How to export an image column to files in SQL Server?
This is the solution I came up with:


Enable xp_cmdshell with

EXEC sp_configure 'show advanced options', 1
GO
RECONFIGURE
GO
EXEC sp_configure 'xp_cmdshell', 1
GO
RECONFIGURE
GO

If needed create a directory with xp_cmdshell to get the needed permissions.

EXEC master..xp_cmdshell 'mkdir C:\exportdir'

Use BCP with queryout

EXEC master..xp_cmdshell 'BCP "SELECT column_of_type_image FROM **your_db WHERE id = 1 " queryout "C:\exportdir\yourfile.pdf" -T -N'



**your_db must be the fully qualified table name, i.e [Yourdb].[YourSchema].[YourTable]