View Full Version : Are Color Correction & White Balance the same?


Photoshop_Tim
10-30-2006, 12:45 PM
Greetings!

First time poster here on RetouchPRO, however, I have been an avid "viewer" for some time now!

I have a question regarding color correction... I have noticed on PhotographyBB.com a tutorial for color correction using levels, but now I am a little confused: Are color correction and white balance correction the same thing? The method layed out says that it does both, but I don't really understand the difference (if there is any). Don't get me wrong, the method works wonders, but I would like to know if these are things I should correct differently or separately (if they are in fact 2 different things).

Thank you to everyone,

Tim

MisterJP
10-30-2006, 02:21 PM
Welcome Tim!

Color correction is a blanket statement . . . it could mean removing a color cast, tweaking a color or changing a color completely. White balance is pretty straight forward . . . adjusting the balance until it is even so that whites, blacks and all the grays inbetween appear neutral.

So to answer your question, color correction CAN be white balance correction in some cases.

Typically, if you fix the white balance first, the other colors will fall more in line and you'll have less color correcting to do!

Photoshop_Tim
10-30-2006, 02:29 PM
Thanks MisterJP for the response.

I think that's what I was after. I am mainly using the method to remove color casts in my shots, so as I understand it, this is likely the same thing as correcting for poor white balance settings?

Thanks again

Tim