Asian Art Photographic Distribution was established in 1970 as an outgrowth of the Palace Museum Photographic Archive from the National Palace Museum, Taiwan. Following the successful completion of the distribution of Palace Museum photographs and slides in the 1960s, the committee agreed to establish a similar distribution of materials from other important collections: Asian Art Photographic Distribution (AAPD). Originally, works of art were photographed in black and white only, but by 1975 exhibits and public collections began to be documented in color. In 1978 AAPD broadened its scope to include the documentation of Japanese paintings in traveling exhibitions, and private and public collections. In addition, some sets of slides have been produced as the result of temporary loans, such as Paintings from Collections in the People's Republic of China, or permanent loans of material to the project, such as The New Chinese Painting: 1949-1986, and Nara Ehon: Illustrated Literature from Medieval and Early Modern Japan.