Patent ID: 8355161

Claim:
An image ordering system comprising: an order management apparatus comprising: a first image storage section which stores a first plurality of images, an order receiving section which receives an order for an electronic-album-output of one of the first plurality of images stored in the first image storage section from an ordering party, an order information transmitting section which stores a first plurality of contact addresses by associating the first plurality of contact addresses with the first plurality of images respectively and transmits order information, which represents the one of the first plurality of images and the ordering party, to one of the first plurality of contact addresses which is associated with the one of the first plurality of images when the order receiving section receives the order for the one of the first plurality of images, and an order processing section which charges the ordering party for the electronic-album-output of the one of the first plurality of images ordered by the ordering party, and an image providing apparatus comprising: a second image storage section which stores a second plurality of images which includes same images as the first plurality of images, an order information receiving section which receives the order information transmitted by the order information transmitting section to the one of the first plurality of contact addresses, an image searching section which searches, after the order information receiving section receives the order information, the second plurality of images stored in the second image storage section for other images related to the one of the first plurality of images represented by the order information, the other images being different from the one of the first plurality of images represented by the order information, and an image releasing section which releases the other images found by the image searching section to the ordering party represented by the order information upon receiving a release permission, wherein the order information receiving section conveys the order information to the image searching section, the conveyance of the order information to the image searching section by the order information receiving section causes, without any additional instructions by the ordering party or a user of the image providing apparatus to search for the other images, the image searching section to search for the other images, and when the order receiving section receives, after the other images found by the image searching section are released to the ordering party, an additional order from the ordering party for electronic-album-output of any of the other images, the order processing section charges the ordering party for the electronic-album-output of the any of the other images.