Embedding info in images

[steinkel]

     What does it take to embed text information in image files?  I mean 
     actual, potentially searchable text, not images of the text 
     superimposed on the original image.
     
     I've looked at pbmplus under UNIX and LView under Windows.  What I'd 
     like to do is embed at least a catalog number in an image of a photo 
     scanned on the PC and then use pbmplus to pull that number out to link 
     it to the catalog entry on the web server.  (pbmplus can already get 
     the text out, I just need to find a way to put the text in!)  I don't 
     really care what particular file format is spit out, just so I can get 
     the text out later and convert it to GIF/JPEG for display on the web.
     
     Is this a reasonable thing to expect of a scanning program under 
     Windows?
     
     
     Thanks,
     Leland Steinke
     Assistant Director for System
     U.S. Army Military History Institute