Picasa Special Interest Group

June  11, 2008

 

Coaxing Color from a Dull or Dreary Photo

Using Color Temperature, Color Picker and  Saturation

 

What do they do?

  1. Color temperature:  makes the tones of a photo cooler or warmer
  2. Color Picker:  tries to true up the colors as white balance would do in your camera .i.e. makes what should be white, white and brings other colors into balance
  3. Saturation:  heightens or exaggerates colors in a colorful photo  or brings out color in a bland or pale photo

 


When to use:

  1. Use color temperature to increase the warm tones of browns, reds, pinks or the cooler tones of blues, greens.  Pictures taken in incandescent lighting may be too warm.  Pictures taken in fluorescent lighting or in sunlight may be too cool.  Use color temperature slider to adjust.

 

  1. Use the Color Picker to point to an area of the photo that is or should be white and the computer will try to adjust other colors to be more realistic

 

  1. Use Saturation when a photo is bland or colors are pale.  Saturation will not noticeably affect the truly gray or black areas of your photo but will increase the intensity of other colors which may not be evident because of an incorrect exposure or other camera  setting or existing lighting or ???


How to use:

  1. Color temperature: slider moved left produces cooler colors, moved right produces warmer colors.  Exit Tuning and return to repeat Color temperature changes
  2. Color Picker: click button to right of color picker for an automatic adjustment or click button by color picker and then click in a white space in the photo
  3. Saturation: Slider moved to the left heightens colors (some more noticeably than others).  Can be repeated if you leave Effects and return
  4. Any of the editing effects anywhere may be combined (some repeated) with any others in any sequence.  Warning:  To undo any effect, any editing changes are undone but in reverse order, i.e. last edit change is undone first.  With the possible exception of cropping which can be redone at any time by returning to Basic Fixes

 


Some examples shown at SIG

  1. Color temperature: a) desert photos to make sand more sandy in color,

 b) warm up a gray cloudy day, c) simulate a night scene from  daytime photo

  1. Color Picker: any photo with white in it  a) winter scene, b) painted house, c) ocean wave foam, d) flowers, e) rocks, f) sign
  2. Saturation: a) ocean colors, b) gray  rocks, c) a colorful object on a gray, cloudy, dreary day