What is color grading?
Last updated 2026-10-20
Color grading is changing the colors of footage to create a look, such as warm, cool, faded or black and white. Color correction comes first: it fixes exposure and white balance so the footage looks natural. Grade after that. Woven gives each video or image clip a color Preset plus Saturation, Brightness, Contrast and Warmth sliders.
Color correction vs color grading
Correction fixes problems. The shot is too dark, the whites look blue, or two clips of one room do not match. Grading is a choice. You push the colors toward a mood. The same sliders do both, which is why people mix the words up. Apple's Final Cut Pro guide uses one name, color correction, for balancing exposure and white balance and for reaching a look such as warmer or cooler tones.
A quick test: if you can point to a fault in the shot, it is correction. If it is a matter of taste, it is grading.
| Topic | Color correction | Color grading |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Natural, accurate color | A look or mood |
| Typical moves | Exposure, white balance | Warm or cool lean, contrast, saturation |
| When | First | After correction |
| How you judge it | Skin looks like skin, whites look white | The look fits the story |
A simple order of operations
Work in the same order each time. Apple's Final Cut Pro guide gives a similar order: balance color first, white balance included, then match shots, then make manual corrections.
- Exposure. Set brightness and contrast so faces read, shadows keep some detail and bright areas are not blown out.
- White balance. Remove any cast so white things look white. In iMovie, click White Balance, then click an area that should be white or gray.
- Match clips. Pick the clip that looks best and bring the others to it.
- Saturation. Add or take away color until it feels right, then stop a little short.
- Look. Last, add the warm, cool or faded lean. Compare with the ungraded version.
Matching clips and black and white
Clips shot on different cameras, or at different times of day, will not match on their own. Match them before you add a look, so the look lands the same on every clip. Otherwise one shot reads warm and the next reads cold.
Black and white removes color so shape, contrast and faces carry the picture. Color no longer hides problems, so contrast matters more. A flat gray image looks muddy. For a cinematic feel in color, the usual recipe is restraint: a little more contrast, a little less saturation and one lean, applied evenly to every shot.
Common mistakes
Most bad grades come from pushing too far or working in the wrong order.
- Crushed skin tones. Raising contrast or lowering brightness until shadows on faces turn black. Back off until you can see the cheekbone again. In iMovie, Skin Tone Balance asks you to click a well-exposed area of skin.
- Over-saturation. Skin goes orange and greens glow. If a color has lost all its detail, it is too strong.
- Grading before correcting. A preset on a dark, blue clip gives you a dark, blue clip with a filter.
- A different look on every clip. Pick one look and keep it across the video.
Color grade in Woven
Woven's color controls sit on each video or image clip, in the Style tab under Color. There is a Preset (None, B&W, Warm, Cool or Faded) and four sliders. A Preset sets all four sliders at once. Saturation and Contrast run 0 to 200%, with 100% meaning unchanged. Brightness and Warmth run from -100 to +100. Color does not touch text or captions, and every slider can be keyframed. iMovie has White Balance and Match Color buttons if you want them.
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- Make this clip black and white.
- Warm up the interview clip a little and lift the brightness.
- Warm clip 2 so it matches clip 1.
- Fade the last clip from color to black and white over two seconds.
Or do it by hand
- 1Open Color. Select a video or image clip, open the Style tab and find Color.
- 2Pick a starting look. If you want a Preset, choose it now. It sets all four sliders at once, so choosing one later replaces your corrections.
- 3Correct on top. Move Brightness and Contrast until faces read. If whites look too blue or too orange, move Warmth until they look neutral. Press ⌘Z and ⇧⌘Z to compare before and after.
- 4Match. Step through the other clips and bring each one toward your best clip, checking at the playhead.
- 5Animate it. To fade to black and white, put the playhead at the start, press ⌥K and set Saturation. Move the playhead later, press ⌥K and set Saturation lower.
Common questions
Color grading is adjusting the colors and tones of footage to create a look or mood, such as warm, cool, faded or black and white.
Correction fixes problems such as exposure and white balance so footage looks natural. Grading is a creative choice made after that.
Usually a little more contrast, a little less saturation and one color lean applied evenly to every shot. It is restraint, not a heavy filter.
Remove the color from the clip. In Woven, select it and choose the B&W preset in the Color section of the Style tab.
Fix exposure, fix white balance, match your clips, adjust saturation, then add the look. Apple's Final Cut Pro guide gives a similar order: balance, match, then manual changes.
Yes. iMovie has Auto, Match Color, White Balance and Skin Tone Balance buttons, and Final Cut Pro adds masks and scopes. Woven offers a preset and four sliders per clip.
Sources
- Adjust a clip's color in iMovie on Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- Intro to color correction in Final Cut Pro for Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
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