee director of marketing communications.

“Also, the New York Fire Department contacted our office after Sept. 11 last year. They needed to examine thousands and thousands of images to detect any shift in the rubble, so they could tell the rescue groups at Ground Zero where they could go safely.”

Escude also said the Vancouver Police are using ACDSee to organize the photos from the Picton farm investigation. These images will be archived for up to five years as part of the ongoing investigation.

“Before digital photography…prints were stored in containers that were fireproof and waterproof, and the storage space required for all that was huge,” Escude said. Digital imaging solves this problem by replacing storage boxes with one CD, which can hold hundreds of images.

ACDSee sells for about $80, and similar products are available from other vendors.

Your bill If your company is not currently exploiting digital photography, you can jump in without too much budgetary pain.

Training, plus a good image manipulation package, plus archiving and retrieval software will set you back about $270.

If all you need is photos for your Web site, pick-up a $150 camera and your whole package costs a little more than $400. For good 8 by 10 prints the camera price jumps to about $400, bringing the package total to approximately $700.

Throw in a scanner or photo printer and your company’s total investment in digital photography is about $1,000.