How to Save As MP4 File on Windows Movie Maker?

If you are a Windows user and you are looking for a free video editor, Windows Movie Maker is a great application. Windows Movie Maker comes pre-installed in older Windows versions though it has been discontinued in the latest Windows versions. However, if you are using the latest Windows versions, you can install MiniTool Movie Maker instead. If you are editing your video in Windows Movie Maker, you should know how to save your video in MP4 format.

MP4 file format is the most used video file format, and hence, you should know how to save Windows movie maker mp4 file. Otherwise, you won’t be able to play your video on regular video players on different devices. This is because not all video players support the native Windows Movie Maker file format, but they support MP4 format as it is very common. In this article, we will illustrate the steps for Windows Movie Maker how to save as MP4 file.

Part 1. Steps to Save Windows Movie Maker Video as MP4

There are two scenarios you may come across while dealing with Windows Movie Maker MP4 situation. First, you might be editing your video on Windows Movie Maker, and you want to save it in MP4 format. Second, you might have received a video file saved in the native Windows Movie Maker file format and you want to convert it to MP4 file format. In the second scenario, you must opt for a Windows Movie Maker to MP4 converter such as VideoConverterFactory.

For the first scenario where you are editing your video on Windows Movie Maker, the solution is simple. This is because the default file format to save a video file on Windows Movie Maker is MP4. There are other options available such as WMV, but if you opt for the recommended settings, you can easily save your video file in MP4. Here are the steps for Windows Movie Maker to mp4 file format.

Step1Launch Windows Movie Maker on your PC. Create a new project and import your video clips. Split, trim, join, add transitions, effects, and titles as per your requirements.

Step2When you are done editing your video, go to Home tab> Save Movie button available on Share section.

Step3Instead of clicking on Save Movie button, click on the small triangle icon on Save Movie button. Click on Recommended for this project option. You can hold your mouse pointer on the option for a few seconds before clicking to check out the different parameters of your video file that you are going to save.

Step4The Save Movie dialog box will open on the screen. Go to the Save as type section and make sure it is selected for “MPEG-4/ Vide File”. MP4 is the abbreviation of MPEG-4. Finally, click on Save button and your video file will be saved in MP4 file format as per the destination you have chosen.

Part 2. Windows Movie Maker Alternative to Save as MP4

We have already stated that Windows Movie Maker from Microsoft has been discontinued in Window 10 and Windows 11. Instead, there is a basic video editor available under Photos app. Therefore, if you are looking for a Windows Live Movie Maker MP4 alternative, we recommend Wondershare Filmora.

Wondershare Filmora is a professional video editor where you can edit your videos like a pro and save your edited video as MP4 file format. You get more features on Filmora in comparison to Windows Movie Maker as it is a premium video editor. In fact, Filmora is easy to operate thanks to its super intuitive user interface. Here are the steps to export a video as MP4 format.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Step1Download and install Wondershare Filmora. Click on New Project option on the welcome screen. Drag and drop your video clips into Project Media folder. Thereafter, bring them onto the timeline.

Step2Edit the video clips, add effects and animations as well as titles. Once your editing is done, click on Export button.

Step3Select MP4 file format on the left corner and specify the file name. Select the destination folder from Save To and other parameters as required. Finally, click on Export button.

Related FAQs of Movie Maker

• What format does Movie Maker save as?

The default file format of Windows Movie Maker is MP4. There is also an option to save video file as WMV format.

• How do I convert a movie maker file to MP4?

If you want to convert a movie maker file to MP4 file format, you can open the file in Windows Movie Maker and save the file as MP4. You can also use a video converter such as VideoConverterFactory to convert a movie maker file to MP4.

• Where does Movie Maker save files?

By default, Windows Movie Maker saves video files under My Documents or Documents folder as per Windows operating system you have on your PC. If it is not available there, you can check My Videos or My Pictures folder on your hard drive under User folder hierarchy.

If you are using Windows Movie Maker on your PC, we have stated how you can save your video file as MP4 format. We have also stated how to convert Windows Movie Maker file to MP4 format easily. We have also recommended the best Windows Movie Maker alternative as Wondershare Filmora where you get more video editing features as well as wide range of video file formats.

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Step1Download and install Wondershare Filmora. Click on New Project option on the welcome screen. Drag and drop your video clips into Project Media folder. Thereafter, bring them onto the timeline.

Step2Edit the video clips, add effects and animations as well as titles. Once your editing is done, click on Export button.

Step3Select MP4 file format on the left corner and specify the file name. Select the destination folder from Save To and other parameters as required. Finally, click on Export button.

Related FAQs of Movie Maker

• What format does Movie Maker save as?

The default file format of Windows Movie Maker is MP4. There is also an option to save video file as WMV format.

• How do I convert a movie maker file to MP4?

If you want to convert a movie maker file to MP4 file format, you can open the file in Windows Movie Maker and save the file as MP4. You can also use a video converter such as VideoConverterFactory to convert a movie maker file to MP4.

• Where does Movie Maker save files?

By default, Windows Movie Maker saves video files under My Documents or Documents folder as per Windows operating system you have on your PC. If it is not available there, you can check My Videos or My Pictures folder on your hard drive under User folder hierarchy.

If you are using Windows Movie Maker on your PC, we have stated how you can save your video file as MP4 format. We have also stated how to convert Windows Movie Maker file to MP4 format easily. We have also recommended the best Windows Movie Maker alternative as Wondershare Filmora where you get more video editing features as well as wide range of video file formats.

How to Color-Correct an S-Log Footage

S-Log is a gamma curve optimized for digital cameras to maximize the image sensor’s performance. Although these videos may look flat and washed out, they contain lots of color information. Even better, video creators can use color correction to edit the S-Log videos and make them look as natural as possible. That’s what this article is all about.

How to Color-Correct an S-Log Footage

This tutorial assumes that you already have an S-Log footage. If not, you can record S-Log footage using most Canon, Sony, and Panasonic cameras.

Let’s get to the steps!

Step1 Adjust the color settings

Start by adding your video to the timeline on Wondershare Filmora and then double-click the video track. Then, click on the Color tab before tapping Advanced.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Step2 Read and study the histogram

Now you’ll see the Advanced Color Correction pop-up window. Here, you’ll see a histogram with the brightest point on the right and the darkest point on the left. From our example, you can see that the video has more dark pixels than bright ones. Horizontally, the histogram shows you how many pixels are in a certain range of brightness.

Step3 Adjust the image colors

Once you’ve understood the histogram, look for pure black and white parts on the video clip. For example, in this video, you can see that the roofs are pure black and the boat at the bottom-right corner is pure white.

After finding the white and black parts in the video, go to the Light section, then adjust the Highlights to see if you can get a pure white on the boat. If the boat or any other image of your choice doesn’t look pure white, increase the Whites slide to make it whiter.

Now adjust the Shadows settings to reduce the effect and make the roofs look closer to pure black. If you want the roofs to look darker, drag the Blacks slider to the left.

Pro tip: Ensure that the darkest and brightest points don’t cross the broken lines on the edge, or the video will start losing details.

Step4 Adjust the color saturation

Does your video still look a little flat? Probably yes! In that case, click the Color section and adjust the Saturation slider to the right to make the video less flat. Saturation simply means how colorful a video clip is to the viewer. Apart from the color saturation, you can also adjust the Vibrance to make your video objects look more colorful.

Step5 Preview and compare the video

Now it’s time to check and compare the results. To make it easier, click the Eye icon at the top-right corner to switch between the original S-Log video and the color-corrected clip. You can also tap the AB icon and choose Split View-Left/Right to view the clips in the side-by-side mode.

Summary

I guess that was easy, right? Up to this juncture, you should be able to perform basic color correction on your video using Wondershare Filmora. Remember, this video editor packs many other editing tools to bring out your creativity. Give it a try!

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Step2 Read and study the histogram

Now you’ll see the Advanced Color Correction pop-up window. Here, you’ll see a histogram with the brightest point on the right and the darkest point on the left. From our example, you can see that the video has more dark pixels than bright ones. Horizontally, the histogram shows you how many pixels are in a certain range of brightness.

Step3 Adjust the image colors

Once you’ve understood the histogram, look for pure black and white parts on the video clip. For example, in this video, you can see that the roofs are pure black and the boat at the bottom-right corner is pure white.

After finding the white and black parts in the video, go to the Light section, then adjust the Highlights to see if you can get a pure white on the boat. If the boat or any other image of your choice doesn’t look pure white, increase the Whites slide to make it whiter.

Now adjust the Shadows settings to reduce the effect and make the roofs look closer to pure black. If you want the roofs to look darker, drag the Blacks slider to the left.

Pro tip: Ensure that the darkest and brightest points don’t cross the broken lines on the edge, or the video will start losing details.

Step4 Adjust the color saturation

Does your video still look a little flat? Probably yes! In that case, click the Color section and adjust the Saturation slider to the right to make the video less flat. Saturation simply means how colorful a video clip is to the viewer. Apart from the color saturation, you can also adjust the Vibrance to make your video objects look more colorful.

Step5 Preview and compare the video

Now it’s time to check and compare the results. To make it easier, click the Eye icon at the top-right corner to switch between the original S-Log video and the color-corrected clip. You can also tap the AB icon and choose Split View-Left/Right to view the clips in the side-by-side mode.

Summary

I guess that was easy, right? Up to this juncture, you should be able to perform basic color correction on your video using Wondershare Filmora. Remember, this video editor packs many other editing tools to bring out your creativity. Give it a try!

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Step2 Read and study the histogram

Now you’ll see the Advanced Color Correction pop-up window. Here, you’ll see a histogram with the brightest point on the right and the darkest point on the left. From our example, you can see that the video has more dark pixels than bright ones. Horizontally, the histogram shows you how many pixels are in a certain range of brightness.

Step3 Adjust the image colors

Once you’ve understood the histogram, look for pure black and white parts on the video clip. For example, in this video, you can see that the roofs are pure black and the boat at the bottom-right corner is pure white.

After finding the white and black parts in the video, go to the Light section, then adjust the Highlights to see if you can get a pure white on the boat. If the boat or any other image of your choice doesn’t look pure white, increase the Whites slide to make it whiter.

Now adjust the Shadows settings to reduce the effect and make the roofs look closer to pure black. If you want the roofs to look darker, drag the Blacks slider to the left.

Pro tip: Ensure that the darkest and brightest points don’t cross the broken lines on the edge, or the video will start losing details.

Step4 Adjust the color saturation

Does your video still look a little flat? Probably yes! In that case, click the Color section and adjust the Saturation slider to the right to make the video less flat. Saturation simply means how colorful a video clip is to the viewer. Apart from the color saturation, you can also adjust the Vibrance to make your video objects look more colorful.

Step5 Preview and compare the video

Now it’s time to check and compare the results. To make it easier, click the Eye icon at the top-right corner to switch between the original S-Log video and the color-corrected clip. You can also tap the AB icon and choose Split View-Left/Right to view the clips in the side-by-side mode.

Summary

I guess that was easy, right? Up to this juncture, you should be able to perform basic color correction on your video using Wondershare Filmora. Remember, this video editor packs many other editing tools to bring out your creativity. Give it a try!

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Step2 Read and study the histogram

Now you’ll see the Advanced Color Correction pop-up window. Here, you’ll see a histogram with the brightest point on the right and the darkest point on the left. From our example, you can see that the video has more dark pixels than bright ones. Horizontally, the histogram shows you how many pixels are in a certain range of brightness.

Step3 Adjust the image colors

Once you’ve understood the histogram, look for pure black and white parts on the video clip. For example, in this video, you can see that the roofs are pure black and the boat at the bottom-right corner is pure white.

After finding the white and black parts in the video, go to the Light section, then adjust the Highlights to see if you can get a pure white on the boat. If the boat or any other image of your choice doesn’t look pure white, increase the Whites slide to make it whiter.

Now adjust the Shadows settings to reduce the effect and make the roofs look closer to pure black. If you want the roofs to look darker, drag the Blacks slider to the left.

Pro tip: Ensure that the darkest and brightest points don’t cross the broken lines on the edge, or the video will start losing details.

Step4 Adjust the color saturation

Does your video still look a little flat? Probably yes! In that case, click the Color section and adjust the Saturation slider to the right to make the video less flat. Saturation simply means how colorful a video clip is to the viewer. Apart from the color saturation, you can also adjust the Vibrance to make your video objects look more colorful.

Step5 Preview and compare the video

Now it’s time to check and compare the results. To make it easier, click the Eye icon at the top-right corner to switch between the original S-Log video and the color-corrected clip. You can also tap the AB icon and choose Split View-Left/Right to view the clips in the side-by-side mode.

Summary

I guess that was easy, right? Up to this juncture, you should be able to perform basic color correction on your video using Wondershare Filmora. Remember, this video editor packs many other editing tools to bring out your creativity. Give it a try!

Learning Some Perfect Ways to Convert a Slow-Motion Video to Normal

Maintain consistency in your projects by adding all video clips simultaneously. Sometimes, you have to include a slow-motion video due to its content. In such cases, convert them into a normal video for an even flow in the media. Turning slow-motion videos into the normal is essential in several cases. Unfortunately, many people don’t know how to make a slow-mo video at normal speed.

To address this concern, we have enlisted perfect ways to make slow-mo to usual video. Read this guide and learn how to convert a slow-motion video to normal step-wise. Besides, you will also find some online and desktop solutions to make the best choice.

Slow Motion Video Maker Slow your video’s speed with better control of your keyframes to create unique cinematic effects!

Make A Slow Motion Video Make A Slow Motion Video More Features

Part 1: Android User’s Solution: Converting Slow Motion Video to Normal

Android cameras can record slow-motion videos and turn them into normal as well. For this purpose, you have to upload your clips on Google Photos. Let’s discover how to convert slow-motion video to normal in Google Photos for Android. Remember that these steps might vary across different Android models.

Step 1

Enter your Google Photos app and pick one of your intended Slow-motion videos. While previewing it, look for the “Slow Motion” option at the top and touch it.

Step 2

Read the instructions from the displayed pop-up and hit the “OK.” Drag the two sliders and enclose them from both ends. Your slow-motion video is converted into the normal one.

Part 2: iOS User’s Solution: Converting Slow Motion Video to Normal

iPhone also offers a built-in option to change the speed of videos. Almost all iPhone series follow the same steps to change the video speed. Thus, you can quickly learn how to make slow-motion videos at regular speed, regardless of the version. Without further delay, make a slow-motion video and read the given steps:

Step 1

Unlock your iPhone and open the “Photos” app from the main screen. There, reach the “Albums” icon from the bottom and scroll until you get the “Slo-mo” option. Click on it and get a preview of your slow-motion video.

Step 2

Now, hit “Edit” from the top right side and find an editing screen. From the bottom, enclose the sliders from both sides and tap the “Done” button. This way, you will get a standard video instantly saved on your iPhone.

Part 3: Online Solution: Converting Slow Motion Video to Normal

Use this online tool if you cannot perform slow-motion to normal video conversion. Clideo is an online platform that allows you to change the video speed without causing playback issues. It offers a high level of security where only you can access your files. Some of its additional editing options allow you to pick an output format. Besides, users can keep their media sound or mute while making the conversion.

This tool supports MP4, MPG, VOB, MOV, and WMV media file formats. The following is a step-by-step guide to using this online solution:

Step 1

Access the official site of Clideo Stop Motion Maker and click the “Choose File” button. Browse your slow-motion video and press the “Open” button. Now, wait for a while until it gets uploaded on the site.

Step 2

Afterward, set the “Speed” from three given options. Choose to set the video to “Medium” speed. Moreover, you can also set the “Clip Rate” of the video as per requirements.

Step 3

When you get the desired outcome, click the “Export” button from the bottom-right corner. You will get a preview of the video on the next screen. Tap on the downward “ Download “ symbol and pick the file export destination. You can simply hit “Download” to get the file in your system.

Part 4: Desktop Recommendation: Converting Slow Motion Video to Normal Using Wondershare Filmora

In the above sections, you have learned how to turn slow-mo into normal. Now, it is time to look for an effective offline solution. That’s where you can count on Wondershare Filmora , which is the simplest but powerful video editor. Fortunately, it can speed up and slow down videos within the highest quality. Filmora provides more advanced editing options than the above solutions.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Steps to Perform Slow Motion and Speed Up Videos to Normal with Filmora

Unlike other tools, Filmora can quickly convert your video speed to your desired extent. Head below and transform your video easily with this step-by-step guide.

Step 1Install Filmora and Export Your Media to Start a Project

Successfully launch Filmora in your system and access its home screen. Click on the “New Project” option to initiate media editing. Bring your video to the timeline after importing it into the media panel. To import the file, press the “Ctrl + I” keys using your keyboard.

Step 2Slow Down or Speed Up the Video with Optical Flow

Right-click on your slow-motion video in the timeline to get an extended list. From that list, tap the “Uniform Speed” option and find an editing panel on the right. Now, drag the “Speed” slider right to speed up the video. You can move it to the left side to slow down the video. To ensure a smooth quality, extend the “AI Frame Interpolation” menu and pick the “Optical Flow.”

Step 3Save the File Through the Export Button

Press the Space bar from your keyboard and preview the video. Navigate toward the “Export” button at the top right corner. You can adjust the export parameters and tap “Export” to save the file on your device.

Other Exceptional Features of Filmora

Filmora is more than a simple video editing app. AI integration can generate music, images, and scripts to embrace creativity in your content. Read the following points to learn more about Filmora’s incredible features.

1. AI Vocal Remover: If you want to dub a video, use this feature to remove existing vocals. It can separate music and vocal soundtracks while keeping their quality high. Once AI removes vocals, you can quickly edit or remove unwanted elements from the tracks.
2. AI Text to Video: Content creators can get instant engagement in their content with this feature. Users just have to write their ideas and let AI transform them into a visual story. They can later customize fonts, styles, and other elements to achieve desired results.
3. AI Smart Masking: Professionals can improve their multi-dimensional scenes using this option. It enables multi-layer overlay editing that isolates subjects. Users can freeze frames and perform auto-correction for visual enhancements of the projects.

Conclusion

In short, slow-motion to normal video conversion is possible and serves fruitful purposes. In this regard, iPhone and Android offer built-in options that are explained earlier. Besides, you get familiar with how to convert a slow-motion video to normal using an online tool. For an effective desktop solution, try using Filmora, which is a top-notch video editor so far.

Make A Slow Motion Video Make A Slow Motion Video More Features

Part 1: Android User’s Solution: Converting Slow Motion Video to Normal

Android cameras can record slow-motion videos and turn them into normal as well. For this purpose, you have to upload your clips on Google Photos. Let’s discover how to convert slow-motion video to normal in Google Photos for Android. Remember that these steps might vary across different Android models.

Step 1

Enter your Google Photos app and pick one of your intended Slow-motion videos. While previewing it, look for the “Slow Motion” option at the top and touch it.

Step 2

Read the instructions from the displayed pop-up and hit the “OK.” Drag the two sliders and enclose them from both ends. Your slow-motion video is converted into the normal one.

Part 2: iOS User’s Solution: Converting Slow Motion Video to Normal

iPhone also offers a built-in option to change the speed of videos. Almost all iPhone series follow the same steps to change the video speed. Thus, you can quickly learn how to make slow-motion videos at regular speed, regardless of the version. Without further delay, make a slow-motion video and read the given steps:

Step 1

Unlock your iPhone and open the “Photos” app from the main screen. There, reach the “Albums” icon from the bottom and scroll until you get the “Slo-mo” option. Click on it and get a preview of your slow-motion video.

Step 2

Now, hit “Edit” from the top right side and find an editing screen. From the bottom, enclose the sliders from both sides and tap the “Done” button. This way, you will get a standard video instantly saved on your iPhone.

Part 3: Online Solution: Converting Slow Motion Video to Normal

Use this online tool if you cannot perform slow-motion to normal video conversion. Clideo is an online platform that allows you to change the video speed without causing playback issues. It offers a high level of security where only you can access your files. Some of its additional editing options allow you to pick an output format. Besides, users can keep their media sound or mute while making the conversion.

This tool supports MP4, MPG, VOB, MOV, and WMV media file formats. The following is a step-by-step guide to using this online solution:

Step 1

Access the official site of Clideo Stop Motion Maker and click the “Choose File” button. Browse your slow-motion video and press the “Open” button. Now, wait for a while until it gets uploaded on the site.

Step 2

Afterward, set the “Speed” from three given options. Choose to set the video to “Medium” speed. Moreover, you can also set the “Clip Rate” of the video as per requirements.

Step 3

When you get the desired outcome, click the “Export” button from the bottom-right corner. You will get a preview of the video on the next screen. Tap on the downward “ Download “ symbol and pick the file export destination. You can simply hit “Download” to get the file in your system.

Part 4: Desktop Recommendation: Converting Slow Motion Video to Normal Using Wondershare Filmora

In the above sections, you have learned how to turn slow-mo into normal. Now, it is time to look for an effective offline solution. That’s where you can count on Wondershare Filmora , which is the simplest but powerful video editor. Fortunately, it can speed up and slow down videos within the highest quality. Filmora provides more advanced editing options than the above solutions.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Steps to Perform Slow Motion and Speed Up Videos to Normal with Filmora

Unlike other tools, Filmora can quickly convert your video speed to your desired extent. Head below and transform your video easily with this step-by-step guide.

Step 1Install Filmora and Export Your Media to Start a Project

Successfully launch Filmora in your system and access its home screen. Click on the “New Project” option to initiate media editing. Bring your video to the timeline after importing it into the media panel. To import the file, press the “Ctrl + I” keys using your keyboard.

Step 2Slow Down or Speed Up the Video with Optical Flow

Right-click on your slow-motion video in the timeline to get an extended list. From that list, tap the “Uniform Speed” option and find an editing panel on the right. Now, drag the “Speed” slider right to speed up the video. You can move it to the left side to slow down the video. To ensure a smooth quality, extend the “AI Frame Interpolation” menu and pick the “Optical Flow.”

Step 3Save the File Through the Export Button

Press the Space bar from your keyboard and preview the video. Navigate toward the “Export” button at the top right corner. You can adjust the export parameters and tap “Export” to save the file on your device.

Other Exceptional Features of Filmora

Filmora is more than a simple video editing app. AI integration can generate music, images, and scripts to embrace creativity in your content. Read the following points to learn more about Filmora’s incredible features.

1. AI Vocal Remover: If you want to dub a video, use this feature to remove existing vocals. It can separate music and vocal soundtracks while keeping their quality high. Once AI removes vocals, you can quickly edit or remove unwanted elements from the tracks.
2. AI Text to Video: Content creators can get instant engagement in their content with this feature. Users just have to write their ideas and let AI transform them into a visual story. They can later customize fonts, styles, and other elements to achieve desired results.
3. AI Smart Masking: Professionals can improve their multi-dimensional scenes using this option. It enables multi-layer overlay editing that isolates subjects. Users can freeze frames and perform auto-correction for visual enhancements of the projects.

Conclusion

In short, slow-motion to normal video conversion is possible and serves fruitful purposes. In this regard, iPhone and Android offer built-in options that are explained earlier. Besides, you get familiar with how to convert a slow-motion video to normal using an online tool. For an effective desktop solution, try using Filmora, which is a top-notch video editor so far.

How to Color Grade Your Picture in LightRoom

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Detailed tutorials are provided by the official channel

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Every budding photographer knows what Photoshop is Adobe Lightroom (officially Adobe Photoshop Lightroom) is the newer and more advanced version of Photoshop. Compared with other alternatives of Lightroom , Lightroom helps photographers import, modify, manipulate, find, organize, and manage their images as an image editing software. Lightroom combines photo management and photo editing in one.

One of the most amazing things about Lightroom is its autosave or nondestructive feature. Once you edit your photos, Lightroom instantly saves and stores them in your Lightroom catalog. With its inbuilt-presets, Lightroom makes working on your project so much easy and fun.

You can leverage Lightroom’s unique features to perform different types of tasks. However, in this article, you’ll learn color grading in Lightroom and how to make it work.

In this article

01 What Is Color Grading?

02 Color Grading in LightRoom

03 How To Color Grade Your Picture in LightRoom

What Is Color Grading?

Color grading is one of the essential processes for creating the perfect video and image content. Like with color correction, color grading helps enhance the appearance of your image or video and makes it appealing to viewers. However, unlike color correction, it focuses on creating stylistic or cinematic effects rather than rectifying mistakes in the image.

Color grading enhances an already edited or otherwise perfect image or video. So, in color grading, you are not trying to balance out colors or make your pictures look natural to the human eyes. Color correction does all that. Instead, with color grading, you aim to “paint over” a color-corrected content to evoke specific emotions or moods in the viewers.

Colors carry different emotions or visual tones. So, they’re essential in the post-production process to manipulate viewers into specific moods that tell your story best. In other words, color grading aligns your viewer’s emotions to the central theme in your story.

For example, if your image or video’s theme is passion, power, violence, or danger, red portrays them perfectly. Meanwhile, blue does it when you wish to evoke calmness and melancholy in your viewers.

Other examples include:

• pink for beauty, innocence, and femininity,
• Green for nature, darkness, and corruption
• Purple for fantasies, and the mystical
• Yellow for obsession, sickness, and naivety
• Orange for warmth, friendliness, youth, and happiness

Have you noticed that turning your pictures black and white makes them look timeless? That’s color grading in action.

Color Grading in LightRoom

Are you amazed by the thrilling power of color grading to manipulate viewers’ emotions? Are you wondering how you can achieve that effect seamlessly? Then, you don’t need to worry about it. With Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, you too can make magic.

Since Lightroom is an advanced photo editor, it has a lot to offer in features. Unfortunately, this may also mean that it can be complex to understand, especially if you’re new to photo editing. So, first things first, you must understand the color grading panel in Lightroom to appreciate it better.

Lightroom’s color grading panel is right beneath the HSL panel in the Develop Panel. It serves as a replacement for the Split Toning Panel from earlier versions, so it’s pretty easy to find.

The color grading panel comprises five small icons, three color wheels, and a blending/balance slider:

● The Five Small Icons

Lightroom’s small icons are a 3-way default layout, shadows, mid-tones, highlights, and global. With 3-way, you can manipulate the highlights, shadows, and mid-tones. Mid-tones, highlights, and shadows hide all color wheels, excluding the necessary ones that adjust them.

Meanwhile, Global combines and blends the highlights, mid-tones, and shadow adjustments no matter the luminosity. Global ensures that the color wheels work harmoniously.

When adjusting icons, it’s best to use each color wheel one after another one. You’ll get better and more precise outcomes that way compared to using them together.

● Lightroom’s Color Wheels

You can view Lightroom’s three-color wheels through the 3-way default layout. The color wheels help to enhance distinct image parts by providing various color hues. It also allows you to introduce saturation through an adjustable knob.

Each lightroom’s color wheels feature a luminance slide beneath them that adjusts color brightness. Between the luminance slide and the wheel is a visible eye icon that you can use to turn the effects on or off.

● The Blending and Balance Slider

The blending and balance sliders offer you advanced control over how your colors look after introducing them. With the blending slider, you can control the color distinctiveness between highlights and shadows. In other words, this feature helps to merge colors to produce a much more balanced and beautiful result.

The balance slider adjusts altered mid-tones, highlights, and shadows to balance the effects. By default, the slider is set at 0 in the middle and allows you to move it in opposite directions for distinct effects. For example, you can use this tool to balance shadows with over-concentrated colors.

While the above features are visible to everyone in the 3-way view, there are two more hidden sliders. You may only view them when editing highlights, shadows, mid-tones, or the global color wheels. They’re the hue and saturation sliders that you can only uncover by clicking on the arrow below the eye icon.

There’s no idea why the hue and saturation sliders aren’t visible in the 3-way view. That’s especially when you discover that they do the all-important job of making minor but precise changes to final adjustments. This produces an excellent fine-tuned outcome and gives your image a professional finish.

How To Color Grade Your Picture in LightRoom

If you wish to use the color grading Lightroom tool to enhance photos, here’s a comprehensive guide for you. You’ll learn the best practices to apply when using the specific Lightroom features to produce your desired effects:

● Pick Your Color Scheme

What’s color grading without the right colors? Choosing an appropriate color scheme is one of the essential steps in Lightroom color grading. That’s because it sets the tone for the next steps. If you choose the wrong colors, you won’t get the excellent result you desire no matter how hard you try.

First, take a good look at your picture and its visible colors. Then think of the colors that compliment or contrast with them. For example, you should base images with red highlights around red. You can also try colors close to red in the color wheel, like orange.

Once you’ve found the colors that suit your image, you’re ready for the next steps in your color grading process. However, more than just adding colors, you must also pay attention to contrasting colors during processing. If you find such unwanted colors, use the HSL panel to pale them out.

● Prioritize Precision

In earlier paragraphs, you learned that working with the highlights, shadows, and mid-tones individually is best. That’s because individual adjustments are a painstaking process that guarantees the most accurate results. This makes a lot of difference in the final product compared to when you work with the wheel.

Working on the shadows, highlights, and mid-tones individually also connects to the hue and saturation sliders. So you remember how vital these hidden sliders are? You wouldn’t be able to access them by working on the tools one after another. Take that as your reward for being detail-oriented.

● Increase Saturation Values

Sometimes, the effect of one tool tells on another. For example, leaving your saturation values below may render your hue slider ineffective. To avoid that confusion, it’s best to increase your saturation levels to some values higher than your preferred one.

Yes, it wouldn’t look nice initially as you adjust the hue. However, it will ensure that you get the perfect color for your image. You can always go back to adjust the saturation to your choice values later on.

● Use Color Wheels To Find Color, Use Shadows to Refine

When discussing how to choose your color scheme, you must have understood how vital the color wheel is in finding harmonious hues. However, picking your preferred color isn’t the complete process. You must learn to fine-tune your chosen color by using the hue slider. Do this after adjusting the saturation to your preferred level as in the previous step. The result is always mind-blowing.

● Learn the Short Cuts

There are some shortcuts to learn when color grading in Lightroom to enhance accuracy and convenience. For example, option (Mac)/Alt (Windows) gives you better control over your image’s outcomes. Option/Alt + Up will increase saturation by one while the shift key adjusts it. You can use Command (Mac)/Ctrl (Windows) to adjust the hue. Also, the reset button on the right side of your panel takes you back to your initial image.

● Extra Tips

These best practices will help you to achieve excellent results:

1. Don’t color grade without understanding the psychology of colors. Know what colors convey different moods or emotions.
2. Be sure to work with high-quality pictures. Color grading isn’t magic; it wouldn’t correct an already lousy image.
3. Shooting your pictures in RAW gives you more color control.

Conclusion

● Now that you’ve learned how to color grade using Lightroom, there’s no limit to what you can achieve. You can now explore your creative side with so much fun. However, know that you will likely not get it right the first time. Perfection comes with consistent practice or trial and error.

Try It Free Try It Free

Every budding photographer knows what Photoshop is Adobe Lightroom (officially Adobe Photoshop Lightroom) is the newer and more advanced version of Photoshop. Compared with other alternatives of Lightroom , Lightroom helps photographers import, modify, manipulate, find, organize, and manage their images as an image editing software. Lightroom combines photo management and photo editing in one.

One of the most amazing things about Lightroom is its autosave or nondestructive feature. Once you edit your photos, Lightroom instantly saves and stores them in your Lightroom catalog. With its inbuilt-presets, Lightroom makes working on your project so much easy and fun.

You can leverage Lightroom’s unique features to perform different types of tasks. However, in this article, you’ll learn color grading in Lightroom and how to make it work.

In this article

01 What Is Color Grading?

02 Color Grading in LightRoom

03 How To Color Grade Your Picture in LightRoom

What Is Color Grading?

Color grading is one of the essential processes for creating the perfect video and image content. Like with color correction, color grading helps enhance the appearance of your image or video and makes it appealing to viewers. However, unlike color correction, it focuses on creating stylistic or cinematic effects rather than rectifying mistakes in the image.

Color grading enhances an already edited or otherwise perfect image or video. So, in color grading, you are not trying to balance out colors or make your pictures look natural to the human eyes. Color correction does all that. Instead, with color grading, you aim to “paint over” a color-corrected content to evoke specific emotions or moods in the viewers.

Colors carry different emotions or visual tones. So, they’re essential in the post-production process to manipulate viewers into specific moods that tell your story best. In other words, color grading aligns your viewer’s emotions to the central theme in your story.

For example, if your image or video’s theme is passion, power, violence, or danger, red portrays them perfectly. Meanwhile, blue does it when you wish to evoke calmness and melancholy in your viewers.

Other examples include:

• pink for beauty, innocence, and femininity,
• Green for nature, darkness, and corruption
• Purple for fantasies, and the mystical
• Yellow for obsession, sickness, and naivety
• Orange for warmth, friendliness, youth, and happiness

Have you noticed that turning your pictures black and white makes them look timeless? That’s color grading in action.

Color Grading in LightRoom

Are you amazed by the thrilling power of color grading to manipulate viewers’ emotions? Are you wondering how you can achieve that effect seamlessly? Then, you don’t need to worry about it. With Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, you too can make magic.

Since Lightroom is an advanced photo editor, it has a lot to offer in features. Unfortunately, this may also mean that it can be complex to understand, especially if you’re new to photo editing. So, first things first, you must understand the color grading panel in Lightroom to appreciate it better.

Lightroom’s color grading panel is right beneath the HSL panel in the Develop Panel. It serves as a replacement for the Split Toning Panel from earlier versions, so it’s pretty easy to find.

The color grading panel comprises five small icons, three color wheels, and a blending/balance slider:

● The Five Small Icons

Lightroom’s small icons are a 3-way default layout, shadows, mid-tones, highlights, and global. With 3-way, you can manipulate the highlights, shadows, and mid-tones. Mid-tones, highlights, and shadows hide all color wheels, excluding the necessary ones that adjust them.

Meanwhile, Global combines and blends the highlights, mid-tones, and shadow adjustments no matter the luminosity. Global ensures that the color wheels work harmoniously.

When adjusting icons, it’s best to use each color wheel one after another one. You’ll get better and more precise outcomes that way compared to using them together.

● Lightroom’s Color Wheels

You can view Lightroom’s three-color wheels through the 3-way default layout. The color wheels help to enhance distinct image parts by providing various color hues. It also allows you to introduce saturation through an adjustable knob.

Each lightroom’s color wheels feature a luminance slide beneath them that adjusts color brightness. Between the luminance slide and the wheel is a visible eye icon that you can use to turn the effects on or off.

● The Blending and Balance Slider

The blending and balance sliders offer you advanced control over how your colors look after introducing them. With the blending slider, you can control the color distinctiveness between highlights and shadows. In other words, this feature helps to merge colors to produce a much more balanced and beautiful result.

The balance slider adjusts altered mid-tones, highlights, and shadows to balance the effects. By default, the slider is set at 0 in the middle and allows you to move it in opposite directions for distinct effects. For example, you can use this tool to balance shadows with over-concentrated colors.

While the above features are visible to everyone in the 3-way view, there are two more hidden sliders. You may only view them when editing highlights, shadows, mid-tones, or the global color wheels. They’re the hue and saturation sliders that you can only uncover by clicking on the arrow below the eye icon.

There’s no idea why the hue and saturation sliders aren’t visible in the 3-way view. That’s especially when you discover that they do the all-important job of making minor but precise changes to final adjustments. This produces an excellent fine-tuned outcome and gives your image a professional finish.

How To Color Grade Your Picture in LightRoom

If you wish to use the color grading Lightroom tool to enhance photos, here’s a comprehensive guide for you. You’ll learn the best practices to apply when using the specific Lightroom features to produce your desired effects:

● Pick Your Color Scheme

What’s color grading without the right colors? Choosing an appropriate color scheme is one of the essential steps in Lightroom color grading. That’s because it sets the tone for the next steps. If you choose the wrong colors, you won’t get the excellent result you desire no matter how hard you try.

First, take a good look at your picture and its visible colors. Then think of the colors that compliment or contrast with them. For example, you should base images with red highlights around red. You can also try colors close to red in the color wheel, like orange.

Once you’ve found the colors that suit your image, you’re ready for the next steps in your color grading process. However, more than just adding colors, you must also pay attention to contrasting colors during processing. If you find such unwanted colors, use the HSL panel to pale them out.

● Prioritize Precision

In earlier paragraphs, you learned that working with the highlights, shadows, and mid-tones individually is best. That’s because individual adjustments are a painstaking process that guarantees the most accurate results. This makes a lot of difference in the final product compared to when you work with the wheel.

Working on the shadows, highlights, and mid-tones individually also connects to the hue and saturation sliders. So you remember how vital these hidden sliders are? You wouldn’t be able to access them by working on the tools one after another. Take that as your reward for being detail-oriented.

● Increase Saturation Values

Sometimes, the effect of one tool tells on another. For example, leaving your saturation values below may render your hue slider ineffective. To avoid that confusion, it’s best to increase your saturation levels to some values higher than your preferred one.

Yes, it wouldn’t look nice initially as you adjust the hue. However, it will ensure that you get the perfect color for your image. You can always go back to adjust the saturation to your choice values later on.

● Use Color Wheels To Find Color, Use Shadows to Refine

When discussing how to choose your color scheme, you must have understood how vital the color wheel is in finding harmonious hues. However, picking your preferred color isn’t the complete process. You must learn to fine-tune your chosen color by using the hue slider. Do this after adjusting the saturation to your preferred level as in the previous step. The result is always mind-blowing.

● Learn the Short Cuts

There are some shortcuts to learn when color grading in Lightroom to enhance accuracy and convenience. For example, option (Mac)/Alt (Windows) gives you better control over your image’s outcomes. Option/Alt + Up will increase saturation by one while the shift key adjusts it. You can use Command (Mac)/Ctrl (Windows) to adjust the hue. Also, the reset button on the right side of your panel takes you back to your initial image.

● Extra Tips

These best practices will help you to achieve excellent results:

1. Don’t color grade without understanding the psychology of colors. Know what colors convey different moods or emotions.
2. Be sure to work with high-quality pictures. Color grading isn’t magic; it wouldn’t correct an already lousy image.
3. Shooting your pictures in RAW gives you more color control.

Conclusion

● Now that you’ve learned how to color grade using Lightroom, there’s no limit to what you can achieve. You can now explore your creative side with so much fun. However, know that you will likely not get it right the first time. Perfection comes with consistent practice or trial and error.

Try It Free Try It Free

Every budding photographer knows what Photoshop is Adobe Lightroom (officially Adobe Photoshop Lightroom) is the newer and more advanced version of Photoshop. Compared with other alternatives of Lightroom , Lightroom helps photographers import, modify, manipulate, find, organize, and manage their images as an image editing software. Lightroom combines photo management and photo editing in one.

One of the most amazing things about Lightroom is its autosave or nondestructive feature. Once you edit your photos, Lightroom instantly saves and stores them in your Lightroom catalog. With its inbuilt-presets, Lightroom makes working on your project so much easy and fun.

You can leverage Lightroom’s unique features to perform different types of tasks. However, in this article, you’ll learn color grading in Lightroom and how to make it work.

In this article

01 What Is Color Grading?

02 Color Grading in LightRoom

03 How To Color Grade Your Picture in LightRoom

What Is Color Grading?

Color grading is one of the essential processes for creating the perfect video and image content. Like with color correction, color grading helps enhance the appearance of your image or video and makes it appealing to viewers. However, unlike color correction, it focuses on creating stylistic or cinematic effects rather than rectifying mistakes in the image.

Color grading enhances an already edited or otherwise perfect image or video. So, in color grading, you are not trying to balance out colors or make your pictures look natural to the human eyes. Color correction does all that. Instead, with color grading, you aim to “paint over” a color-corrected content to evoke specific emotions or moods in the viewers.

Colors carry different emotions or visual tones. So, they’re essential in the post-production process to manipulate viewers into specific moods that tell your story best. In other words, color grading aligns your viewer’s emotions to the central theme in your story.

For example, if your image or video’s theme is passion, power, violence, or danger, red portrays them perfectly. Meanwhile, blue does it when you wish to evoke calmness and melancholy in your viewers.

Other examples include:

• pink for beauty, innocence, and femininity,
• Green for nature, darkness, and corruption
• Purple for fantasies, and the mystical
• Yellow for obsession, sickness, and naivety
• Orange for warmth, friendliness, youth, and happiness

Have you noticed that turning your pictures black and white makes them look timeless? That’s color grading in action.

Color Grading in LightRoom

Are you amazed by the thrilling power of color grading to manipulate viewers’ emotions? Are you wondering how you can achieve that effect seamlessly? Then, you don’t need to worry about it. With Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, you too can make magic.

Since Lightroom is an advanced photo editor, it has a lot to offer in features. Unfortunately, this may also mean that it can be complex to understand, especially if you’re new to photo editing. So, first things first, you must understand the color grading panel in Lightroom to appreciate it better.

Lightroom’s color grading panel is right beneath the HSL panel in the Develop Panel. It serves as a replacement for the Split Toning Panel from earlier versions, so it’s pretty easy to find.

The color grading panel comprises five small icons, three color wheels, and a blending/balance slider:

● The Five Small Icons

Lightroom’s small icons are a 3-way default layout, shadows, mid-tones, highlights, and global. With 3-way, you can manipulate the highlights, shadows, and mid-tones. Mid-tones, highlights, and shadows hide all color wheels, excluding the necessary ones that adjust them.

Meanwhile, Global combines and blends the highlights, mid-tones, and shadow adjustments no matter the luminosity. Global ensures that the color wheels work harmoniously.

When adjusting icons, it’s best to use each color wheel one after another one. You’ll get better and more precise outcomes that way compared to using them together.

● Lightroom’s Color Wheels

You can view Lightroom’s three-color wheels through the 3-way default layout. The color wheels help to enhance distinct image parts by providing various color hues. It also allows you to introduce saturation through an adjustable knob.

Each lightroom’s color wheels feature a luminance slide beneath them that adjusts color brightness. Between the luminance slide and the wheel is a visible eye icon that you can use to turn the effects on or off.

● The Blending and Balance Slider

The blending and balance sliders offer you advanced control over how your colors look after introducing them. With the blending slider, you can control the color distinctiveness between highlights and shadows. In other words, this feature helps to merge colors to produce a much more balanced and beautiful result.

The balance slider adjusts altered mid-tones, highlights, and shadows to balance the effects. By default, the slider is set at 0 in the middle and allows you to move it in opposite directions for distinct effects. For example, you can use this tool to balance shadows with over-concentrated colors.

While the above features are visible to everyone in the 3-way view, there are two more hidden sliders. You may only view them when editing highlights, shadows, mid-tones, or the global color wheels. They’re the hue and saturation sliders that you can only uncover by clicking on the arrow below the eye icon.

There’s no idea why the hue and saturation sliders aren’t visible in the 3-way view. That’s especially when you discover that they do the all-important job of making minor but precise changes to final adjustments. This produces an excellent fine-tuned outcome and gives your image a professional finish.

How To Color Grade Your Picture in LightRoom

If you wish to use the color grading Lightroom tool to enhance photos, here’s a comprehensive guide for you. You’ll learn the best practices to apply when using the specific Lightroom features to produce your desired effects:

● Pick Your Color Scheme

What’s color grading without the right colors? Choosing an appropriate color scheme is one of the essential steps in Lightroom color grading. That’s because it sets the tone for the next steps. If you choose the wrong colors, you won’t get the excellent result you desire no matter how hard you try.

First, take a good look at your picture and its visible colors. Then think of the colors that compliment or contrast with them. For example, you should base images with red highlights around red. You can also try colors close to red in the color wheel, like orange.

Once you’ve found the colors that suit your image, you’re ready for the next steps in your color grading process. However, more than just adding colors, you must also pay attention to contrasting colors during processing. If you find such unwanted colors, use the HSL panel to pale them out.

● Prioritize Precision

In earlier paragraphs, you learned that working with the highlights, shadows, and mid-tones individually is best. That’s because individual adjustments are a painstaking process that guarantees the most accurate results. This makes a lot of difference in the final product compared to when you work with the wheel.

Working on the shadows, highlights, and mid-tones individually also connects to the hue and saturation sliders. So you remember how vital these hidden sliders are? You wouldn’t be able to access them by working on the tools one after another. Take that as your reward for being detail-oriented.

● Increase Saturation Values

Sometimes, the effect of one tool tells on another. For example, leaving your saturation values below may render your hue slider ineffective. To avoid that confusion, it’s best to increase your saturation levels to some values higher than your preferred one.

Yes, it wouldn’t look nice initially as you adjust the hue. However, it will ensure that you get the perfect color for your image. You can always go back to adjust the saturation to your choice values later on.

● Use Color Wheels To Find Color, Use Shadows to Refine

When discussing how to choose your color scheme, you must have understood how vital the color wheel is in finding harmonious hues. However, picking your preferred color isn’t the complete process. You must learn to fine-tune your chosen color by using the hue slider. Do this after adjusting the saturation to your preferred level as in the previous step. The result is always mind-blowing.

● Learn the Short Cuts

There are some shortcuts to learn when color grading in Lightroom to enhance accuracy and convenience. For example, option (Mac)/Alt (Windows) gives you better control over your image’s outcomes. Option/Alt + Up will increase saturation by one while the shift key adjusts it. You can use Command (Mac)/Ctrl (Windows) to adjust the hue. Also, the reset button on the right side of your panel takes you back to your initial image.

● Extra Tips

These best practices will help you to achieve excellent results:

1. Don’t color grade without understanding the psychology of colors. Know what colors convey different moods or emotions.
2. Be sure to work with high-quality pictures. Color grading isn’t magic; it wouldn’t correct an already lousy image.
3. Shooting your pictures in RAW gives you more color control.

Conclusion

● Now that you’ve learned how to color grade using Lightroom, there’s no limit to what you can achieve. You can now explore your creative side with so much fun. However, know that you will likely not get it right the first time. Perfection comes with consistent practice or trial and error.

Try It Free Try It Free

Every budding photographer knows what Photoshop is Adobe Lightroom (officially Adobe Photoshop Lightroom) is the newer and more advanced version of Photoshop. Compared with other alternatives of Lightroom , Lightroom helps photographers import, modify, manipulate, find, organize, and manage their images as an image editing software. Lightroom combines photo management and photo editing in one.

One of the most amazing things about Lightroom is its autosave or nondestructive feature. Once you edit your photos, Lightroom instantly saves and stores them in your Lightroom catalog. With its inbuilt-presets, Lightroom makes working on your project so much easy and fun.

You can leverage Lightroom’s unique features to perform different types of tasks. However, in this article, you’ll learn color grading in Lightroom and how to make it work.

In this article

01 What Is Color Grading?

02 Color Grading in LightRoom

03 How To Color Grade Your Picture in LightRoom

What Is Color Grading?

Color grading is one of the essential processes for creating the perfect video and image content. Like with color correction, color grading helps enhance the appearance of your image or video and makes it appealing to viewers. However, unlike color correction, it focuses on creating stylistic or cinematic effects rather than rectifying mistakes in the image.

Color grading enhances an already edited or otherwise perfect image or video. So, in color grading, you are not trying to balance out colors or make your pictures look natural to the human eyes. Color correction does all that. Instead, with color grading, you aim to “paint over” a color-corrected content to evoke specific emotions or moods in the viewers.

Colors carry different emotions or visual tones. So, they’re essential in the post-production process to manipulate viewers into specific moods that tell your story best. In other words, color grading aligns your viewer’s emotions to the central theme in your story.

For example, if your image or video’s theme is passion, power, violence, or danger, red portrays them perfectly. Meanwhile, blue does it when you wish to evoke calmness and melancholy in your viewers.

Other examples include:

• pink for beauty, innocence, and femininity,
• Green for nature, darkness, and corruption
• Purple for fantasies, and the mystical
• Yellow for obsession, sickness, and naivety
• Orange for warmth, friendliness, youth, and happiness

Have you noticed that turning your pictures black and white makes them look timeless? That’s color grading in action.

Color Grading in LightRoom

Are you amazed by the thrilling power of color grading to manipulate viewers’ emotions? Are you wondering how you can achieve that effect seamlessly? Then, you don’t need to worry about it. With Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, you too can make magic.

Since Lightroom is an advanced photo editor, it has a lot to offer in features. Unfortunately, this may also mean that it can be complex to understand, especially if you’re new to photo editing. So, first things first, you must understand the color grading panel in Lightroom to appreciate it better.

Lightroom’s color grading panel is right beneath the HSL panel in the Develop Panel. It serves as a replacement for the Split Toning Panel from earlier versions, so it’s pretty easy to find.

The color grading panel comprises five small icons, three color wheels, and a blending/balance slider:

● The Five Small Icons

Lightroom’s small icons are a 3-way default layout, shadows, mid-tones, highlights, and global. With 3-way, you can manipulate the highlights, shadows, and mid-tones. Mid-tones, highlights, and shadows hide all color wheels, excluding the necessary ones that adjust them.

Meanwhile, Global combines and blends the highlights, mid-tones, and shadow adjustments no matter the luminosity. Global ensures that the color wheels work harmoniously.

When adjusting icons, it’s best to use each color wheel one after another one. You’ll get better and more precise outcomes that way compared to using them together.

● Lightroom’s Color Wheels

You can view Lightroom’s three-color wheels through the 3-way default layout. The color wheels help to enhance distinct image parts by providing various color hues. It also allows you to introduce saturation through an adjustable knob.

Each lightroom’s color wheels feature a luminance slide beneath them that adjusts color brightness. Between the luminance slide and the wheel is a visible eye icon that you can use to turn the effects on or off.

● The Blending and Balance Slider

The blending and balance sliders offer you advanced control over how your colors look after introducing them. With the blending slider, you can control the color distinctiveness between highlights and shadows. In other words, this feature helps to merge colors to produce a much more balanced and beautiful result.

The balance slider adjusts altered mid-tones, highlights, and shadows to balance the effects. By default, the slider is set at 0 in the middle and allows you to move it in opposite directions for distinct effects. For example, you can use this tool to balance shadows with over-concentrated colors.

While the above features are visible to everyone in the 3-way view, there are two more hidden sliders. You may only view them when editing highlights, shadows, mid-tones, or the global color wheels. They’re the hue and saturation sliders that you can only uncover by clicking on the arrow below the eye icon.

There’s no idea why the hue and saturation sliders aren’t visible in the 3-way view. That’s especially when you discover that they do the all-important job of making minor but precise changes to final adjustments. This produces an excellent fine-tuned outcome and gives your image a professional finish.

How To Color Grade Your Picture in LightRoom

If you wish to use the color grading Lightroom tool to enhance photos, here’s a comprehensive guide for you. You’ll learn the best practices to apply when using the specific Lightroom features to produce your desired effects:

● Pick Your Color Scheme

What’s color grading without the right colors? Choosing an appropriate color scheme is one of the essential steps in Lightroom color grading. That’s because it sets the tone for the next steps. If you choose the wrong colors, you won’t get the excellent result you desire no matter how hard you try.

First, take a good look at your picture and its visible colors. Then think of the colors that compliment or contrast with them. For example, you should base images with red highlights around red. You can also try colors close to red in the color wheel, like orange.

Once you’ve found the colors that suit your image, you’re ready for the next steps in your color grading process. However, more than just adding colors, you must also pay attention to contrasting colors during processing. If you find such unwanted colors, use the HSL panel to pale them out.

● Prioritize Precision

In earlier paragraphs, you learned that working with the highlights, shadows, and mid-tones individually is best. That’s because individual adjustments are a painstaking process that guarantees the most accurate results. This makes a lot of difference in the final product compared to when you work with the wheel.

Working on the shadows, highlights, and mid-tones individually also connects to the hue and saturation sliders. So you remember how vital these hidden sliders are? You wouldn’t be able to access them by working on the tools one after another. Take that as your reward for being detail-oriented.

● Increase Saturation Values

Sometimes, the effect of one tool tells on another. For example, leaving your saturation values below may render your hue slider ineffective. To avoid that confusion, it’s best to increase your saturation levels to some values higher than your preferred one.

Yes, it wouldn’t look nice initially as you adjust the hue. However, it will ensure that you get the perfect color for your image. You can always go back to adjust the saturation to your choice values later on.

● Use Color Wheels To Find Color, Use Shadows to Refine

When discussing how to choose your color scheme, you must have understood how vital the color wheel is in finding harmonious hues. However, picking your preferred color isn’t the complete process. You must learn to fine-tune your chosen color by using the hue slider. Do this after adjusting the saturation to your preferred level as in the previous step. The result is always mind-blowing.

● Learn the Short Cuts

There are some shortcuts to learn when color grading in Lightroom to enhance accuracy and convenience. For example, option (Mac)/Alt (Windows) gives you better control over your image’s outcomes. Option/Alt + Up will increase saturation by one while the shift key adjusts it. You can use Command (Mac)/Ctrl (Windows) to adjust the hue. Also, the reset button on the right side of your panel takes you back to your initial image.

● Extra Tips

These best practices will help you to achieve excellent results:

1. Don’t color grade without understanding the psychology of colors. Know what colors convey different moods or emotions.
2. Be sure to work with high-quality pictures. Color grading isn’t magic; it wouldn’t correct an already lousy image.
3. Shooting your pictures in RAW gives you more color control.

Conclusion

● Now that you’ve learned how to color grade using Lightroom, there’s no limit to what you can achieve. You can now explore your creative side with so much fun. However, know that you will likely not get it right the first time. Perfection comes with consistent practice or trial and error.

Also read: