A method of selecting digital images includes using a processor to store the digital images in an electronic storage and retrieval system, forming a corresponding machine-readable code for each stored digital image, the machine-readable code encoding a reference to the storage location of the corresponding digital image in the electronic storage and retrieval system, providing a viewable image that includes a representative image of each digital image in the first collection of digital images in association with its associated machine-readable code, selecting one or more but not all of the digital images by receiving references or photographs of the machine-readable codes and extracting the references from the received photographs, and compiling the digital images corresponding to the received or extracted references into a second image collection.