Image selecting apparatus and image selecting method

1. An image selecting apparatus, comprising:

plural operation indicating units that indicate arrangement places of images on an electronic album;

an operator recognizing unit that acquires identification information of said plural operation indicating units;

an image selecting unit that automatically selects, based on the identification information, as an image of an available image group, at least one image to be arranged on the electronic album out of an image group;

an operator-information storing unit that stores recognition information of operators, wherein:

said operator recognizing unit acquires the recognition information tied to the identification information from said operator-information storing unit, and transmits the recognition information to said image selecting unit;

said image selecting unit selects the available image group based on the recognition information received;

an arrangement determining unit that determines propriety of arrangement of the images in the arrangement places; and

an arrangement instructing unit that determines images to be arranged in the determined arrangement places out of the available image group, and arranges the images.

2. The image selecting apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the recognition information includes at least one of face images of the operators and image preference information of the operators.

3. The image selecting apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said arrangement determining unit makes it possible to execute an instruction of an operator having a smaller number of images already arranged on the electronic album among available image groups of operators when indications of the arrangement places by said plural operation indicating units are conflicting.

4. The image selecting apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said arrangement determining unit makes it possible to execute an instruction of an operator having a smaller number of images in available image groups of operators when indications of the arrangement places by said plural operation indicating units are conflicting.

5. The image selecting apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said arrangement instructing unit automatically selects images out of the available image group and arranges the images in the arrangement places.

6. The image selecting apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said arrangement instructing unit arranges the images selected out of the available image group by each of said plural operation indicating units in the arrangement places.

7. The image selecting apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein: said plural operation indicating units each indicate the arrangement places of the images on the electronic album via a network; and

the same electronic album is simultaneously accessed by said plural operation indicating units so that the images to be laid out on the electronic album are selected out of the image group.

8. An image selecting method for plural operators to simultaneously access the same electronic album and select images to be laid out on the same electronic album out of an image group, comprising:

using an image selecting apparatus to perform the steps of:

indicating arrangement places of the images on the same electronic album; acquiring identification information of the plural operators who have indicated the arrangement places;

automatically selecting, based on the identification information, as an image of an available image group, at least one image to be arranged on the same electronic album out of the image group;

determining propriety of arrangement of the images in the arrangement places; and

determining images to be arranged in the determined arrangement places out of the available image group and arranging the images.