We present several successful test cases of using photoelectron emission microscopy (PEEM) for photon energy up to 25 keV. First, the full extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis was implemented in areas as small as 100 mum(2) for transition-metal K edge absorption spectra and, therefore, demonstrated the feasibility of combining structural and chemical analysis with hard-X-ray absorption spectroscopy with high lateral resolution. We also show that PEEM can be used in a transmission (radiography) mode as an imaging detector for hard-X-ray, This approach again leads to the unprecedented 0.3 mum lateral resolution, particularly critical for the use of coherence-based phase contrast techniques in real time X-ray radiology. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.