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Chapter 5: Basic Touchup
Microsoft Digital Image Standard User’s Manual
Correcting a Color Cast
When you take photographs, the source of the light can create a colored cast in
the photo. We tend to think of light being white, but nearly every light source
has its own unique color. For example, natural sunlight has a large component
of blue in it, while incandescent (tungsten) lights—including most household
light bulbs—give off a reddish or yellowish cast.
When taking a photo, you can compensate for these different colors of light by
setting the white balance (with a digital camera), or by using special filters (on
a film camera). But if you still end up with a cast in your photos, use the Adjust
Color tool to correct the balance of colors to make the lighting look more
natural. Using this tool, you locate a point that should be white, and then Digital
Image balances all of the colors in the picture based on the white point you set.
If you have already used the Levels auto fix tool, the tint problems in the picture
may already be corrected. Use the Adjust Color tool to make additional adjust
-
ments to the tint.
To adjust color:
1. On the Touchup menu, click Adjust Color.
The mouse pointer becomes an eyedropper.
2. With the eyedropper, click an area in the picture that should be grey or
neutral—in other words, not too colorful, too dark, or too light.
Digital Image automatically corrects the colors.
3. If you are not satisfied with the results, use the Color Balance sliders for
fine-tuning.
4. Click Done.
Setting the white
balance on a
digital camera
Many digital cameras
allow you to set the
white balance for
specific types of light,
such as sunlight,
incandescent, and
flash. Using this feature
can help reduce tint
problems in your
pictures.
Zooming in to
find white
If there are no significant
areas of white in your
photo, use the zoom
controls to magnify the
picture on the screen.
When you zoom in, you
might be able to use a
very small area of white,
such as the whites of a
person’s eyes.