The difference in white

[Sarosa]

Strange questions, I know, but shouldn't white always be white (cold white)? Why is in some images the white warm? Is it because of its relationship to black? I have attached two images as samples. A very bright high-key image has cold whites, while another image has warm whites. I edit in Photoshop with Nik Silver Efex, but I always make sure that on top of all layers, I put a black and white adjustment layer and put all colour values to 0.
Thank you for your feedback.
R.F.

 

[Glenn]

I don't perceive one as warmer than the other although I note that the brightest whites are different between the two images. The first image's brightest white is 94% whilst the second's is about 99%. Perhaps this accounts for the difference.

Here they are with both whites set to 100% using the levels control in Affinity Photo. Do you still see a difference in the warmness of the white?

Nice pics BTW.

 

[Sarosa]

I don't perceive one as warmer than the other although I note that the brightest whites are different between the two images. The first image's brightest white is 94% whilst the second's is about 99%. Perhaps this accounts for the difference.

Here they are with both whites set to 100% using the levels control in Affinity Photo. Do you still see a difference in the warmness of the white?

Nice pics BTW.

View attachment 18963View attachment 18964

Thank you Glenn! I believe this made a difference to picture 2. How do I set the white to 100% in Photoshop without Affinity? Thank you!

 

[Glenn]

I am not a photoshop user but the level control acts in a similar way in both programmes (Affinity was modelled on Photoshop).

Basically, you need to have the levels adjustment on screen and be able to see the histogram. Notice the gap between the white level and the whitest white highlighted with red:



Adjust the levels control to minimise the gap:



YouTube tutorial specific to Photoshop here:

 

[ian barber]

Hold down the Alt key and bring in the white untill you see the first pixel clip, do the same with the blacks.

Also, I would suggest saving the image with an sRGB profile for the web not the Display3 profile you used on both the above images

 

[Joanna Carter]

Why is in some images the white warm? Is it because of its relationship to black? I have attached two images as samples

I used the colorimeter in macOS and can't see any difference. Both are showing neutral tones of black and white.

 

[Chris J. Zähller]

If anything, I perceive the 1st image as warmer & the 2nd as cooler. But I'm fairly sure that's an optical illusion.

 

[Joanna Carter]

If anything, I perceive the 1st image as warmer & the 2nd as cooler. But I'm fairly sure that's an optical illusion.

It has to be an illusion. See the colorimeter readings are identical for R G & B.

 

[Glenn]

It has to be an illusion. See the colorimeter readings are identical for R G & B.

I agree. The affinity histogram confirms it because the R,G and B components are displayed separately. Only the blue channel can be seen meaning the other two lie immediately behind it. The image is therefore a neutral monochrome throughout.

 

[Sarosa]

Hold down the Alt key and bring in the white untill you see the first pixel clip, do the same with the blacks.

Also, I would suggest saving the image with an sRGB profile for the web not the Display3 profile you used on both the above images

Thank you for the information and thank you so much for pointing out my profile error. I didn't know! I thought it was sRGB!!!

 

[Sarosa]

If anything, I perceive the 1st image as warmer & the 2nd as cooler. But I'm fairly sure that's an optical illusion.

I was considering that, thank you for your opinion!