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Adjust the White Balance in Camera Raw- Photoshop Elements Instructions

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How to Adjust the White Balance in Camera Raw Photos in Photoshop Elements: Video

            The following video lesson, titled “How to Adjust the White Balance in Camera Raw in Adobe Photoshop Elements 2023: A Training Tutorial,” shows how to adjust the white balance in camera raw photos in Photoshop Elements. This video lesson on how to adjust the white balance in camera raw photos in Photoshop Elements is from our complete Photoshop Elements tutorial, titled “Mastering Photoshop Elements Made Easy v.2023.”

Overview of How to Adjust the White Balance in Camera Raw:

            You can easily adjust the white balance in camera raw photos in Photoshop Elements. When you take a camera raw photo, its white balance is recorded by the camera as metadata. This metadata is read by Photoshop Elements when you open the camera raw image. This often results in the correct color temperature for the image. However, you can adjust the white balance in camera raw for images that display a color cast due to an imbalance in the white balance. There are three ways to adjust the white balance in camera raw images.

            The easiest way to automatically adjust the white balance is to click the “White Balance Tool” button in the expanded “Basic” tab of the Edit Panel after clicking the “Edit” button in the toolbar of the “Camera Raw” dialog box to change your pointer into the White Balance Tool. Then find a neutral gray area in the image. If a neutral gray area is not available, you can also find a white area. However, make sure that the white area selected is not specular white. This means you should try to select a white object, versus a source of white that is from light or a reflection of light. After finding the gray area or white area, click it with your pointer to automatically correct the image’s white balance.

            Alternatively, to adjust the white balance in camera raw photos by using a preset, select a preset white balance level from the “White Balance” drop-down in the expanded “Basic” tab of the Edit Panel after clicking the “Edit” button in the toolbar of the “Camera Raw” dialog box. The default setting, “As Shot,” shows the white levels using the camera raw image’s metadata. This is often the same white balance as selecting the “Auto” preset, too.

A picture showing how to adjust the white balance in camera raw photos in Photoshop Elements by selecting a preset.

A picture showing how to adjust the white balance in camera raw photos in Photoshop Elements by selecting a preset.

            If the available presets do not correctly adjust the white balance, you can manually adjust the white balance. To manually adjust the white balance in a camera raw image in Photoshop Elements, use the adjacent “Temperature” and “Tint” sliders on the “Basic” tab in the Edit Panel to adjust the temperature and tint of the image. You can also enter temperature and tint values into the adjacent value fields for each slider, if preferred.

            The “Temperature” slider uses the Kelvin color temperature scale. You can adjust the “Temperature” slider to the left to add more blue to an image that contains too much yellow. You can, conversely, slide the same slider to the right to add more yellow to an image with a blue color cast. This corrects the color temperature of the light used when the photo was taken.

            The “Tint” slider adjusts the white balance to correct magenta or green color casts in an image. You can move the slider to the left, using negative values, to add more green to the image. Conversely, sliding the same slider to the right, using positive values, adds more magenta to the image.

Instructions on How to Adjust the White Balance in Camera Raw:

  1. To automatically adjust the white balance in a camera raw image in Photoshop Elements, click the “White Balance Tool” button in the expanded “Basic” tab of the Edit Panel after clicking the “Edit” button in the toolbar of the “Camera Raw” dialog box to change your pointer into the White Balance Tool.
  2. Then find a neutral gray area in the image. If a neutral gray area is not available, you can also find a white area. However, make sure that the white area selected is not specular white. This means you should try to select a white object, versus a source of white that is from light or a reflection of light.
  3. After finding the gray area, click it with your pointer to automatically correct the image’s white balance.
  4. Alternatively, to adjust the white balance in an image by using a preset, select a preset white balance level from the “White Balance” drop-down in the expanded “Basic” tab of the Edit Panel after clicking the “Edit” button in the toolbar of the “Camera Raw” dialog box.
  5. The default setting, “As Shot,” shows the white levels using the camera raw image’s metadata. This is often the same white balance as selecting the “Auto” preset, too.
  6. Alternatively, to manually adjust the white balance, use the adjacent “Temperature” and “Tint” sliders on the “Basic” tab to adjust the temperature and tint of the image.
  7. You can also enter temperature and tint values into the adjacent value fields for each slider, if preferred.
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