NEW! WhiBal Plug-In for JPEG shooters

[Michael Tapes - (MichaelT)]

With the introduction of the new WhiBal Generation 6, we have designed a better JPEG solution than our previous dark gray calibrated card. The G6 WhiBal offers a 1-card solution making WhiBal even lighter and more convenient than before. JPEG shooter follow the same guidelines as RAW shooters by taking a WB reference shot in the same light as their subject of interest. However the same calibrated light gray card that is used for RAW is now used for JPEG as well.

The magic behind this was created by Jan Easman author of the very highly regarded series of Photoshop Plug-Ins known as Power Retouche (www.powerretouche.com). What we have come up with is a WhiBal specific Plug-in that uses all 3 calibrated WhiBal patches (from any series WhiBal card G4 and beyond, not just the new G6. In other words, any WhiBal with the TrueBlack™ sticker). By using the eye-droppers in the plug-in, you simply click on the White, Black and RAW (Light) gray cards and your image will be properly White Balanced optionally compensated if improperly exposed. This is possible because the Plug-In "knows" the calibrated values of the WhiBal cards and patches. Also the TrueBlack™ patch allows the plug-in to know the real Black Point of the image. More details to come....

This is a screen shot of the Plug-In showing the optional split frame compare preview of the before and after correction. Note that the JPEG was underexposed by almost 2 stops and shot under heavy tungsten light with a Canon EOS 5D at ISO 800 set to Auto WB.


Yes, the skin is a little pale, but this is a heavily underexposed JPEG my friends, that has been rescued quite well by WhiBal and the WhiBal Plug-In. The RAW of this shot looks quite good after WB and exposure correction as you would imagine.

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Note to Lightroom and Photoshop CS3 users:
There is no need to use this JPEG plug-in when adjusting JPEGs in PS CS3 or Lightroom. Sonce both of those applications allow JPEG files to be adjusted using their "raw" workflow controls, you can treat the JPEGs just as Raw files, and make the White Balance Adjustment using the White balance tool in either Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw (part of PS CS3). If the JPEG files do not show up in the Camera Raw plug-in when you open them in PS, you must set the PS CS3 preferences (File Handling) so JPEG files open within Camera Raw. Then proceed to adjust White Balance just the same as shown for Raw files. Of course since this is a JPEG, the adjustment will not be as accurate as the Raw file would have been, and it is critical to set the camera White Balance setting as close to the actual lighting as possible, just the same as if you were using the WhiBal Plug-in. You should NOT shoot in Auto White Balance mode since then you will not be able to apply the White balance setting from the WhiBal reference shot to the real pictures.
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Downloads: (updated Jul 7, 2008)

Click here for Windows Version(9.3MB .exe installer file)

Click here for Mac Version (37.3MB .dmg file)

for the WhiBal Plug-In along with a set of Photo Retouche demo versions which will also be installed along with the WhiBal Plug-In. Check them out. Highly recommended!
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Click here for a list of the host image editors that are compatible with the WhiBal Plug-In.

Click here (4.8MB zip file) for the Power Retouche Plug-In Tutorials. The WhiBal Plug-In is closest to being a subset of the full White Balance Plug-In that also supports WhiBal.

Enjoy.