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Adjusting White Balance
Our minds compensate for slight variations when colors are out of balance. Sometimes when we later look at a photo on a computer there is another color cast over it. This is often seen with different types of lighting. Tungsten lighting can give an orange cast and florescent lights a greenish tint. Colored walls also can impart their colors especially when using flash.
It is possible to set the white balance in camera, before you take the picture, consult your manual to see how. Traditionally, film photographers used filters to try to compensate but we can remove it in a number of ways in post processing.
If you're shooting in RAW then the color cast can be dealt with in the conversion to Jpeg. Please read the RAW conversion tutorial to find out more. If you're shooting Jpeg then we can remove the color cast in post processing.
There are several ways to remove the color cast. All require a little practice as they reply on your opinion that the color is correctly balanced.
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Correcting White Balance in Photoshop
Take 1
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- Open your image, 'File>Open'.
- This product photo was taken in Jpeg, in a home made light tent using a sheet as a diffuser and 3 halogen table lights.
- The white background isn't really white and has a tint.
- It's important to develop the skill of detecting what color is tinting the photo. In this photo the white background makes it easier to tell there is a red/orange cast.
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- Open a new levels or curves adjustment layer dialog window, 'Layers>New Adjustment Layer> Levels' (see the Layers or Curves tutorial).
- Notice the 3 eyedropper tools. The left one can be used to determine the black point, the middle for the 18% gray and the right for pure white.
- Select a point on the image that you believe should be pure white.
- Select the white eyedropper, move it to the relevant area and click.
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- If you we're lucky enough the color cast will disappear. If not click another area and experiment to see if it's going to work.
- You can experiment with the black and gray droppers too.
Not all images have an area that should be pure white, so this won't always work but its a handy first step.
If you're happy at this point, flatten and save.
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Take 2
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- I'll assume the above didn't work. Delete your adjustment layer and we can try something else.
- Open a new Color Balance adjustment Layer, 'Layers>New Adjustment Layer> Color balance'
- You should have already tried to determine the color of the cast.
- You have a choice of moving 3 sliders between 6 colors.
- In our example the image has a reddish/orange tint.
- Move the Red/Cyan slider away from Red until the red cast is gone.
- This reveals a slight greenish cast so move the Green/Magenta away from Green
- It now looks a little yellow so move the Yellow/Blue slider away from Yellow.
- You can adjust the mid tones and highlights using the selection in the tone balance area.
- You may need to play with the three sliders until you reach a color balance you're happy with.
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- If necessary use a level or curve adjustment layer (see tutorial)
- As it hard to tell at first if you've got it right, it helps to get a second opinion at this point.
- Flatten and save.
A handy tip is to open a new document and add some colors to use a reference.
You can copy and paste it onto a new layer on your photo and delete it when you're done, Use any colors that will help you get you adjustments right.
Timesaving Tip
If you take multiple photos in the same light conditions, save your work before flattening as a PSD, Photoshop's native file type. You can then open your next photo and copy, ('Select>All' then 'Edit>Copy'). Open you PSD, select the original photo layer and paste, 'Edit>paste', the new photo beneath your adjustment layers and the color balance will be corrected.
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