I once posted this image I took to a forum only to have it rendered a ghastly greenish color on the screen.  One of the fellow forum goers gave me a few tips about color management and I’ve made sure since then that my colors are synched up across my workflow.  Here’s a little diagram I made to keep it straight in my head:

It’s actually not as confusing as it looks.  Color management basically works like this:

• Each input and output device has its own ICC profile for color management
• The arrows are labelled with the ICC profile which is in use by the device or software
• You just have to make sure that the correct or preferred profile is chosen
• Ambient light affects the way colors are perceived on your screen
• So it is advisable to keep your monitor calibrated for the ambient light in your room

When you’re ready you should definitely purchase a monitor calibration device to keep things sorted. Here’s the Spyder 3 Elite on Amazon

It’ll only take you about 5 minutes to map this out for yourself.  For more details check this website out which has an awesome tutorial on color management: Computer Darkroom

Part 2 – Selecting the Right Color Profile for Epson Scanners