Picasa SIG

December 9, 2010

White Balance - Camera VS Picasa

Question: What is White Balance

Answer: Objects that are white should appear white in your photo regardless of lighting. When lighting conditions change, the colors of objects in the photo reflect the lighting.

At sunrise or sunset, a scene takes on a golden cast.

Cloudy days cause graying of colors.

Tungsten lighting indoor causes an orange cast and

fluorescent bulbs will change your scene to blue.

White balance is your cameras way and Picasas way of overcoming these color effects to insure that white images in your photo appear white, not orangy, not blueish, not dirty white or grey.

Question: How can I fix this before the picture is taken

Answer: Be aware of lighting conditions

Take a picture and review it

Change your white balance settings to offset the existing lighting color cast.

White balance camera settings are

Automatic White Balance (AWB),

Sunny,

Cloudy,

Tungsten or incandescent

Fluorescent,

High fluourescent,

Acquarium,

Custom.

Others depending on camera

Reset to AWB after a change of white balance settings.

Question: How can this be fixed after the picture is taken

Answer: Picasa needs to know where it can find a true neutral, grey or white pixel and then the remaining colors in the photo should be adjusted accordingly

In Edit mode, click the Tuning Tab.

Find the Neutral Color Picker.

First click the flashlight icon on the right.

This tries to set the white balance automatically (make white to be white)

Second, try the eyedropper or color picker.

Click the color picker

Drag to a neutral, grey or white section (pixel) and drop.

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