THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO
WHITE BALANCING T HE
PREMIER
P HOTOSHOP REFERENCE FOR STUNNING , CRISP IMAGES .
BY
B LANK M EDIA P RINTING
CREATING
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WHY WHITE BALANCE? Our eyes know what is white in a variety of light sources, but cameras sometimes have diďŹƒculty adjusting. The result can leave unrealistic hazes and hues on your images. In this book we will show you 5 dierent ways to correct white balance, leaving you with stunning, crisp images.
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Table of Contents 1. HELPFUL TIPS
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2. FOOD/PRODUCTS 3. LANDSCAPES
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4. INDOOR PHOTOGRAPHS
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5. UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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6. CAMERA RAW ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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HELPFUL TIPS 1. HOW TO UNDO IN PHOTOSHOP There are a couple ways to go about this, the most common is hitting Command + Z on a Mac keyboard or Control + Z on a PC keyboard immediately after you make a change you don’t like. You can undo the previous two undesired actions by hitting Command + Option + Z on a Mac and Control + Alt + Z on a PC. You can use this short cut a few times in a row to reverse multiple editing steps. Another option is to go to Window > History. This will bring up a window that shows all the edits you’ve made, You can select individual actions and delete them or hide them.
2. ALWAYS DUPLICATE YOUR BACKGROUND LAYER You should always duplicate your background layer first. This is a good habit to have because it ensures you keep a copy in its original form. You can do this most easily by duplicating your image by left clicking the image layer and selecting Duplicate Image. Otherwise, if you edit directly on your background layer you are making destructive changes and will end up overwriting your original image.
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3. CREATING AN ADJUSTMENT LAYER One of the great things about photoshop is it allows you to create new, separate layers with image adjustments instead of applying adjustments right on a layer with image data. This is helpful because if you want to modify an adjustment you’ve made, you can hide the adjustment layer or reduce its opacity at any time in your editing process. In this guide, we will use this method rather than make destructive edits on our images. To do this, select Layer > New Adjustment Layer and then select an adjustment. This adds a new, separate layer with the adjustment tools (see the figure below. Our favorite shortcut is at the bottom of the layer adjustments panel. It is an half filled circle icon in the bottom right that is the short cut for a New Adjustment Layer. Note that these layers are only applied to the image if it is above it in the list of layers and the eyeball icon is turned on. If you would rather make permanent changes to your image layer, you would select Image > Adjustments > Curves to apply curves directly on that layer.
This is a helpful shortcut to know. We will be working with Adjustment Layers in this guide.
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WHITE BALANCING:
food
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FOOD & PRODUCTS are easy to white balance, especially when there is a true white object present, like a porcelain plate.
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WHITE BALANCING FOOD & PRODUCTS
1. ALWAYS DUPLICATE THE BACKGROUND LAYER Right Click (or Control + Click on a Mac) on the Layer > Select Duplicate Layer
2. SELECT CURVES Select a Curves New Adjustment Layer. You can find adjustment layers at the bottom right of your screen - it is the half-filled circle. Alternatively, you can access curves by choosing Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves.
3. FIND TRUE WHITE Select the White Eye Dropper in the curves properties menu. You can find the true white eyedropper by hovering over the three droppers available - the white point eyedropper will say “sample the image for a white point.” Then select an area in the image that should be true white.
NOTE: finding true white may take you a couple of tries to get it just how you like it. So be sure to hit Control + Z if you don’t like it right away.
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1. duplicating your layer
2. curves adjustments
3. true white eyedropper
THE NEXT TWO PAGES CONTAIN before and after comparisons of white balanced images. Before is on the top, after is on the bottom.
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WHITE BALANCING:
landscapes
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THIS TECHNIQUE HELPS to correct landscapes when there is a wash or hue that is covering the photograph, often from the sun or natural lighting.
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1. add a new layer
2. fill this layer to 50% gray
3. change blending mode to difference
4. Add a threshold layer
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WHITE BALANCING LANDSCAPES In this image we have a blue wash over the entire image. Here’s how you correct that:
1. ADD A 50% GRAY LAYER In the bottom right hand corner, select the icon that looks like a little page. Then, in the top menu, select Edit > Fill > Select Contents: 50% Gray
3. CHANGE BLENDING MODE TO “DIFFERENCE” This is located in the drop down menu of the layers menu, originally set to “Normal”
4. ADD A NEW THRESHOLD ADJUSTMENT LAYER New Adjustment Layer > Threshold > Drag the slider on the histogram all the way to the left so the image is white, then slowly back right until some visible areas appear. For this image, that was at level 11
5. USE THE EYEDROPPER TO SELECT A GRAY POINT Choose Eyedropper > Zoom to the darkest area > Shift + Click on a dark point
6. HIDE THE THRESHOLD AND GRAY LAYERS Do this by clicking on the eyeball to the left of the layer
7. ADD A CURVES LAYER Select the layer containing the photograph. Select Add New Adjustment Layer > Layer > Curves
8. USE THE CURVES GRAY EYEDROPPER To select the previous sample point
This should leave you with a white balanced photo. Notice, though subtle, the blue wash is no longer covering the photo.
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Comparisons 1 & 2: before on top, after on bottom
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WHITE BALANCING:
indoor photos
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THIS IS THE MOST technical way to white balance your photos - finding the whitest and blackest points in your image for a mathematical approach to correcting images.
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WHITE BALANCING INDOOR PHOTOS
1.CREATE A NEW THRESHOLD LAYER New Adjustment Layer > Threshold Move the adjustment slider all the way to the left, slightly back right until the black areas begin to form a slight image. In this example, this was around 18
2. SELECT A SAMPLE WITH THE BLACK EYEDROPPER Select the Color Sampler Tool under the Eyedropper Tools find an area you know is black
3. CREATE A NEW CURVES LAYER • New Adjustment Layer > Curves • Delete the Threshold layer • Return to your Curves layer and select the Black Dropper icon at the top of the three droppers. Reselect your sample point you’ve just created
4. REPEAT STEPS 1-3 WITH THE COLOR WHITE New Adjustment Layer > Threshold > Color Sample Dropper Drag the slider to the RIGHT this time and slightly back until white areas appear. Select an area in the image that you know should be white • • • •
Color Sample Dropper > Select a white spot New Adjustment Layer > Curves Delete the Threshold Layer Open Curves Layer > Select White Dropper > Reselect Second Sample Point
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5. REPEAT STEPS 1-3 WITH THE COLOR GRAY New Layer > Edit > Fill > Contents: 50% Gray > OK Change the blend mode from Normal to Difference • New Threshold Layer > Drag the Slider all the way to the LEFT and bring it slightly back until gray appears • Color Sample Dropper > Select a gray spot • New Adjustment Layer > Curves • Delete the Threshold Layer • Open Curves Layer > Select Gray Dropper > Reselect Third Sample Point
NOTE: After you finish you can go into each Curve layer and adjust any colors of which you think there should be more or less. Try toggling between the Curve layers with the eyeball icon first to see in which layer presents more of a particular color first. In this example, I went into the White Curve layer and brought the Blue down to reduce the blue highlights on the bride’s arm.
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1. add a new threshold layer
2. adjust threshold layer
3. select eye dropper tool
4. select a sample
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5. adding a new curves layer and reselect sample point with corresponding eye dropper tip: make curve channel adjustments
Comparison: before (top) and after (left)
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WHITE BALANCING:
underwater
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WATER ABSORBS DIFFERENT wavelengths of light at different depths, resulting in photos with color distortion (usually hued with green). Watch how we can bring back the skin tone of this model with these simple steps.
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WHITE BALANCING UNDERWATER
1. CREATE A NEW CURVES LAYER Click New Adjustments Layer Icon (half-filled circle in the bottom right hand corner) > Curves
2. ADJUST THE GREEN AND BLUE CHANNELS Because this is an underwater photo you’ll want to work mostly with the green and blue channels. Red light is the first to be absorbed underwater and there will be less data on its channel By pulling the axis on the green channel down and to the right you will decrease the green hue most noticeable on her complexion. By pulling the axis down and to the right on the blue channel you decrease the visible blue. Now her skin appears as it should, warm and flesh toned
NOTE: you can also adjust the red curve (drag upward from the middle) to add warmth to the skin tone.
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1. adding a new curves layer
2. adjust the green and blue channels until you the model’s skin is flesh toned
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WHITE BALANCING:
camera raw
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THIS METHOD WORKS IF you have shot your images in raw (.ARW) format. Camera Raw has a number of tools that will help you quickly balance your images.
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WHITE BALANCING IN CAMERA RAW
1. OPEN A RAW IMAGE IN PHOTOSHOP You’ll see a new intro screen with camera raw settings
2. CORRECT LENS DISTORTION Lens Correction Menu > Profile > Check the “Enable Lens Profile Corrections” box
3. CORRECT ABERRATIONS Lens Corrections Menu > Color > Check the “Remove Chromatic Aberration” box
4. FIRST TRY AUTO WHITE BALANCE First go to the Basic Menu and give Auto White Balance a try Auto white balance will do a decent job correcting the white balance in your image. You might decide you like this best
5. CORRECT USING THE EYEDROPPER Another way is to select the Eyedropper and click on a neutral area. Here we’ve selected the metal pan and also get a nice correction
6. CLEAN THE IMAGE UP WITH AUTO TINT Now click the “Auto” selection under the Tint Slider to see how Camera Raw further cleans up the image while still having all the characteristics underneath remain adjustable
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TIP: If you tap the “u” key and then the “o” Camera Raw will show you a
clipping warning by highlighting problem areas in red. Bring the Whites down until the clipping warnings disappear. If they don’t disappear and you are at -100, try bringing the highlights down until they are gone. This made the wording in front of the backlight crisper. Now we have a balanced photograph.
1. correct lens distortion
2. correct abberations
3. try auto white balance
4. auto balance result
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tip: using “u” then “o” to find trouble spots
tip: bringing highlights down corrected
Comparison on following page: before (top) and after (bottom)
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AS THE NATION’S LEADING CUSTOM CD & DVD printing company, we understand the importance of perfect photo. White balancing corrects the imperfections caught by our digital cameras, but Photoshop is a powerful tool that allows us to correct these imperfections. At Blank Media Printing we want to equip you with the knowledge and tools you’ll need to create beautiful images.
blankmediaprinting.com
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