A magneto-optical method based on valence band photoemission by laser excitation is described. Total photoexcited electron dichroism is detected using wave plates or a photoelastic modulator. Compared to the direct current method using wave plates, a modulation technique assisted by a photoelastic modulator has an advantage to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of magnetic dichroism by a factor of 10. The magnetic circular and linear dichroism can be investigated with this technique. An application to magnetic domain imaging using photoemission electron microscope is also demonstrated.