Anscochrome, a subtractive, integral tripack (three-emulsion-layer) color film, was introduced in 1955 by the Ansco Company of Binghamton, New York. It was used in 16mm by amateurs, as well as by professionals for commercial, industrial, educational, and similar non-theatrical purposes. Anscochrome was based on the process developed by the German company Agfa – released in 1936, as Agfacolor Neu. Like Agfacolor Neu, Anscochrome was a reversal film, meaning the camera emulsion was developed directly into a positive during processing. As such, it was difficult to duplicate in quantity, and was not well-suited to feature-film work. The company also sold Anscochrome in 35mm – but only for use in still photography.

Anscochrome competitors included Eastman Kodak's Kodachrome, also an integral tripack reversal film; introduced in 1935, one year before the release of Agfacolor Neu. Anscochrome, like Agfacolor Neu, included color couplers in the film itself; while Kodachrome added the couplers during processing. This enabled a far simpler development process for Anscochrome and its predecessors. For amateurs, and small independent labs, Kodachrome was very difficult to process – indeed, in the years before 1954, Kodak required that exposed Kodachrome film was mailed back to the company, for processing. By the 1960s, Kodak’s Ektachrome, an integral tripack reversal film that included couplers in the film itself, became available in small gauges for movies, and soon dominated the market.

The Ansco company's antecedents go back to the E. & H. T. Anthony & Co., a successful American photographic supply company, started soon after the invention of the Daguerreotype. A merger with Scovill and Adams Co., in 1902, was followed by the adoption of the Ansco name a few years later. However, by the 1920s, inefficient manufacturing, poor management and inadequate research capability at the company had led to financial difficulties (Jenkins, 1975: p 337), which necessitated that Ansco look for another partner, if they were to survive. Ansco merged with the German company Agfa in 1928, to form Agfa-Ansco Photo Products Co. The merger brought an influx of German scientists, technicians, equipment, and capital (Wentzel,1960: p. 101), as well as “access to its all-important scientific and technical research facilities in Germany” (Jenkins, 1975: p 337). It was at the Agfa facilities in Wolfen, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, that Wilhelm Schneider developed Anscochrome's ultimate progenitor, Agfacolor Neu, in 1936. The Agfa-Ansco company was seized by the US Treasury Department at the beginning of World War II and “Agfa” was dropped from the name; this gave the Agfa company the freedom to operate independently within Germany. Ansco developed Ansco Color Reversal film, a 16mm American version of Agfacolor reversal film, in 1941, at the request of the US military. It was made available to the public after the war.

In 1955, Ansco Color Reversal film was rebranded as Anscochrome. Its high speed – ASA 32 was three times faster than existing Ansco Color and Kodachrome – was featured as a unique selling point in advertising and reviews. It was available in 16mm, for both daylight, and artificial light (Tungsten Balanced). Subsequent versions increased speed and reduced granularity. 

Anscochrome 231 (Daylight Balanced) and 232 (Tungsten Balanced), introduced in 1955. The first Anscochrome movie films were rated at ASA 32, at a time when Ansco Color Reversal film was rated at ASA 12, and Kodachrome at ASA 10.

Super Anscochrome 225 (Daylight Balanced) and 226 (Tungsten Balanced), introduced in 1957 for 16mm, was three times faster again than the initial 1955 version. Rated at ASA 100, it made shooting in available light (natural and artificial) possible for amateurs. (Schwalberg, 1957; Cushman ,1957: p. 802).

Anscochrome Professional Film 242 and 238 Duplicating Film were released in 1957 to address the professional need for multiple movie prints, which required a lower contrast camera film (Forrest, 1957: pp. 12–13).

FPC-132 was created in 1961 for NASA: this variant was used to film Alan Shepherd in the Mercury capsule during his historic space flight on May 5, when he became the first American to travel into space (Press and Sun-Bulletin, 1961). Rated at ASA 200, it was later marketed as Ultra-Speed Anscochrome, for scientific and engineering use, and in 1963, as Anscochrome 200, for commercial and amateur use. (Press and Sun-Bulletin, 1967).

Note: Although they share the Anscochrome name, Anscochrome II and IIA (1967–77) were 8mm consumer films that employed the Kodachrome process (K-11), not the Anscochrome process.

In 1977, unable to compete with Eastman Kodak, GAF finally withdrew from the consumer photography market, at which time manufacturing in Binghamton shut down (Carnevale & Spero, 1977).