 |
Adjusting White Balance on a White Background |
I am setup a tabletop studio with custom white balance set. Often the image taken do not have a completely white background especially with larger subject (in my case, around 30 cm and above). This is owing to the lack of lighting and a light tent. Alternatively, I can take the photos at higher EV (exposure) value but then the photos will be overexposed.
This does not look professional.
Have no fear! Photoshop is here!
The following is a a little trick that I learned allowing me to quickly adjust the background to pure white.
1. Use color picker to pick the background color
2. Create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N).
3. Fill the layer with foreground color (Alt+Backspace)
4. Invert the color (Ctrl+i)
5. Change the layer blending mode to "Color Dodge"
 |
 |
| Original Image. | Adjusted Image. |
This technique is not for photos with a completely wrong white balance. Always try to take your photos to as close as you intended. Moreover, color dodge will lighten your screen making it slightly overexposed thus losing details.
Take a look at the following photos before and after being adjusted with this technique. The white is overexposed. Photoshop helps to correct small differences but will not help photos that are badly taken.
 |
 |
| Original Image. | Adjusted Image. The white area is completely wash out. |
When your image cannot be adjusted in this way, you have to resort to the traditional
Curves and Level adjustment to adjust your photo. In the worst case scenario, you might
have to cut out the background.
| < Previous | Next > |
| Document Date : 17.01.2007 |
Responses to this page: