Upon providing a network photograph service, a prompt service can be provided to a customer without losing the advantage thereof such as ease of understanding where to access and collective data management. A service center receiving an order of a printing service and a minilab or a special laboratory spread across a plurality of places are able to communicate through a network. The center server in the service center selects and assigns the laboratory for printing the ordered picture in response to an order information transferred from a customer via the network so that the printing processing can be carried out by the laboratory specified by the customer instead of the center server.