An alternative approach to create images is to install all the needed packages into a directory.
System Installer, a component of the System Installation Suite to which SystemImager belongs, allows you to install Linux directly to an image, bypassing the golden client step. System Installer packages and documentation can be found at http://systeminstaller.sourceforge.net Images created with SystemInstaller are interchangeable with those created using the SystemImager tools.
You can even create an image using one of the common tools shipped with your distribution, instead of using SystemInstaller. The tool must be able to install a distribution into a directory (ex. Debootstrap for Debian, kickstart or yum for Red Hat, YaST for SuSE, etc.)