Raw Tuesday: what to edit (and when) in Adobe Camera Raw

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How to Edit Raw Files, 1-3: Adjust White Balance

White balance (ie getting the right colour cast) is one of the key adjustments that you need to get right early on, because it has an impact on the exposure and even the amount of noise visible in your image. There are three ways to adjust the white balance in ACR…

1 White balance presets
These presets are similar to those available on your camera, and include daylight, shade and fluorescent. Simply choose the setting that matches the lighting conditions in which you took the picture. This is a good solution for images taken in predictable lighting conditions.

2 Temperature slider
For greater control, try the Temperature slider. Dragging this to the right will make your image look warmer, while dragging it to the left will make it cooler. You’ll need to adjust this by eye.

Learn more about colour temperature and how it works.

How to adjust white balance in Adobe Camera Raw

Before

After

3 White Balance tool
Handy if there’s part of your image you can use to pick the correct colour. Use the tool to click on an area of your image that should be grey, and Adobe Camera Raw will automatically fix the white balance. This can work on detailed white areas, too.

PAGE 1: The best order for editing raw files
PAGE 2: Adjust white balance
PAGE 3: Correct exposure
PAGE 4: Recover lost highlight detail
PAGE 5: Recover lost shadow detail
PAGE 6: Sharpen the image