# Basic Q on getting whites white  (Basic Q)



## sargan (Mar 22, 2015)

I often take pictures where I need to get part of the picture 'white'
On photoshop ... I could use eyedropper and set white and same to set black.

How can I achieve his with Lightroom .... for example today had to photograph several engineering parts ... against a white (sheets of paper) background

Want to end up with pictures being able to be matched up ... what I end up with is 'different' color whites, ranging from a grey tint to cream.

Is there a simple way to set white repeatable point ?

I am familkar with option of 
#hold shift key and double click on white or black slider.
or 
# click on Auto 
also used to setting Highlights & Shadows by hlding Alt when moving slider

None though seem to get to the equivalent of using Photoshop eyedropper where you pick a piece of picture and tell it that is 'white'


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## Victoria Bampton (Mar 22, 2015)

If they're different color whites, you need to use the white balance eyedropper to fix the white balance.  Then you can adjust the brightness of the white.


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## Modesto Vega (Mar 22, 2015)

If you know the background is "white", have you tried using the White Balance Selector on the develop module (looks like the eye drop tool) and select the background (as Victoria suggests). This should adjust the white balance.

What type of light are using to to take the photos? A blank sheet of paper shot under tungsten light can look "yellowish" rather than white.


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## sargan (Mar 22, 2015)

The eyedropper in LR  is not for Whites though ? ... al the tutorials etc. talk about it being for midtones ... and you select a grey not white. ?

Lighting used depends on situation today it was under a daylight bulb -whites are a light grey colour.
I also took some with flash ... still same sort of issues.


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## Victoria Bampton (Mar 22, 2015)

No, it's called white balance for a reason. You don't want blown out whites, but a very light grey is ideal. Your white paper should do fine.


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## sargan (Mar 22, 2015)

OK .. just tried it on 3 pictures taken today .... using eyedropper & clicking on white sheet has little or no difference .. (is of course a raw image)
Maybe I am just unlucky with the pictures.
Just that whenever I used PS .. you clicked eyedropper on white and it worked.
Pity there wasn't an option to set eydropper to set white point rather than grey


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## Modesto Vega (Mar 22, 2015)

It is all going to depend on what light did you shoot the photographs under. This is why I mentioned white paper and tungsten light. I would not use the same technique with snow and natural light, it would not work the same way. The key is on what light you are using for your shots.

One thing to remember is that white in photography is not normally RGB 255, 255, 255; it is somewhere between that an mid-grey.

P.S.: If you want to this properly, you need a neutral grey card and start all your sessions with a photograph of the neutral grey card. But a similar result can be achieved without a neutral grey card.


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## Tony Jay (Mar 22, 2015)

sargan said:


> OK .. just tried it on 3 pictures taken today .... using eyedropper & clicking on white sheet has little or no difference .. (is of course a raw image)
> Maybe I am just unlucky with the pictures.
> Just that whenever I used PS .. you clicked eyedropper on white and it worked.
> Pity there wasn't an option to set eydropper to set white point rather than grey


Just to emphasize:
There is a big difference between white balance and how "white" or bright a particular tone is.

The white balance eye-dropper tool is there to neutralize a colour cast - it has no role in changing overall tone.

The white slider in the basic panel in the Develop module is the tool to adjust just how light or "white" the lightest tones in the image are.
How one adjusts the white point is a matter of aesthetics - for most of what I shoot I want detail in the highlights so the white point is set a bit shy of the clipping point and then the highlights slider is often pulled far to the left to accentuate tonal separation in the highlights. This is a very useful technique for getting lots of detail in well lit clouds for example. 
However, for certain aesthetic purposes pushing the whites past the clipping point to get a totally blown sky may be exactly the effect that is sought.

Tony Jay


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