How can I make white backgrounds match across a batch of photos?
Asked 5/10/2012
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I have 50–60 photos from one session with a white background, but the background brightness and tone vary from image to image. I want the backgrounds to look consistent across the whole set. Is this possible, and what’s a good way to do it?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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It depends how different your backgrounds are and how well they respond to equalization. Here, I've picked a background where I know what color it should be: white.
Then, I created a curves adjustment layer, pointed the white-point eyedropper at the location that should be white, and clicked.
(Excuse the terrible circle and arrow art)
This image didn't respond badly to the change, but if you don't have an absolute, you may need to open up the info panel, note the settings at a given location, and then for each succeeding image, tweak until you get the same readings. If you note that the tweaks are very similar for each image, then save the curve and load it into each successive file and edit to taste.
By the way, doing this adjustment in Adobe Camera RAW may produce better results if you are shooting RAW simply because you are working with more data and the decision to change the luminance is done against more bits, reducing the probability of banding or other nasty artifacts.
Originally by user5270. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user5270
14y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—if the differences aren’t too extreme, you can usually make them much more consistent.
A practical method is to correct each image using a known white area in the background. In Photoshop, add a Curves adjustment layer and use the white-point eyedropper on a spot that should be pure white. That can quickly normalize the background tone and brightness.
If you don’t have a clear reference point, use the Info panel to measure a specific background area in one corrected image, then adjust the other images until that same area gives similar values. If the corrections are close from shot to shot, you can save the curve and apply it to the rest, then fine-tune as needed.
If you shot RAW, doing the adjustment in Adobe Camera Raw may give better results before further editing.
This works best when the background variations are moderate and the background actually contains areas that should be neutral white.
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