How can I remove a color cast or fringe along object edges when cutting out a background?
Asked 9/27/2022
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2 answers
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I’m editing an image to remove the background, but the foreground subject has a noticeable color cast/fringing mainly along its edges. General white balance adjustments in GIMP don’t fix it well because the problem is localized. What’s the best way to correct color on only those edge areas?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
3y ago
2 Answers
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I would treat it as chromatic aberration.
I don't think Gimp has that function natively, but Darla's Purple Fringe removal script works natively in GIMP and is free... it might work well enough.
And there are other software that has the function... I used Adobe Camera Raw, but Raw Therapee also has good CA tools and is free.
I simply limited the purple fringe hue to the red side and set the amount pretty low...
To do a much better job than that would require significantly better masking/selection to start with and might not be practical/possible.
Originally by user70370. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user70370
3y ago
0
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This is usually better treated as edge fringing/chromatic aberration rather than global white balance.
Good options from the community:
- Use a chromatic aberration or purple-fringe removal tool if your software has one. GIMP may need a plug-in/script for this; Adobe Camera Raw and RawTherapee also have CA correction tools.
- If the fringe is limited to a narrow color range, reduce that hue selectively rather than changing the whole image.
- In GIMP, another practical approach is to select the affected edge color and shift its hue, then lower luminosity/saturation until it blends more naturally.
Important limitation: the final quality depends heavily on how good your mask/selection is. If the cutout edge is rough or contaminated by the old background color, no color correction will fully restore a perfect edge. In many cases, refining the selection/mask first is necessary, and for difficult files a perfect fix may not be practical.
If you need to process many images, scripting or batch tools such as BIMP may help automate a selective color workflow.
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