Improving Digital Photographs in Adobe Photoshop

A common problem with digital photography is achieving the correct white balance. Although digital cameras have been advancing for years, the issue of getting the correct white balance remains to be a problem on even the newest of cameras. The white balance of a picture is the color in which white objects appear. One assumes that a camera would record the correct colors of a photograph, but according to Jay Dickman, (a freelance photographer and Pulitzer Prize winner) there are wide variety of factors that could easily make a picture to go awry. Although Dickman has a long list of possible things that could cause a camera to record the wrong colors, the most common reason for why a photos turns out horrible is because of bad (or inadequate) lighting.⁽¹⁾

Before trying to fix your photo's colors and white balance, you will need to make sure that you are running the correct software on your computer - most of which is usually already installed on most modern computers, or can be bought at any local computer store. First, check your computer to ensure that you are running either Windows XP or Mac OS X. One of the simplest ways to figure this out is by rebooting your computer and looking at the name that appears on the screen as it boots up. Once you have ensured that you are running on one of these two platforms, you will need to check your computer to see whether you already have Adobe Photoshop installed or not.

On Windows XP, you can find out what programs you have installed by looking in your start menu. On Mac OS X you can check your installed applications by simply clicking on the "Macintosh HD" icon on your desktop, and opening up the "Applications" folder. If you do not see an icon for Adobe Photoshop, then you know that it is not installed on your computer, and that you will need to buy it (or a similar software) before you can do any major photo editing. However, If you do see an icon for Adobe Photoshop, then you know that you have the correct software installed and can get ready to start editing photos immediately.

First, you will have to open the picture that you wish to edit in Adobe Photoshop. This can be done in Photoshop by clicking the "File" menu and hitting the "Open" button. After clicking "Open," find the picture you wish to edit and double click on it. Second, once the picture has loaded try to fix the picture's white balance the easy way by clicking on the "Image" menu and hovering over the "Adjustments" button. When you hover over the "Adjustments" button, you may be overwhelmed with the amount of choices you have to pick from; however, only two of the items in that menu will truly help you in adjusting the white balance of your photo. Third, click on the "Auto Color" option to let Photoshop determine the correct colors for your photo. Fourthly, look at your photo, if after using the "Auto Color" option, your photograph's colors still seem to be off and white objects still appear to have a reddish or yellowish tint, then it may be necessary for you to fix the photo manually. This can be done by repeating the second step, and clicking the "Color Balance" option instead of the "Auto Color" option (as done in the third step). Fifth, play around with the controls in the "Color Balance" window, and watch how it affects the colors of your photo. Once you are satisfied, click the "OK" button to close the "Color Balance" window, and save the picture by clicking "File" menu, and choosing the "Save" option.

In the process, you may want to play around with all of the different options in the "Adjustments" menu. Although you could cause major damage to your photo if you do not know what you are doing, keep in mind that there is always the "Undo" option, located under the "Edit" menu. There is always room for improvement on all photographs, so take your time and do not get frustrated if you cannot get the photo to look the way you want it to. Remember that even professionals struggle sometimes.

1. Dickman, Jay. PC Magazine 27 2006 June: 73-73. Iowa AEA Online. 30 Oct. 2006