I'd rather avoid having to do it at all.
If linking with Talkimg works, you may not have to. If possible, a link to the website can be available on the page to compose a message and anyone who clicks on the image link is redirected there in a new tab. This will reduce the time to go search for the topic thread like I normally do.
I guess it wouldn't be so bad if you only allowed ranked Members to upload images + add some limits similar to what we have with DMs. It would be more convenient, for sure.
The current image system only allows Jr. Member = rank to post images, a forum system that works in similar way will work fine. There can also be some board restrictions for certain ranks, this will be for boards that gets lots of images regularly.
- Jay -