- #26 Understanding Photoshop Camera Raw
- #27 Learning the Camera Raw Interface
- #28 Setting the White Balance
- #29 Adjusting Exposure and Tone Automatically
- #30 Adjusting Custom Exposure and Tone
- #31 Enhancing Color with Vibrance and Saturation
- #32 Using the Tone Curve
- #33 Adjusting Hue, Saturation, and Luminance
- #34 Creating Black-and-White Images
- #35 Using Split Toning
- #36 Using Lens Corrections
- #37 Using the Spot Removal and Red Eye Removal Tools
- #38 Making Localized Adjustments
- #39 Using the Graduated Filter Tool
- #40 Cropping, Rotating, and Straightening
- #41 Sharpening and Reducing Noise
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
#28 Setting the White Balance
A correct White Balance setting ensures that neutral colors, like grays and white, are actually gray or white rather than tinged with yellow or blue. In addition, by correcting the neutrals, you simultaneously fix any unnatural color shifts that exist in the image.
The Basic tab in the Camera Raw interface has three controls for correcting a color shift in an image: White Balance, Temperature, and Tint. From the White Balance menu, choose a specific lighting environment to fine-tune the color balance (Figure 28):
- As Shot. Uses the White Balance settings chosen by the camera at the moment the picture was taken.
- Auto. Camera Raw calculates a new white balance based on the image data.
- Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent, or Flash. Camera Raw calculates a new white balance based on the color temperature of the selected lighting condition.
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Figure 28 White Balance options.
To fine-tune the white balance, adjust the Temperature and Tint sliders. Adjusting the Temperature slider makes the image warmer or cooler. Adjusting the Tint slider compensates for a green or magenta tint.
Accessing the White Balance setting through the Basic panel to correct white balance works fine; however, one of the quickest and easiest ways to remove color shift in an image is to use the White Balance tool 
on the main toolbar in Camera Raw. This tool can be used to specify that an object should be white or gray. By doing this, Camera Raw can determine the color of the light in which the scene was shot, and then adjust for scene lighting automatically.
Select the White Balance tool and click on an object in the image that you know should be a neutral gray or white.