Hi all and welcome to another Darktable tutorial
As we all know that good image is a combination of many factors like perfect exposure, perfect color, perfect white balance, low noise etc.Modern cameras in most of the time gives us correct white balance if not perfect but produces near accurate images.Shooting in RAW format is very useful as it contains larger data than JPEG images and White Balance can be easily adjusted in post processing.But the problem arises when the image is shot in jpeg with wrong white balance and correcting them in post in difficult.Correcting white balance is very important and I recommend it is the first step in the editing so that color toning in the final part of post will not go horrible.In this tutorial, we will learn how to achieve accurate white balance every time.
As I said in my previous post that table is capable of performing most of the work of Adobe Lightroom. But when you look at the white balance adjustment tab, we don't have the important tool of white balance adjustment, eyedropper. Eyedropper tool is very efficient and it makes the life simpler by simply clicking the neutral spot in the image like white color or grey color, but that important tool is not present in darktable. Don’t get worried we can achieve the same result with a few more additional steps but the result is accurate.
As you all know white color is the combination of RGB 255,255,255.If the RGB values are not same, then it indicates that white balance is off and corresponding colors need to be adjusted in the white balance option.Let me explain in detail using visual presentation for better understanding.
Step 1: Importing our image into the Lighttable
Step 2: Load our image into the Darkroom
Step 3: Click the COLOR PICKER option which is available to the left and click to expand the options.Two options are available. Taking point sample and area sample. I usually prefer to use area sample.
Step 4: Next to the area, eyedropper is available which is used to draw box in the image for making selection. Look for the white color in the image.I choose the white wall beyond the sofa and dragged a box near the lamp shade.
Step 5: Very important step is to click ADD button below the color sample preview to load the RGB values of the sample taken.Otherwise any correction will not be reflected in the values.The goal is to bring R=G=B values to make it neutral.
Step 6: Once the above steps are completed, now its time to correct the white balance. Go to the third tab where we find the white balance tool. Click it to expand for more options.
Step 7: As I mentioned above, the goal is to bring RGB values to equal number. From the sample color taken, we can find that R = 253 G = 229 B = 208. We need to bring G and B values to R value i.e 253 which can be done in white balance tool. Move to green slider back and forth to achieve the desired outcome. In my case, I need to increase value to make it 253. After adjusting, the corresponding values of the sample taken changes which can be seen in the left side.
Step 8: Next step is to adjust Blue values to make it 253 .I need to move the slider forward to make the value to match R and G values. After adjusting, the corresponding values of the sample taken changes which can be seen in the left side.
Step 9: After adjusting the slider back and forth, final outcome is achieved which represents correct white balance. Using the same technique, color cast in the images can be removed more precisely. This method involves little extra steps but they are accurate and we were able to understand core concepts on how eyedropper tool in other softwares work.
Hope you the understand the tutorial and comment your opinion and feedback. Meet you all in the next tutorial.
As we all know that good image is a combination of many factors like perfect exposure, perfect color, perfect white balance, low noise etc.Modern cameras in most of the time gives us correct white balance if not perfect but produces near accurate images.Shooting in RAW format is very useful as it contains larger data than JPEG images and White Balance can be easily adjusted in post processing.But the problem arises when the image is shot in jpeg with wrong white balance and correcting them in post in difficult.Correcting white balance is very important and I recommend it is the first step in the editing so that color toning in the final part of post will not go horrible.In this tutorial, we will learn how to achieve accurate white balance every time.
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| Before correcting white balance |
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| After correcting white balance |
As I said in my previous post that table is capable of performing most of the work of Adobe Lightroom. But when you look at the white balance adjustment tab, we don't have the important tool of white balance adjustment, eyedropper. Eyedropper tool is very efficient and it makes the life simpler by simply clicking the neutral spot in the image like white color or grey color, but that important tool is not present in darktable. Don’t get worried we can achieve the same result with a few more additional steps but the result is accurate.
As you all know white color is the combination of RGB 255,255,255.If the RGB values are not same, then it indicates that white balance is off and corresponding colors need to be adjusted in the white balance option.Let me explain in detail using visual presentation for better understanding.
Step 1: Importing our image into the Lighttable
Step 5: Very important step is to click ADD button below the color sample preview to load the RGB values of the sample taken.Otherwise any correction will not be reflected in the values.The goal is to bring R=G=B values to make it neutral.
Step 6: Once the above steps are completed, now its time to correct the white balance. Go to the third tab where we find the white balance tool. Click it to expand for more options.
Step 7: As I mentioned above, the goal is to bring RGB values to equal number. From the sample color taken, we can find that R = 253 G = 229 B = 208. We need to bring G and B values to R value i.e 253 which can be done in white balance tool. Move to green slider back and forth to achieve the desired outcome. In my case, I need to increase value to make it 253. After adjusting, the corresponding values of the sample taken changes which can be seen in the left side.
Step 8: Next step is to adjust Blue values to make it 253 .I need to move the slider forward to make the value to match R and G values. After adjusting, the corresponding values of the sample taken changes which can be seen in the left side.
Step 9: After adjusting the slider back and forth, final outcome is achieved which represents correct white balance. Using the same technique, color cast in the images can be removed more precisely. This method involves little extra steps but they are accurate and we were able to understand core concepts on how eyedropper tool in other softwares work.
Hope you the understand the tutorial and comment your opinion and feedback. Meet you all in the next tutorial.
