How do I apply automatic white balance in Premiere Pro?

March 10, 2026 · caitlin

Applying automatic white balance in Premiere Pro is a straightforward process that can significantly improve the color consistency of your video footage. This feature helps correct unwanted color casts, ensuring that whites appear white and colors look natural under various lighting conditions.

Understanding Automatic White Balance in Premiere Pro

Automatic White Balance (AWB) is a tool designed to analyze your video footage and automatically adjust the white balance settings. This means it tries to identify the brightest white or neutral gray in a scene and uses that as a reference point. By doing so, it can neutralize any color tints introduced by the lighting.

Why is White Balance Important for Video Editing?

Proper white balance is crucial for professional-looking video. Inconsistent white balance makes footage appear amateurish and can be distracting for viewers. Different light sources, like incandescent bulbs, fluorescent lights, or daylight, emit different color temperatures.

Incandescent bulbs often cast a warm, orange hue.
Fluorescent lights can produce a greenish tint.
Daylight can vary from cool blue to warm yellow depending on the time of day and weather.

AWB in Premiere Pro aims to solve these issues with minimal user input. It’s a great starting point for color correction, especially when dealing with footage shot under mixed lighting.

How to Apply Automatic White Balance in Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro offers a few ways to achieve automatic white balance, primarily through its Lumetri Color panel. The most direct method involves using the eyedropper tool, but there are also automated options.

Method 1: Using the Lumetri Color Panel Eyedropper Tool

This is the most common and often the most effective method for applying a manual "automatic" white balance. You manually tell Premiere Pro what should be white.

Select your clip: In your Premiere Pro timeline, click on the video clip you want to adjust.
Open the Lumetri Color panel: Go to Window > Lumetri Color.
Navigate to the "Basic Correction" tab: This is usually the default tab when you open Lumetri.
Locate the White Balance eyedropper: You’ll see three eyedropper icons: one for white, one for black, and one for gray. The white eyedropper is what you’ll use.
Find a neutral area in your footage: Look for a part of your video that should be pure white or a neutral gray. This could be a white shirt, a white wall, a gray card, or even a highlight on a metallic surface. Avoid areas that are already colored or in shadow.
Click the white eyedropper: With the eyedropper tool selected, click on the neutral area in your Program Monitor. Premiere Pro will then adjust the white balance of the clip based on your selection.

Pro Tip: If you don’t have a perfect white or gray area, look for something that is closest to neutral. Sometimes a bright highlight on a white object can work.

Method 2: Using the "Auto" Button in Lumetri Color

Premiere Pro also has a general "Auto" button in the Lumetri Color panel. While it attempts to automate several color adjustments, including white balance, it’s often less precise than the eyedropper method.

Select your clip in the timeline.
Open the Lumetri Color panel (Window > Lumetri Color).
Click the "Auto" button located at the top of the panel.

This button analyzes the entire clip and makes automatic adjustments to exposure, contrast, and white balance. It can be a good starting point, but you’ll likely need to fine-tune the results, especially for white balance.

Method 3: Using the "Auto Color" Option (Legacy)

Older versions of Premiere Pro had a more prominent "Auto Color" option. While still accessible, the Lumetri Color panel is now the preferred method for color grading.

Select your clip in the timeline.
Go to Clip > Auto Color.

This feature attempts to automatically correct color and tone. However, it can sometimes be too aggressive or produce undesirable results compared to manual adjustments in Lumetri.

When Automatic White Balance Might Not Be Enough

While AWB is a powerful tool, it’s not always a perfect solution. There are situations where you’ll need to make manual adjustments.

No neutral reference: If your footage lacks any clear white or neutral gray areas, the eyedropper tool won’t have a reliable point to reference.
Mixed lighting: If your scene is lit by multiple light sources with very different color temperatures, AWB might struggle to find a balance.
Creative intent: Sometimes, you might want a specific color cast for artistic reasons. In these cases, overriding AWB is necessary.
Incorrect analysis: The automatic tools can sometimes misinterpret a colored object as white, leading to an incorrect white balance.

In these scenarios, you’ll want to manually adjust the Temperature and Tint sliders within the Lumetri Color panel’s "Basic Correction" tab.

Temperature: Slide left for cooler (bluer) tones, right for warmer (yellower) tones.
Tint: Slide left for greener tones, right for magenta tones.

Practical Examples and Tips

Let’s say you shot an interview indoors under warm incandescent lights. Your footage has a strong orange cast.

You’d select the interview clip in Premiere Pro.
Open Lumetri Color.
In the "Basic Correction" tab, you’d look for a white piece of clothing the interviewee is wearing, like a shirt or a collar.
You’d select the white eyedropper and click on that white shirt.
Premiere Pro would then neutralize the orange cast, making the shirt appear white and the overall scene’s colors more natural.

If you don’t have a white shirt, you might look for a white piece of paper on a desk or even a white wall in the background. The key is to find the most neutral surface available.

Statistics on Color Correction Impact

Studies have shown that viewers perceive videos with proper color correction as more professional and engaging. While specific statistics for AWB are hard to isolate, general color grading improvements can lead to:

Increased viewer retention.
Higher perceived quality of production.
Better brand image for businesses.

This highlights the importance of even basic color adjustments like white balance.