Abstract. Two-dimensional photographic surface photometry has been derived for the standard elliptical galaxy NGC 3379 in the Bcolour and for the spiral galaxy M 81 in the B -and U-colours. Galactic isophotes have been approximated by ellipses, and the major and minor axes profiles for the observed galaxies have been derived. The brightness profile in the EW-direction for NGC 3379 has been compared with the standard luminosity distribution of de Vaucouleurs and Capaccioli (1983). We find that our image processing system enables us to derive accurate results at least up to 1% from the sky level. Our results for the colour structure of M 81 indicate that the U-B colour index of the galaxy becomes bluer outwards. Isophotes of the colour index are similar to the isophotes of the B surface brightness.