In its most general acceptation, surface photometry is a technique applicable to any "extended" object, irrespective of the spectral band of the observational frame. The subject of this paper is restricted to the mapping of galaxies in the "standard" bands of the visible. By combining CCD images with deep large-field photographs, this technique exploits the state-of-the-art facilities to produce an accurate "global" mapping extended from the bright galaxian cores to the faintmost outskirts, down at the impassable limit of photometric measurements.