Explained RAW PROCESSING

How to change the colour temperature in Lightroom at the image processing stage

Shooting raw enables you to finesse the white balance after the event – or change the colour temperature completely. When you open a raw file in Adobe Camera Raw (which is included with Photoshop), Lightroom or a camera manufacturer’s own software, the white balance that was set in-camera will be applied – but there are a number of ways in which you can alter the setting. Here are the options available in Lightroom…

Custom setting (right)

Using the dropper enables you to set the white balance by clicking on an area of the image. What you’re doing is telling the software that the area you’ve specified needs to be neutral and free of colour casts. You’ll need to find a pure white or neutral grey area to click on though, as otherwise you’ll end up introducing a colour cast. This is why some photographers take a test shot with a grey card or a piece of white paper in the scene – this image can then be used to set the white balance for a batch of images taken in the same light.

Presets

Raw software offers a drop‑down of white balance presets that mirror those on the camera. The results achieved with third-party software may be different to those you’d achieve using a camera manufacturer’s program or in-camera, but they’re a good starting point.

Sliders

You can enter the colour temperature manually in Lightroom using the two sliders. Set the Temperature (Amber/Blue) first, then use the Tint slider to remove any unwanted green or magenta cast. The latter is most useful under certain types of artificial light.

Selective adjustments

The Adjustment Brush and Graduated Filter options enable you to make selective adjustments to parts of the image. This comes in handy when you want to balance an image that has a subject lit by flash and a background lit by Tungsten.