Image data sets are being incorporated into geographic information systems at record levels. This paper focuses on the use of digital orthophotography and how LizardTech, Inc., MrSID compression technology has been utilized by several city and county governments. The cases studied show that the implementation of this compression technology resulted in a negligible loss of feature resolution, quicker display times, and additional functionality as a result of smaller portable data sets as compared to noncompressed imagery or the use of image pyramids.