1. An image management system, comprising: an image-data storage device configured to store digital images; an image-index storage device configured to store a list of image identifiers indexed by one or more image property descriptors, wherein each of the image identifiers corresponds to one of the digital images stored on the image-data storage device, wherein the image identifiers are indexed by image property descriptors in a flat file; an index processor configured to write the list of image identifiers and the one or more image property descriptors associated with the list of image identifier in the image-index storage device; an application server configured to receive an image search criterion comprising a specified image property descriptor; and a search processor configured to receive the specified image property descriptor from the application server and to identify, in the flat file stored in at the image-index storage device, one or more image identifiers that match the specified image property descriptor in the image search criterion, wherein the search processor is configured to determine locations of digital images on the image-data storage device based on the one or more image identifiers identified at the image-index storage device.