White balance, Color temperature and Adobe Camera Raw.

H
Posted By
Hermie
Jun 6, 2004
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306
Replies
1
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Closed
Most light sources will not be 100% pure white but have a certain "color temperature", expressed in Kelvin.

"Color temperature" can be defined as the spectrum that would be emitted by a "black body" which is heated up to the corresponding temperature. This is easy to understand if you remember that a heated piece of metal will glow for instance. When heated up the color goes from red to yellow, to white, to blue.

The temperature scale makes things a bit counterintuitive because what we call "warmer" (red/yellow) light corresponds to lower Kelvin temperatures, while "cooler" (blue) light corresponds to higher Kelvin temperatures.

Next my question:
When you open a file in Adobe Camera Raw, the temperature slider works the other way around. When you move the slider to the left, the color temperature in Kelvin decreases and the white balance becomes more blue. When you move the slider to the right the color temperature increases and the white balance becomes more yellow.

Could someone please explain this reversed behavior?

Thanks in advance.

Herman

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V
Vlad
Jun 7, 2004
The whole thing is simple: you see image in the PS the way it would look like provided the temperature in question would be dialed in into the camera when taking a shot.

HTH

-Vlad

"Hermie" wrote in message
Most light sources will not be 100% pure white but have a certain "color temperature", expressed in Kelvin.
"Color temperature" can be defined as the spectrum that would be emitted by a "black body" which is heated up to the corresponding temperature. This is easy to understand if you remember that a heated piece of metal will glow for instance. When heated up the color goes from red to yellow, to white, to blue.
The temperature scale makes things a bit counterintuitive because what we call "warmer" (red/yellow) light corresponds to lower Kelvin temperatures, while "cooler" (blue) light corresponds to higher Kelvin temperatures.

Next my question:
When you open a file in Adobe Camera Raw, the temperature slider works the other way around. When you move the slider to the left, the color temperature in Kelvin decreases and the white balance becomes more blue. When you move the slider to the right the color temperature increases and the white balance becomes more yellow.

Could someone please explain this reversed behavior?

Thanks in advance.

Herman

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