This paper is a general introduction to Softcopy Photogrammetry for GIS users whose applications require up to date, accurate geographic information at virtually any scale. Softcopy Photogrammetry comprises three major capabilities - automatic elevation generation from stereo aerial or satellite imagery; the production of highly accurate orthophotos (or image basemaps) and the compilation of topographic map information, all in a digital form. Whilst the emphasis of the paper will be on the benefits to toady's GIS users, it will begin by briefly describing the evolution of photogrammetry from the early days of the stereoplotter through to the latest softcopy systems. From this comparison, it will be shown that what was once an expensive "black art," carried out by experts is now available to anyone with a standard computer workstation. Examples of typical project timescales using both traditional and softcopy techniques will be given and an assessment made of how these latter techniques improved the overall project success by providing data or facilities previously unavailable. Having briefly described how the three major "products" of photogrammetry - the Digital Elevation Module, the Orthophoto and the Topographic map - are produced digitally, the main part of the presentation will describe how these are used in existing GIS projects. It is also planned to show a live demonstration of generating 'orthophotos on demand' for GIS data updating. The data produced will then be used to demonstrate how this new data source can provide a 'real world' three dimensional aspect for GIS in modelling, engineering and planning applications. The paper concludes with a short look at the next 5 years and how the availability of new, almost real time data sources and the advances in desktop computing will affect softcopy photogrammetry and with it, the whole of GIS.