What is color temperature in a photo?

Color temperature is how warm or cool the light in a photo looks. Indoor lamps make pictures orange, shade and overcast skies make them blue, and a camera's white balance guesses which correction to apply. When it guesses wrong, white walls turn yellow or skin looks gray. Tint is the second axis of white balance: it fixes the green cast of fluorescent tubes or the magenta cast some LED lights and screens leave behind.

Tool description

Open a photo and move the Temperature slider: to the right makes it warmer and more golden, to the left cooler and bluer. Tint moves the colors toward magenta, or toward green below zero. The preview updates as you drag, and the compare button in the status bar shows the original and the edited photo side by side with a slider between them. Zoom in to check details, then download the full size result as JPG, PNG, or WebP.

Features

  • Temperature and tint sliders, like the white balance controls of photo editors
  • Live preview with a before and after comparison
  • Full resolution download, processed in your browser without uploading the photo

How it works

The tool changes white balance the way a camera does: it scales the red, green, and blue light in the photo, measured in linear light instead of the screen's gamma encoded values. Warming boosts red and lowers blue, tint lowers or raises green, and the gains are balanced so a neutral gray keeps its brightness. That keeps the edit looking natural instead of just laying an orange or blue filter over the picture.

Tips

  • Fix the cast first: find something that should be white or gray, like paper, a wall, or clouds, and move the sliders until it looks neutral.
  • A small warm shift of 10 to 20 makes portraits and sunsets feel friendlier. Cooling works well for snow, night scenes, and a moody look.
  • Photos taken under fluorescent light usually need a little positive tint to remove the green.