The Scottish Office Air Photograph Library was created in 1948 to hold a duplicate print copy of all the aerial photography covering Scotland that was created during the National Air Photograph Survey - created by the Royal Air Force during Operation REVUE - immediately after the Second World War. It grew in subsequent years to hold original film flown by Ordnance Survey and commercial survey firms contracted to Scottish government.
The Library became the Air Photographs Unit within the Scottish Development Department. Following an internal Scottish Office review it was transferred to the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) in 1993, when it was re-named the Air Photographs Collection (APC). Following the transfer of The Aerial Reconnaissance Archives (TARA) to RCAHMS in 2008, the APC and TARA were merged to form the National Collection of Aerial Photography (NCAP).