An imager works similarly to a digital camera with no printer. It can take pictures, it can store pictures, it can even transfer pictures flawlessly from one imager to another. However, it cannot actually transfer pictures onto a permanent medium.
Storing pictures from an imager is usually done using larger archive imagers. The archive imagers can store very large numbers of images, and thus free up space in the smaller camera imagers.
When a picture needs to be transferred to a permanent medium, it is necessary to hire an artist. The likeness produced in this way tends to be highly realistic, since the artist is working from a photograph, but is still time-consuming to produce. This tedium can be reduced by using a scribe golem to do the actual drawing.