Patent ID: 7424460

Claim:
An image ordering system comprising: a center server; a first client computer for an orderer; and a plurality of second client computers for a laboratory, wherein said center server, said first client computer, and said plurality of second client computers are capable of communicating data with one another; said first client computer comprising: an input unit for inputting data that specifies an image to be printed; and a first transmitting unit for transmitting, to said center server, the image specifying data that is input from said input unit and data specifying the orderer; said center server comprising: a memory for storing correspondence data in advance, the correspondence data representing which of the plurality of second client computers is affiliated with the first client computer of the orderer; a first receiving unit for receiving the image specifying data and the orderer specifying data transmitted from said first transmitting unit of said first client computer; a determination unit for determining, on the basis of the correspondence data, which of the plurality of second client computers is affiliated with the orderer specified by the orderer data received by said first receiving unit; a second transmitting unit for transmitting the image specifying data and the orderer specifying data, which has been received by said first receiving unit, to one of said plurality of second client computers that has been determined by said determination unit in association with each other; and an image database for storing client images, wherein said one of said plurality of second client computers comprising: a second receiving unit for receiving the image specifying data and the orderer specifying data transmitted from said second transmitting unit of said center server; and a first alerting unit for giving notice of information regarding an image specified by the image specifying data and of an orderer represented by the orderer specifying data, which items of data have been received by said second receiving unit, and wherein the data that specifies an image to be printed is matched to a client image stored in said image database.