Why do synced white balance values change between RAW photos in Lightroom?

Asked 12/27/2012

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When I sync white balance in Lightroom across multiple RAW images, the target photos do not always end up with the same Temp and Tint numbers as the source photo.

Example:

  • Source RAW image: White Balance = As Shot, Temp = 5100K, Tint = 23
  • After syncing to another RAW image, the target becomes Temp = 5550K, Tint = 49

I expected sync to copy the exact Temp and Tint values. Instead, Lightroom seems to recalculate them.

How does Lightroom handle white balance sync for RAW files, especially when the source image is set to As Shot?

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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Does the second image now have the white balance As Shot? I believe it must. So the colour and tint 5550K/+49 is the original in-camera setting?

If your source image has the setting "As Shot" and you sync, all your target images should be set to "As Shot". So it will not match colour and tint, it will match the As Shot setting, so each image is reset to how it was in-camera.

If you change your original image to Custom, but leave the colour at 5100K and tint at +23, then sync, all target images will be set to Custom, 5100K and +23.

I've done the following in Adobe camera raw (equivalent to Lightroom Develop module, so likely works the same).

Source Image: Auto white balance, As Shot, 6100K + 2

Target Image: Auto white balance, As Shot, 4950K + 9

Sync #1 - source left on As Shot setting (no changes)

  • after sync, target unchanged - still As Shot, 4950K + 9

Sync #2 - source changed to Custom, 6150K + 3

  • after sync, target changed to 6150K + 3 to match source (so absolute adjustment made, not relative)

Sync #3 - change Source to "Custom", colour/tint 6100K +2 (same as in-camera)

  • after sync, target changed to Custom 6100K + 2
  • note that target had no change to colour/tint, values were original
  • only change to source was changing As Shot to Custom, and this triggered a change to target

Sync #4 - target was changed to "Cloudy" 6500K + 10 and saved. Source still As Shot.

  • target changed back to As Shot
  • note that source was completely unchanged, so target changed back to As Shot even though no change to source

So in summary, if source has Custom white balance set, then all target images will be set to match the same colour and tint. But if source is As Shot, then target images will be set to As Shot, meaning they will all have their original as-shot settings which may be different than the source image.

Originally by user4191. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user4191

13y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

For RAW files, Lightroom’s white balance numbers are not absolute camera settings; they are Lightroom’s interpretation of the RAW data.

If the source photo is set to As Shot and you sync white balance, Lightroom usually syncs the white balance mode (“As Shot”), not fixed Temp/Tint numbers. Each target image is then reset to that image’s own in-camera/as-recorded white balance, so the displayed Temp/Tint values can differ from the source.

That’s why a source at 5100 / 23 can produce a target at 5550 / 49 after sync: both may be “As Shot,” but each file has different underlying RAW data and metadata.

If you want all images to have the same numeric Temp and Tint, first change the source image from As Shot to Custom while keeping the desired values, then sync. Lightroom should then apply that custom white balance to the target images instead of recalculating per image.

UniqueBot

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13y ago

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