Color Correction in Paint Shop Pro 9 or X

Taking a perfect picture every time is impossible, and inevitably some pictures are going to come out wrong, such as having a color cast from an incorrect white balance. But you don't have to set those images aside as unusable. Using Paint Shop Pro, you can remove a color cast easily and preserve the picture the way it was meant to look. This is also useful for restoring photos which have become yellowed with age to their original colors.

Open Paint Shop Pro, then open any image (that you own, have permission to use, or is in the public domain) that has a color cast you want to remove. You may want to save a copy of the image and then close the original to avoid saving inadvertent changes to the first image.

The quick and easy fix for a color cast photo is to use Automatic Color Balance. Click on Adjust, and then click on Automatic Color Balance. In this menu you will find different options for correcting the color in your image. Place a check in the Remove color cast box, and adjust the Strength to achieve your desired result. Notice the Illuminant temperature at the bottom of the menu, and move the slider left or right depending on the lighting conditions when the picture was taken. If you don't remember, just make adjustments toward warmer or cooler until you are satisfied with the resulting image in the preview and then click OK.

You can leave the altered picture as is and save it, or use the Manual Color Correction option to adjust the color balance further. Click on Adjust, go to Color Balance, and then click on Manual Color Correction. In this menu you can choose Preset target color and then select options such as hair colors, skin tones, grasses, or metals. Alternately, you can choose Manual target color and then adjust the Hue, Saturation, and Lightness to your satisfaction. When you are finished, click OK.

Save your corrected image with a different name from the original if you did not save a copy at the beginning, and you're done.

So don't toss a picture away just because the colors are off from bad lighting or old age. These steps are compatible with Paint Shop Pro versions 8 and up, though in some cases the interface may have changed between versions. Tools and commands may be in different locations, and some may need to be added back through customization in order to be accessible.