The short answer
Why use Color Temperature?
Indoor bulbs make photos yellow and shade makes them blue. Fixing that with separate channel tools takes trial and error; one warm-to-cool slider is faster.
The slider adds the same number of levels to red and takes it from blue. At 50 nothing changes. At 75 red gains 25 levels and blue loses 25, and at 100 the shift is 50 each way. Below 50 the photo cools: blue goes up and red goes down. Green is left alone.
The shift is added, not scaled, so it lands on the shadows as strongly as on the midtones. Pure black picks up a red or blue tint at strong settings, and white areas that are already at full red cannot get redder, only less blue. For most photos a value between 35 and 65 is enough.
Tint mixes any color you pick into the photo, not only warm or cool. Color Grading warms the highlights and cools the shadows separately, a stylized look rather than a fix. Adjust Channels changes one channel by a factor rather than a fixed amount, which suits casts that are stronger in the bright areas of a photo.
Where Color Temperature fits
Yellow indoor light
Cool down a photo taken under warm bulbs.
Blue shade
Warm up a portrait shot in open shade on a sunny day.
Cozy mood
Push a winter scene a little warmer for a cozy post.
Start to finish
How to use Color Temperature
- 01Tap Choose image and pick the photo with the color cast.
- 02Move Amount above 50 to warm it or below 50 to cool it; 50 is unchanged.
- 03Tap Apply changes, look at white walls or paper to judge the balance, then tap Download result.
What to expect from Color Temperature
| Check | What it means here |
|---|---|
| Supported input | JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP, SVG and browser-supported AVIF images |
| Main controls | Amount, where 50 leaves the image unchanged |
| Output | A PNG image with the adjustment applied |
| Working limit | 50 MB and 50 megapixels per image |
Color Temperature tips
- Use something white in the photo as your reference.
- At 100, red rises and blue drops by 50 levels each.
- Green is never changed, so a green cast needs Adjust Channels.
- Values between 35 and 65 fix most indoor and shade photos.
Color Temperature FAQ
Something missing? Ask us.
Is the slider in Kelvin?
Can it fix a green or magenta cast?
Does Color Temperature upload my file?
Is Color Temperature free to use?
Why did Color Temperature fail or look wrong?
Related tools
More in Color & Adjustments.