All photos are edited and distributed to clients and partners worldwide by the editorial headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, which is staffed 24 hours daily.

[2] The EPA photo archive dates back to 1997 and has over ten million images on stock,[3] the majority of which can be accessed online.

The agencies, AFP of France, ANP of the Netherlands, ANOP (now Lusa) of Portugal, ANSA of Italy, Belga of Belgium, DPA of Germany and EFE of Spain were motivated by what they saw as a lack of alternatives to the Anglo-Saxon picture services offered at the time.

[5] By 1995 EPA Images had ten members with the additions of Keystone later in 1985, APA of Austria in 1986, and Lehtikuva of Finland in 1987.

[citation needed] ANA of Greece (now ANA-MPA) joined EPA as a shareholder in 2004 followed by MTI of Hungary in 2005.