This article is an extract from the Fix It In Photoshop book, which is available as an eBook, paperback and in hardback. Please check out my store for more details. Here is how to automatically correct white balance in your images using Adobe Photoshop:
We will use the Photoshops Camera RAW app to correct the white balance. If you edit a RAW file, it will automatically open up in the Camera RAW app, and you can jump straight to step 3. If however you are opening a JPG or other compressed format, there are a couple of additional steps to get set up. But once you have done this, you can go back and forth from the Photoshop main panel to Camera RAW whenever you need to.
STEP 1: Make sure you have the image you want to edit inside Camera RAW selected in the Layers Tab of the Panels. Then right-click on the Layer and select ‘Convert To Smart Object’. You can also go via the Application Bar and ‘Layer >Smart Objects > Convert To Smart Object’. This ensures that any changes done in Camera RAW are stored in Photoshop, i.e., your edits are non-destructive.
STEP 2: Head to the Application Bar and select ‘Filter > Camera RAW Filter’. Camera RAW then opens.
STEP 3: Working from the Color Panel, select the pull-down menu next to the word White Balance. By default, it will indicate ‘As Shot’, which means the settings that you used in-camera; when you took the shot.
Putting White Balance to Auto enables Adobe RAW to automatically analyze your image and set the White Balance to the settings it thinks are most appropriate. However, if you can remember what the lighting conditions were when you captured the shot, you can also set the most appropriate balance using the other options in the menu.
Essentially, this adjusts the color temperature value to align with those in the table illustrated below. For your convenience, the table gives you the Kelvin (K) ranges for different lighting conditions.
