The paper presents results of research and development made to create an automated data base of archival photo- documents. The proposed approach is realized in a system consisting of three components: (1) a subsystem for document input; (2) a subsystem for digital image processing; and (3) an archiving subsystem. On the basis of the proposed approach a database prototype of archival photo-documents of Russian Academy of Sciences has been created. The work focuses on the development of economical and portable solutions suitable for both centralized and distributed database architecture allowing Web access.