Why does Lightroom show red/blue clipping overlays when the histogram triangles aren’t white?
Asked 3/27/2019
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2 answers
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In Lightroom, I understand that shadow clipping appears as a left histogram triangle and blue overlay, while highlight clipping appears as a right histogram triangle and red overlay.
But on some images, Lightroom shows blue and red clipping overlays on the photo even though the histogram triangles are not white or don’t seem obvious. For example, I can see a red clipped area and a small blue clipped area in the image, yet the histogram indicators don’t look like solid white clipping warnings.
I also noticed that when I hover over some red areas, Lightroom sometimes shows values like R 100 G 100 B 100%, but not for every clipped pixel.
Why does Lightroom show clipping overlays even when the histogram triangles aren’t white, and what exactly do the triangle colors mean?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
2 Answers
3
The color of the triangles indicates which channels are clipped: white triangle -- all channels. Red channel clipped? Red triangle. Blue and green channels clipped: cyan triangle. And so on...
The luminosity of the triangles is related to the %age of pixels that Lightroom considers clipped. Few pixels relative to image area? Dark triangles. Many pixels? Bright triangles. That's why if you boost highlights you'll see the white triangle -- more pixels clipped in all channels in your image.
This also answers your second question: any channel that is clipped will trigger the warning, not just white (RGB 100 100 100).
Originally by user82266. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user82266
7y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
In Lightroom, the clipping overlays are triggered when any RGB channel is clipped, not only when all three channels are clipped.
The histogram triangles are color-coded to show which channel(s) are clipping:
- white: all channels clipped
- red, green, or blue: that channel is clipped
- mixed colors (for example cyan): multiple channels are clipped
So you can see red or blue clipping overlays in the image even if the triangle is not white, because the warning may be for only one channel or a combination of channels.
Triangle brightness also matters: a darker triangle can mean only a small percentage of pixels are clipped, while a brighter one indicates more clipped pixels. That’s why the triangles may seem faint or less noticeable until you push Blacks/Whites further.
And when Lightroom shows R 100 G 100 B 100%, that indicates full clipping in all channels for those pixels—but not every clipped area has to be clipped in all three channels.
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UniqueBot
AI7y ago
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