Since it's establishment in 1939. the Central Laboratory for Photography, Microphotography and Reprography is performing protective and safe shooting of archival material, storaging of picture on diverseful carriers, as well as processing and protecion of photographies. The development of shooting technics, the medium for picture storaging and informatical technologiy has significantly influenced on the work of the Laboratory. Besides the shooting and chemical processing of filmed material in Laboratory, the archivical processing of photographs and microfilms inside the photograph collection of the Croatian State Archives, is also performed. Protecting shooting of the conventional archival material is done by microfilming, photographing and scanning.

The large amounts of archival material, cause of the durability of carriers and suitable shooting technics, is microfilmed on 35 mm silver halides reperforated film from which further safe copies are made by retaking and copying. Considering the war circumstances at the beginning of the 1990's, the selection of the archival material for microfilming was completely oriented on the most endangered archival material. From 1991. till 1997. 2 000 000 microfilm shots of registers of births, marriages and deaths from the Republic of Croatia's teritory, was produced. Digital techic of archival material filming, is applicable by using the digital component on the back side of the camera, of surface scanner or, even, the special scanner for micro forms. The Laboratory also provides services in filming of the archival material for users, on black and white or colour film, microfilm, paper, disc or discette.

After the processing, filmed microfilms are stored in microfilms' library where, there are, today over 5 milion snapshots of registers of birth, marriage and death, glagolitic records, map sites and other material from the Croatian State Archives and other archives in Croatia and abroad.

Photographs, with motives significant for croatian history, that are kept in The Croatian State Archives, are processed and preserved in photo library. The largest part, a sum of 700 000 photographs, is created by the Photographic documentation agency which kept track of all relevant events in Croatia and former Yugoslavia, in the period from 1939. till 1990. Other photographs were made from the first half of the 19th century till today and they demand a special care because of the diversity of the technics they were filmed with and made of.

Concerning the protection of the photo library in the Laboratory, protective copying of negatives on flammable surface, colour slides and negatives on glass is performed, as also the photographies out of negatives on glass are being made; damaged negatives are being recontructed and etc.