The effect of low amounts of antimony, tin, dysprosium, samarium and manganese on structure and optical properties of chalcogenide glassy semiconductors As₂S₃ and As₂Se₃ is investigated. The fundamental absorption edge shifts to longer wavelength with doping; the largest shift was observed for doped chalcogenide glasses. Near the edge absorption the impurity affects strongly the slope and the magnitude of the weak absorption tail. The steady-state and transient photoconductivity characteristics are adequately interpreted in frame of the model, in which transport and recombination of non-equilibrium holes are controlled by exponentially distributed hole traps with the distribution parameter T*, depending on the glass composition. Some application of amorphous chalcogenide thin film structures as registration media are presented.