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Photo - raw white balance "picker"?


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Delving into the raw processor on Photo ang liking what I am getting though I do have some queries...

 

Is there a "picker" (like an eyedropper tool) to sample an area for the white balance, rather than setting white balance purely by the Kelvin sliding scale?

 

I ask because the initial shot, of a product shoot for instance, may include a colour checker in the frame which can be used as a reference for the white balance/colour i.e. sampling a grey/white or black swatch on the checker for the correct initial white balance. This would be useful in Photo as it stands for an initial preset could be created to apply on other shots from that shoot and, I think, essential for future batch processing of a shoot.

 

Anybody agree/disagree?

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Try the White Balance Tool in the develop persona I think that will do what you want

 

Found it! Yep, that's a winner - cheers guys. Should have found it myself but... hey ho having a spongehead moment :unsure:

 

FYI it's very accurate. I have a reference set of studio "product" shots with untouched raw images shot with a colour swatch reference panel and the lighting measured with a colour temperature meter. I have copied the raw and used a seperate fresh copy in a few different raw options - yours gets within around 50Kelvin of the meter reading, which for me is *ta! da!* one click - job done.

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  • 3 years later...

Hi,  I'm new to Affinity (after cursing at Adobe many times, esp. with the new CC bullcrap).  Is there a video tutorial of how to do this?  I use this tool quite often to establish a white balance on an image and find it a good place to start.  Do I have to be in develop persona mode?  I don't see the eye dropper there or in the normal mode.  I use this tool in PS very often, even on jpeg files.

Many thanks for any help.

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  • Staff

Hi erikfree,
Welcome to Affinity Forums :)
In Develop Persona (which is where RAW files will open) there's a White Balance Tool on the the left toolbar. You can also adjust it through the sliders in the the White Balance adjustment in the Basic tab on the right of the interface (by default).

In Photo Persona you can add a White Balance adjustment going to menu Layer ▸ New Adjustment Layer ▸ White Balance (or clicking the Adjustment icon on the bottom on the Layers panel - keep the mouse over them for a tooltip - and selecting White Balance from the pop-up list). It has  a Picker button you can use to sample from the image/set the white point. For more details please refer to this help topic.

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On 1/3/2019 at 3:23 PM, MEB said:

Hi erikfree,
Welcome to Affinity Forums :)
In Develop Persona (which is where RAW files will open) there's a White Balance Tool on the the left toolbar. You can also adjust it through the sliders in the the White Balance adjustment in the Basic tab on the right of the interface (by default).

In Photo Persona you can add a White Balance adjustment going to menu Layer ▸ New Adjustment Layer ▸ White Balance (or clicking the Adjustment icon on the bottom on the Layers panel - keep the mouse over them for a tooltip - and selecting White Balance from the pop-up list). It has  a Picker button you can use to sample from the image/set the white point. For more details please refer to this help topic.

Hi, I have a similar request. We want a picker in the raw mode (aka "develop"). Just "eyeing" white balance isn't sufficient (anything from display settings to changing ambient light over the day, and weather outside, will change a human eye's perception of colour of an image on a screen), and you are in real trouble when you have several images taken in similar, but not exact, light, and without a grey card. Also, in PS, I can bring up say 10 similar images, set the white balance, clarity, contrast etc for one of them and then use that image as the "mother" image and in 2 secs change the rest of the 9 in exactly the same way - all in raw so that the raw files are once and for all edited and can be used for different purposes and outputs without having to redo the whole thing again. In Affinity, there is a picker in editing ("photo") mode, but still no way to batch process the settings. The batch editing in Affinity has quite a way to go to match PS I'm afraid.

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1 hour ago, >|< said:

There is one: the White Balance Tool (press W key) in the tools bar on the left.

That is not a picker. A picker is a tool which reads the exact RGB value where ever ju point it. To achieve a neutral grey, you want these three figures to be as close as the can be. But sometimes, in a pic with several light sources or a mix of tungsten and daylight for instance, you might not be able to achieve that, or you might want to set that aside slightly in a controled way. The WB tool you refer to does not do this. It is quite good in setting the white balance by pointing to one point, in one single image, but it is 'blind'. If you have a second or a series of images which were taken in the same environment, but with a slight difference in shadow or angle, but you want to give them a feeling of being closer to each other in temperture, or in strength/shadow too, than the photo opportunity gave you, then you really want to know the exact RGB figures. It's also a fast way to correct weird colour in images. This function exists in the photo persona, but it is more important in the raw editing. So if it only should be in one place, it whould be in the 'develop'. However, it would be even nicer if it could be in both.

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14 hours ago, >|< said:

I thought you meant that you wanted the equivalent of the picker in the White Balance Adjustment of Photo persona. Sorry for wasting your time.

The Info panel in Develop persona (and in Photo persona) tells you the RGB value under the pointer. You can drag the crosshair icon of one of its samplers onto the image to have a fixed position readout as you make adjustments.

 

Ok, thanks, that is an option I haven't seen (this info panel was not visible, or didn't 'pop up' as it did when in photo). It might be what i am looking for. I'll check it :)

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