Automatic Color Balance

Paint Shop Pro has some wonderful photo enhancing tools. In this tutorial we'll look at the Automatic Color Balance tool. Below is a photo that I am going to apply two different color balances to. You can get to the Automatic Color Balance tool from the Effects menu. Effects>Enhance Photo>Automatic Color Balance.

The image below has been "cooled" down with the Automatic Color Balance tool.

I set the Illuminant temperature to 7915, the strength to 100 and I checked remove color cast. Setting the temperature to a cooler temperature takes the colors to the bluer side of the spectrum.

Now let's take the same original photo and warm it up.

For the warmer image I set the Illuminant temperature to 4849, strength to 100 and checked remove color cast. Setting the temperature warmer moves the colors to the red side of the spectrum.

Automatic Color Balance is not only for photos. Take the image below. It looks a little orange to me so I thought I might want to cool it down a little. With the Automatic Color Balance tool it was quick and easy.

Below is the cooled image.

I didn't want a real strong change so I set the strength to 30. I also had remove color cast checked and set the illuminant temperature to 6580.

When using Automatic Color Balance for photo correction keep in mind that a photo taken in typical daylight would usually have a temperature setting of 6500K. Indoor lighting uses a lower temperature and outdoor lighting a higher temperature.

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