ACR Auto White Balance Action makes the same change every time

[George_F]

Greetings!

I'm fairly sure I've run into some unexpected behavior with an action using ACR Auto White Balance.

Photoshop version 25.3.1 + 25.4.0 and Windows 10

I recorded an action that turned a layer into a smart object and applied an ACR filter that set the white balance to auto.
Step 1: Turn Layer into a Smart Object

Step 2: Open an ACR Filter, and set the white balance to auto.

Expected Results: Auto white balance set to an ACR filter

Actual Results: Although it appears that Auto White Balance is selected, the same white balance change is made that was recorded with the action.  So "+25 Magenta" was recorded with the action, and "+25 Magenta" is applied to every image.  When the filter is reset and auto white balance is pressed manually, the actual auto white balance is applied that is a different result than the action.

Cheers!

[Stephen Marsh]

This is expected, actions record absolute values.

It would take a script.

[George_F]

Thanks!  I appreciate you looking into this.

[Stephen Marsh]

Try this!

/*
CRF - Camera Raw Filter Auto White Balance.jsx
v1.0 - 8th February 2024, Stephen Marsh
https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-bugs/acr-auto-white-balance-action-makes-the-same-change-every-time/idc-p/14409202
*/

#target photoshop

var actDesc = new ActionDescriptor();
var idWBal = charIDToTypeID( "WBal" );
var idauto = stringIDToTypeID( "auto" );
actDesc.putEnumerated( idWBal, idWBal, idauto );
executeAction( stringIDToTypeID("Adobe Camera Raw Filter"), actDesc, DialogModes.NO );

You can change:

DialogModes.NO

To:

DialogModes.ALL

If you would like this to be interactive.

https://prepression.blogspot.com/2017/11/downloading-and-installing-adobe-scripts.html

[George_F]

This worked like a charm!  Thank you for this.

[Stephen Marsh]

This worked like a charm!  Thank you for this.

You're welcome George!