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Simplified Color Management

Approaches to color management are almost as varied as imaging colors themselves.
Fundamentally, color management is to process of insuring the accuracy of the colors of a digital image, accuracy being the key word here. Even the most complex and sophisticated systems have limitations. Recognizing the limitations of any system goes along way toward insuring success in regard to printing and viewing images.
The first place to start is with properly exposed image files. Proper image exposure is the #1 thing that you can do to insure the highest quality digital photographs possible. Once an image has been captured it is undoubtedly viewed and in some cases manipulated either for artistic effect or to compensate for improper exposure. Before any file manipulation takes place it is imperative that the computer monitor be checked and adjusted as needed to display the image as accurately as possible.
The best method for making this determination is to use a recently printed order.
Open the image files and compare the printed output to that of the displayed image. Look at several different images before drawing any conclusions or making any monitor adjustments.

Viewing environment and ambient light greatly affect the look of both image on the screen and the printed photograph. Daylight provides the most accurate viewing light, florescent and incandescent lights, two of the most popular light types are very poor choices for use when viewing printed work.
Be aware when viewing images that the look of the photograph will change depending of the color of the light illuminating the print.
After looking at a number of different scene types take note of any common differences.

Are all the photographs lighter than the computer monitor? Are they all darker? If the errors are common then a monitor adjustment can help to solve the discrepancy.

Familiarize yourself with your monitor controls prior to attempting any changes. It is a good idea to write down your starting values, this will allow you to revert back to these settings should you make an adjustment that makes the display match worse rather than better.
Please also note that the colors displayed on LCD and flat panel monitors are very susceptible change as your viewing angle changes.

Critical then improper exposure or over adjustment in Photoshop is a better place to start looking for the cause of problems. By taking a simplified approach you can achieve a close match that will allow for overall color corrections. There are colors and contrasts in the final print which will not be accurately displayed on the monitor no matter how much calibration you do. You can achieve a very close match on any one given image.

The problem arises when you expect any and all images to display perfectly. It is only through constant monitoring of the output and display that a system can be properly matched. Our production environment is such that we have constant feedback form the printers and can make adjustments accordingly to insure we provide you with the highest quality prints possible from your camera files.