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S
sockit
Inspiring
March 3, 2021
Question

White Clipping

  • March 3, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 1131 views

I would like to apologise for my question yesterday on this subject.  I now realise that the red tone exists only in the develop mode and is not present in the library mode.  It is obviously very useful for showing when the brightest parts of the image are reaching their maximum and enables the balancing of exposure and lightening of the darker areas. I had not noticed that the signal vanishes in the library copy.

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3 replies

Todd Shaner
Todd Shaner
Legend
March 5, 2021

This tutorial on using how to use the LR Basic panel Tone Controls should be helpful.

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/tone-control-adjustment.html

 

What you see in the Histogram is the raw data with a camera profile applied. To determine if a raw image file has actual clipped highlight or shadow pixels you'll need to use an app that can read and measure the raw image data such as RawDigger.

 

https://www.rawdigger.com/

 

S
sockitAuthor
Inspiring
March 5, 2021

I see that the histogram has a lot of additional functions built in.Thanks for pointing them out.  The whole discussion has been really valuable and it has given me a great overview of what I need to do. It is really amazing what can be done.

Thank you every one.

gary_sc
Community Expert
gary_scCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 5, 2021

Wobert, that was my point. 

R
Community Expert
richardplondonCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 5, 2021

Another way to put it: these warnings are about losing differentiation.

 

There are three numbers where this can happen - the red, the green or the blue values of the pixels; though in understanding this one can take one of those numbers as an example.

 

Consider two Raw derived starting values A and B, where B is higher than A but both are low values. If the image's current processing means that B presents at or very close to full black (0), then A definitely gets full black also. So no differentiation can be seen (with this processing) between them: black-clip warnings show for all areas of the image whose starting Raw values are at or around a B value, or lower. A and B still are genuinely different in the original, but this particular processing acts to effectively "smush" that difference away. 

 

And it works similarly for white clipping.

S
sockitAuthor
Inspiring
March 5, 2021

Richard Thanks for the example. It is very helpful

 

gary_sc
Community Expert
gary_scCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 3, 2021

Hi Sockit,

 

I'll make it even easier for you: on your histogram you may or may not have noticed two little trangles in the upper corners. 

The one on the right (red circle) will turn on or off any blown out over exposed regions and will show up red.

 

The one on the left (blue square) will turn on or off any underexposed regions in your image and will show up blue.

 

By using these, you can easily see regions in your images you need to be concerned about. IF you take raw imagse, you can probably recover and lost data by turning down the Highlight slider or sliding up the Shadow slider in addtion to changing the overall exposure. There are many other options for both controlling and enhancing the over or under saturated parts of your image but this will get you started.

 

But no, you do not have to "accept" seeing red or blue on your image while in the Develop mode.

 

 

    S
    sockitAuthor
    Inspiring
    March 3, 2021

    Gary.   That is fascinating and very helpful. I have now started taking Raw images as they are so much better than JPEG's   I have been balancing the highlight and shadow sliders with the exposure to get the best balanced picture, and find that the high clipping signal is very useful. I have never seen the blue signal but will try to turn it on to try it out.

    Thanks for your kind help

    Terence

    S
    sockitAuthor
    Inspiring
    March 4, 2021

    Gary  So far I have been unable to examine the undersaturated situation;   I had thought you meant something less black than could be displayed but then realised that you can't have less then no light in the visual world. So I don;t understand what undersaturated means.  Is it just a washed out image?  How does lightroom identify an undersaturated image?  How do you use this  when editing?

    Thanks

    Terence

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