Elements for Digital Photographers - Photoshop Elements 13: The Missing Manual - page 425

grees Kelvin (the official unit of measurement for color temperature) instead. Use this
slider and the Tint slider (described next) together for a perfect white balance.
▪ Tint . This slider controls the green/magenta balance of the photo, pretty much the way it
does in Quick Fix. Move it left to increase the amount of green in the photo, or right for
more magenta.
▪ White Balance tool . The eyedropper icon up in the Converter window's toolbox is actu-
ally the White Balance tool (keyboard shortcut: I). Activate it, and then click any white
or light-gray spot in your photo, and Elements calculates the white balance based on
those pixels. This is the most accurate method in this list, but you may have a hard time
finding neutral pixels to click with it. If you choose a blown-out area, Elements will warn
you to pick another spot with more information in it.
If you're a good photographer, then much of the time a good white balance and a little
sharpening may be all your photo needs before it's ready to go out into the world.
Adjusting Tone
The next group of sliders in the Raw Converter's Basic tab—Exposure through
Blacks—helps you improve an image's exposure and lighting (also known as tone) . If you
want the Converter to make decisions for you, click the word “Auto” above these sliders, and
the program selects what it thinks are the best positions for each of the six sliders. If you
don't click anything, then the Converter starts you off with the Default settings. Here's the
difference between Auto and Default:
▪ Auto . The Converter automatically adjusts the photo by using the same software-
powered guesswork behind the other Auto buttons throughout Elements. If you always
want the Converter to apply auto adjustments, see Figure 8-4 .
▪ Default . The Raw Converter has a database of basic tone settings for each camera model.
If you choose Default, then you see the baseline settings for your camera, and it's up to
you to make further adjustments to the photo. If you want, you can set your own defaults
(where the sliders are when your photo opens), too, as explained on Saving Your Set-
tings . So if you don't like what you got with Auto, for example, then just click the word
“Default” to switch the photo back to how it was when you opened it.