For 2003 and older, storing the images IN the table was a definite "don't
do". One of the worst problems was exponential bloat (far greater then the
image size). The answer was t store the image as a seperate file, to store
the file name and location in 1 or 2 fields, and use code to display the
image in a form or report. So, if you are really going with "work with
older versions" this is your only viable way.

I heard that 2007 solved the exponential bloat problem.