[en] We will present an analysis for different emittance growth mechanisms for electron beams in photoelectric injectors. The mechanisms will be broken up into three groups: space-charge forces due to self-similar expansion, space-charge forces due to non-self-similar expansion (including divergences and convergences of the beam), and rf forces. We will show that some of the emittance can be eliminated downstream, particularly that of the first group. General design considerations will become clear from this analysis and a generic design will be presented. In addition, a photoelectric injector design for both the Los Alamos National Laboratory XUV FEL and a compact free-electron laser (FEL) will be used to show a numerical agreement with the analysis. 5 refs., 2 figs