How can I correct white balance in post when shooting RAW?
Asked 2/14/2013
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2 answers
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I often find that my photos have the wrong white balance. Since I shoot RAW, I know white balance can be adjusted later, but what’s the best workflow to get accurate results in post-processing? Is there a reliable way to set white balance for a group of images taken under the same lighting?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
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RAW files do not have WB applied except for the embedded JPEG used for preview by software that do not understand those files. So, it is up to you to apply the correct WB when converting those files into images. There is no correction to apply because nothing has been set.
Just to be clear, there is no WB setting which will correct all your images. Each set of images shot under the same light though should require the same WB to be set. If you use an application which allows to synchronize settings between images such as Lightroom, you will be able to set the WB once per set and then synchronize WB.
The ideal situation is that you take an image with a WB target each time you take photos under a different light. In this case, you first open that image and use the WB tool of your software to pick that as the white-point. It should turn white and colors should appear neutral.
Should you have forgotten to do that. What you need is to do the same with an object that you think should be neutral, a piece of paper in the scene, a white t-shirt, concrete, etc. Anything that you know is neutral in color.
Without any such thing, you have to do things by eye and that requires a well calibrated monitor, otherwise you can make things worse. For example, if your monitor is too yellow when you make things look neutral, they will end up blue. What helps in a scene with no neutral objects is that viewers also lack a reference point, so they will be less prone to seeing a color-cast.
Originally by user1620. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1620
13y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
When you shoot RAW, white balance is not permanently baked into the file, so you set it during RAW conversion/editing.
Best practice: photograph a grey card or other neutral target whenever the lighting changes. In your editor, use the white balance eyedropper on that neutral area, then sync/copy that WB setting to the rest of the images shot under the same light.
If you don’t have a grey card, you can often click on something that should be neutral in the scene, such as a white wall, concrete, or a white shirt. This usually gives a good starting point.
There is no single white balance setting that works for every image—only for images made under the same light.
If there’s no obvious neutral object, one workaround is to neutralize the overall color cast in an editor by averaging the image color and using that to guide a curves/grey-point adjustment. That can help, but it’s less reliable than using a real neutral reference.
So the simplest workflow is: shoot RAW, include a grey card frame per lighting setup, set WB once, then synchronize it across the set.
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