Showing true colors of glass

Howaco · #1 2008-10-01, 6:17am

Please help. I am SO challenged when it comes to showing accurate glass colors. I have Jasc Paint Shop Pro to edit pictures. I have two questions

1. How do I set the "white" in Paint Shop Pro. I want to be able to tell the program that "this" is white. I can't figure it out.

2. Below are two pictures of the same glass. The first picture was taken in my kitchen, which has florescent lighting. The 2nd picture was taken in my livingroom with regular light bulbs. The problem?? That IS the way the glass looks in each respective room, so which picture do I use as being accurate for color? They are both right depending on what room the glass is in.

Help!!!

Kitchen picture

Living Room picture

themoch · #2 2008-10-01, 8:07am

it appears that you need the newest version of paint shop pro in order to do it, and even then i can't find any tutorials. the older versions require a plug-in download from what i can tell.

get yourself a free photo editor similar to photoshop at www.gimp.org

then to white balance you can go Colors > Auto > white balance

or go Colors > Levels > then select the "white" dropper and pick your white point.

http://docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-layer-white-balance.html

Mike Jordan · #3 2008-10-01, 7:11pm

Auto white balance won't always work and in fact can make it worse in some cases. The reason is that auto white balance needs something neutral to base it's guess-ta-mate of how to adjust the image. And it will go with the largest section of color, which might be the orange of the rods rather than the white of the background. And if it does pick the white, your white might not be a neutral white but have color casts in it from the glass color or room color or colors off the wall or the color temps of your light. That's why auto color, auto brightness, auto contrast don't always do a good job. And if you image is under exposed or over exposed, it makes it even harder for the software to figure out the correct adjustment.

The best way to insure you get a true color is to use a color neutral white or gray card in you image. A neutral color card is one where all 3 numbers of the RGB numbers are the same. I use several different ones, depending on what I'm shooting, but the one that is handy that I use is a little thing called a Whi-Bal card. It has neutral gray, white and black colors on it. Although any one of the colors will let you set color balance, having all three lets you set highlights, mid tones and shadows. Here's what it looks like:

A lot of the time, auto white balance in the camera and auto color in the software will get you close as long as they have something to reference against. But if you want to get true color or at least get as close as you can, it helps to use a neutral color card. White paper by itself has a lot of bleach, brighteners and other things to make it very white and bright. These don't always look the same to a camera as they do to our eyes. If you can use a neutral color checker to compare different white or gray cloths, paper or objects, you can also find other things that can be used as your color balance choice. Even if they are off, if you know by how much, you can adjust the picture back in.

Mike

rguttierrez · #4 2008-10-01, 7:39pm

This tutorial is pretty good. http://www.beadsbybabe.com/photoedit1.htm

PaulaD · #5 2008-10-02, 8:38am

Hey JameyLynn,
I amusing some photographic flourescent daylight bulbs that I bought on ebay and they have solved most of my color problems. Set your white balance to daylight and you are good to go...

Paula

azhoms · #6 2008-10-03, 4:59pm

Hope you get your answer.

what a pretty color. What color is it?

thanks. Carl

parisgal · #7 2008-10-03, 5:23pm

I'd strongly suggest the white / neutral grey card that Mike mentioned. I think you can get them at any camera store, but definitely one that sells more expensive toys. And you only need one, and it can be paper and last for years.

Anyway, having the card makes getting white balance a one click deal in Photoshop, and I'd guess most other programs, but since I haven't worked with PaintShop, I don't know the menus.

parisgal · #8 2008-10-03, 5:26pm

But try doing a search for "white balance" in the help menu.

Howaco · #9 2008-10-03, 7:34pm

Ok, I'm ready for the weekend to try all this info out! I bought the new lightbulbs today and I received some great tips on using the camera I have. Now lets hope I can get some good photos this weekend! Yay! grrr, trying to cheer myself on!

The glass is a effetre coral that came through. I can't call it odd, because coral comes through different all the time, but this is the first time I have seen this shade. It is a beautiful grouping of fall colors. Different shades of pumpkin and burnt orange colors. It is like looking at a tree that is changing colors in the fall. Very nice, but I really can't put it up for sale on my site unless I can actually show its colors! That is my goal for the weekend!

DPete1104 · #10 2008-10-03, 9:34pm

Artificial lighting is very difficult sometimes....but when you can't afford to buy special lighting, you have to make do with what you can get. I really want to get a good photography setup but until I can, I either use a milk bottle diffuser or shoot outside...

Fluorescent light (the regular bulbs) gives off a blue light. Once I tried to use a fluorescent light source on my easel and I ended up with the *strangest* colored pencil drawings of my life...they looked great until I turned off the light...

Incandescent bulbs give a yellow cast to the light...I choose to paint by incandescent light because that's the light the finished work will be seen by.

Probably the best light to photograph color by is natural light, I shoot my paintings outside and I put my easel so that the sunlight is hitting it from over my shoulder so my shadow doesn't become an issue. Use a sheet of white paper as a reference. If you have a white cube to diffuse the light then you should be good to go

Denise

parisgal · #11 2008-10-03, 10:09pm

All light has a "color", or almost all light. It's rated by degrees and I think 5500 degrees is considered "white". Natural light is still slightly yellow, unless you shoot at sunrise or sunset, when it gets redder (which is why it is such a desirable light for photographers). That's the advantage of having a card - it creates a point in the photo that you *know* is white or a perfectly neutral grey (and can then point to on the computer), so the computer can then adapt the image so that part shows as neutral, which adjusts the colors of the whole image.

If you don't have a card for tomorrow, you could try using a bit of very white computer paper as a replacement, in the corner of your images. Won't be quite the same, but it will get you closer.

NLC Beads · #12 2008-10-04, 4:50pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by JameyLynn

Ok, I'm ready for the weekend to try all this info out! I bought the new lightbulbs today and I received some great tips on using the camera I have. Now lets hope I can get some good photos this weekend! Yay! grrr, trying to cheer myself on!

The glass is a effetre coral that came through. I can't call it odd, because coral comes through different all the time, but this is the first time I have seen this shade. It is a beautiful grouping of fall colors. Different shades of pumpkin and burnt orange colors. It is like looking at a tree that is changing colors in the fall. Very nice, but I really can't put it up for sale on my site unless I can actually show its colors! That is my goal for the weekend!

*groan* A new coral... want... I think I'd show both pics, personally, and describe lighting conditions.