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How do you make whites really white?

haring

Member
How do yo make whites really white? I am not talking about getting the correct white balance!

I am not happy with the way whites in most digital images look. Film photos have beautiful whites most of the time but digital images often have blueish, yellowish overcasts...sometimes grey.

What is your approach to achieve the perfect silky whites. I sometimes use Hue/Saturation layer, sometimes selective color adjustment layers...

What do you do to get clean whites?
 

pfigen

Member
Film has smoother transitions into specular highlights than digital, but neither is inherently better at making neutral white whites than the other.

You simply have to monitor the RGB pixel values and set them accordingly. Open a Curves Adjustment Layer, and while you're in the dialog box, go ahead and set color sampling points in the areas you're interested in tracking. Use the Curves individual channel controls to set black point, white point and neutrals to suit. It's really fast and easy and it works - every time. Do remember that if you want whites with detail, you'll want them in the 235-245 range, which specular highlights can blow all the way out to 255 in all three channels.
 

dougpeterson

Workshop Member
Haring, are you still struggling to get good colors using Photoshop/Lightroom?

Or have you switched yet to Capture One as I suggested to you two years ago?

The Color Editor (assuming you learn to use Capture One it correctly) can do miracles with handling near whites in whatever way you want them to be rendered.
 

Shashin

Well-known member
Do you usually change the contrast of your images in post by using levels and curves? If so, you are most likely adding the color into your whites. Contrast and saturation are related. There are several ways to control this. Among the ideas above, you can also use the Lab color space to lower saturation without touching the luminance data. Simply flatten out the a and b curves. If you keep the curve intersecting the center, you will not introduce a color cast.
 

haring

Member
Haring, are you still struggling to get good colors using Photoshop/Lightroom?

Or have you switched yet to Capture One as I suggested to you two years ago?

The Color Editor (assuming you learn to use Capture One it correctly) can do miracles with handling near whites in whatever way you want them to be rendered.
Doug, you are awesome!!! Did you move out of Miami?
 

haring

Member
Do you usually change the contrast of your images in post by using levels and curves? If so, you are most likely adding the color into your whites. Contrast and saturation are related. There are several ways to control this. Among the ideas above, you can also use the Lab color space to lower saturation without touching the luminance data. Simply flatten out the a and b curves. If you keep the curve intersecting the center, you will not introduce a color cast.
WWoWWW! Let me try this right now. Is there an online tutorial on this?
 

Chris C

Member
This might be a route :

Photoshop : Selective Colour [called up as a Layer] : choose Whites :

Play with reducing the Black in the Whites by a small amount; -1 or -2 can
produce significant effects. Use Layer Mask and Layer visibility for controlled effect. Hope this helps.

............. Chris
 
O

organicfood

Guest
Film has smoother transitions into specular highlights than digital, but neither is inherently better at making neutral white whites than the other.

You simply have to monitor the RGB pixel values and set them accordingly. Open a Curves Adjustment Layer, and while you're in the dialog box, go ahead and set color sampling points in the areas you're interested in tracking. Use the Curves individual channel controls to set black point, white point and neutrals to suit. It's really fast and easy and it works - every time. Do remember that if you want whites with detail, you'll want them in the 235-245 range, which specular highlights can blow all the way out to 255 in all three channels.
iam agree,good tips.:bugeyes:
 
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