Color Variation in Programs

[Malok]

I am going a bit crazy here. I haven't done a whole lot of digital editing until recently and what I am quickly learning is that an image in Photoshop, Irfanview, Internet Explorer and Windows Picture Viewer varies quite considerably in terms of color, sharpness, etc. :? Which of them should I believe??? Which one shows me most accurately what I will get when I take the image to the printer? Is there any way to bring order to each of these programs so that the display the image the same?

I don't know what information would help you, but I shoot with the Canon D300 in RAW. I process in Capture One and then make final tweaks to the tiff file in Photoshop and export a jpg for my archives and printing. It is the jpg which varies considerably and is driving me crazy.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Malok

[w10d]

Which of them should I believe??? Which one shows me most accurately what I will get when I take the image to the printer? Is there any way to bring order to each of these programs so that the display the image the same?


Of the applications you list PS is the only one I use: It has colour management built in (though it can be disabled), as such it can be used as part of a colour managed workflow, enabling consistent predictable results and accurate on-screen display. But only within a colour managed workflow. Possibly the other applications are not colour savvy.

Afraid there are more questions than answers. How familiar are you with colour management? (PS help files are a starting point, but there are many online resources too). Is your monitor calibrated, if so how? Do you have CM set up for your printing? Do you have profiles for your printer/paper/ink?

Sorry I can't be more helpful from what you have posted - broadly speaking you have 3 options dealing with digital colour:
1- 'Closed Loop' - You adjust your onscreen display to match your printed output. Only useful if your files never go anywhere other than your printer.
2- Set-up the CM in PS and calibrate your monitor (even if it's done by eye), then use profiles for your printer (even if they are generic ones). Files destined for other devices can be handled as needed, e.g. Convert to sRGB for web use.
3- Ignore it and hope it goes away.