White Balance
Removes a color cast, or warms and cools an image on purpose, with Temperature and Tint, Pick Neutral, and Auto.
White Balance corrects for the color of the light a picture was taken or rendered under: the orange of indoor lighting, the blue of shade. The mask input limits the change to part of the image.
Temperature and Tint
Section titled “Temperature and Tint”- Temperature warms the image (+) or cools it (-), from -100 to +100.
- Tint shifts it toward magenta (+) or green (-), from -100 to +100.
Both start at 0, and at 0 the image passes through unchanged, in every working space and at every bit depth. The sliders move the white the image is balanced to, starting from the working space’s own white, so they behave the same in an ACEScg document as in an sRGB one.
Below the sliders, a line names the light the correction assumes, for example “Neutral at about 4,800 K”, with “with a green tint” or “with a magenta tint” added at Tint +10 or more, or -10 or less. It is there for anyone who thinks in Kelvin; you never have to type one.
Clamp Output (on to start, shown for a 32-bit input) keeps the result at or below white, since correcting a cast raises one channel. Turn it off to keep 32-bit values above 1, such as the highlights of an HDR image. An 8-bit result is always held to white.
Pick Neutral
Section titled “Pick Neutral”Click Pick Neutral, then click something in the Preview that should be neutral gray or white, such as a gray card, a white wall, or a concrete path. Temperature and Tint are set so that spot comes out neutral, as one undo step. The pick uses the app-wide sample size (the small arrow beside the button offers a single pixel, 3 x 3 Average, or 5 x 5 Average), and Esc or a right-click cancels it.
A spot that cannot give a color is refused and the pick stays armed. A blown-out white has lost its color, and a very dark spot is too dark to read; a light gray that is not blown out, such as a gray card or a shaded white, gives the best pick.
Auto finds the surfaces most likely to be neutral gray and removes their cast, setting Temperature and Tint as one undo step. While it works the button reads Analyzing… and the panel stays responsive.
When Auto is unsure, it changes nothing. If too few areas could be neutral, or they disagree about the light, the panel says “No reliable neutral areas found:” with the reason, and the sliders stay where they were. That is common, and intended, on painted art, pixel art, flat-color illustration, and a deliberate sunset: their colors are the picture, not a cast. Use Pick Neutral or the sliders when you do want a change. When the cast is stronger than the Temperature range can undo, Auto stops at the end of the range and says so.
Batches
Section titled “Batches”White Balance applies one correction, the same Temperature and Tint, to every image of a batch, and the panel says so while a batch is connected. That suits photos shot under the same light: set the correction once, on any frame, and every image matches.
To correct each image on its own, or to have the correction follow the image as it changes, use Auto Adjust with Method set to White Balance. It gives each image the values this node’s Auto would.
Inputs and texture sets
Section titled “Inputs and texture sets”- 32-bit images keep their range. The correction is applied in linear light, so values above 1 stay above 1.
- A one-channel input (a mask or a grayscale map) has no color to balance: it passes through unchanged, the controls are unavailable, and the panel says “White Balance needs a color input.”
- On a texture set, a Map row at the top of the panel picks the color map to correct, Base Color to start with, and every other map passes through untouched. See Changing one map.
Parameters
Section titled “Parameters”Pins
Color
Which map of the texture set this node edits. Every other map passes through unchanged. Shown while a texture set or a library is wired
Warm (+) or cool (-) the image. 0 leaves it unchanged
Shift toward magenta (+) or green (-). 0 leaves it unchanged
Keep the result at or below white. Turn it off to keep 32-bit values above 1, such as bright highlights
Mask
How the connected color image is read as a mask
How the mask is sized when it doesn't match the image
Usage Tips
Section titled “Usage Tips”- Pick Neutral on a gray card in the first photo of a shoot, then let the same correction carry across the whole batch.
- Push Temperature up a little on a neutral render for a warm, late-afternoon look.
- Connect a mask to correct only the part of a scene lit by a different light.