Adjust>Color>Red,Green,Blue

[deluxe]

Hello All. I am new to the board but a longtime user of PSP with intermediate abilities, mostly cropping, fiddling with contrast, and so forth. I'm determined to further my skills and so I have begun to explore the intricacies of PSP in depth. I have a copy of Photoshop Elements 11 but I find Corel's product easier to use and much more powerful.
I have frustrated with color casts for some time. The white balance function just isn't reliable for me because there is a lot of trial and error with it and often I just can't get it right. I have begun to explore the RGB function under Adjust>Color and have had much better results.
To use it I first sample the image using the eye dropper tool at 3x3 pixels and I write down the RGB values for whites, blacks, and grays.I then go into the RGB function and adjust the numbers, usually for whites. As an example, I will sample a white with a value of 220,230,240. I pull up a calculator and increase the values by 16%,10%, and 6% to achieve a white point of 255,255,255. This seems to work well although I will often have a minor color cast in the shadows or grays. I have begun to try and solve this with curves in the color channels but it's a difficult process for me to get right with much back and forth.
For those of you with experience - is this the proper approach to the tool? Is there a better workflow or built in functions that would make it easier to use rather than sampling, writing down values, and calculating numbers? Is there a better (more accurate) way of correcting color? How do you use curves to correct color? Do you trust the white balance function?
A very wordy post with broad questions so I thank you in advance if you can help.

[LeviFiction]

I first learned to remove color casts using the Curves tool in exactly the fashion you mention.

PSP's curves tool actually has the ability to sample Blacks, whites, and greys and then adjust them automatically. You'll need to use the preview windows on the dialog but it works.

Along the bottom of the dialog you'll see three dropper tools, one for black, one for grey, and one for white. Select one, then sample the appropriate area in the Before Preview. It'll automatically map that value in the Red, Green, and Blue channels and adjust it to match the intended target. So 220 in red is remapped to 255 and so on.

Also, depending on your version of PSP you might consider using the older version of White Balance. The old white balance is the same one used in the White Balance Adjustment layer. Or you can add it back to the menu from the customize dialog, it's found under Unused Commands.

This older white balance lets you counteract color casts in the midtones, highlights, and shadows individually. You simply move the slider toward the opposite color of what you're trying to remove. So if the image is too red, add cyan, too green add magenta. It's also a longer process, but you can get a lot of good tweaking.

And of course, finally, the Smart Photo Fix tool has a built in white balance option that deals only with the blacks and the whites.

[deluxe]

Levifiction - thanks very much for the prompt reply. I found the old white balance command and it's what I need except there is no eyedropper in the tool to sample tones. This seems to be the equivalent of the red,green,blue adjustment except with sliders. My assumption is that the numbers represent color units rather than % change. If there was a eyedropper within the tool that would be the best solution. Also, in the unused commands dialogue I found something called 'manual color correction.' The tool looks interesting but I haven't a clue how to use it and there is no documentation available in the help dialogue. It is interesting but not intuitive. The curves tool is very fiddly for me to use for color correction - small adjustments cause big changes and I find that I still have to sample and reset with the eyedropper several times to get it close. I then set a point and move the curve with the result that small tweaks cause big changes both up and downstream from the manipulated point - it's like whack-a-mole. Also, there is no way to know where your tone is on the curve line.
What is your main approach to color correction -WB,RGB,curves, or some combination? Does it have to be this difficult?

[LeviFiction]

My approach is actually more difficult.

1) Use a Levels Adjustment layer to find the darkest and lightest points in the image. (Sometimes things look brighter simply because of what they're surrounded by)

2) I sample these areas setting the foreground color as the brightest area and the background as the darkest area

3) Run a script that sets the curves to these points.

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Manual Color Correction

This is taken from the PSP 9 manual

When it is particularly important to get a certain color right, use the Manual color Correction command. Select a color in the image that needs to be corrected (the source color), and then select the color you want it to be (the target color). For the target color, choose from a preset color option, a specific olor, or a color from another image. Paint Shop Pro then adjusts all colors in the selection or image based on the shift from the source color to the target color.

1) In the right preview window, center the area with the source color. Pan the image by clicking and dragging in the preview window; zoom in or out as necessary.

NOTE: You must use the right preivew window for panning the image because you select the source color in the left preview window

2) Define the Source color in the left preview window using one of these methods:
a) Click once ot seelct a single pixel, Zoom in to make sure you select the correct color
b) Click and drag to select a rectangular area
c) To select an irregularly shaped area, mark the "Freehand" check box, then click and drag over the image.

To change your selection, click the Clear button or make another selection

Choose an area that is mostly one color. You do not have to be overly precise with the selection area because pixels in the selection are averaged to determine the source color.

When you select the soruce color, the Source color box displays the selected color.

3) Choose the Target color using one o these methods.

a) To choose from a preset color category, select the "Preset Colors" option, choose a color category from teh list, and then choose a color from within the category.

b) To choose from the color dialog, left-click on the Target color box.

c) To choose from recently used colors, right-click on the Target color box.

d) To choose from any open image, move the cursor over the image until it changes into a dropper and then click the color.

When you select the color, the target color box displays the target color

4) If you are using the Preset colors option or have selected a source color from the target color box, choose from the following options:
a) Preserve Lightness - Mark this check box to preserve the lightness of the source color in the corrected image. Clear this check box to match the lightness of the corrected image to the target color's lightness.

b) Preserve Saturation - Mark this check box to preserve the saturation of the source color in the corrected image. Clear this check box to match the saturation of the corrected image ot the target color's saturation.

5) Click OK

[deluxe]

Levifiction - thanks again for an informative post. I will play with the old manual color correction tool but I'm not sure that's what I've been looking for. At this point I think my best approach is to simply use the various methods available until I develop skills and a work flow that suits me. In the meantime I'll float the idea of color tool improvement in the PSPx8 wishlist.