A system and a method of managing 2-D images, as well as any saved 3-D volume data that was used to derive the 2-D images, utilize a bookmark saver that operates to automatically save, for each 2-D image saved, the settings of viewing parameters for the corresponding 3-D volume data when the 2-D image was saved. The automatic saving feature executed by the bookmark saver ensures that the underlying 3-D volume data, if saved, is retrieved in the viewing configuration that was set when the 2-D image of interest was saved. This feature allows a user of the system to efficiently return to work that was previously suspended or terminated. In an exemplary embodiment, the system is an ultrasound imaging system. However, the system may also be an imaging system based on magnetic resonance, computed tomography technology, or other modalities. In a preferred embodiment, the 2-D bitmap data of the 2-D image being saved and the viewing parameters that were used to manipulate the underlying 3-D volume data are saved in the same data file, known as a "bookmark." The bookmark also includes information that identifies the corresponding 3-D volume, which allows the system to infer the existence of a relationship between the 2-D image and the underlying 3-D volume by searching to see if the underlying 3-D volume had been saved, thereby eliminating the need to store such information in a database.