Cinematic Color Grading (Movie Look Effect) in Photoshop – Video Tutorial

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1. 0:00 Introduction
2. 0:45 Color Theory
3. 6:44 Color Correcting Images Using Curves
4. 12:42 Color Grading With The Curves Adjustment Layer
5. 25:42 Color Grading With The Selective Color Adjustment Layer
6. 28:10 Color Grading With The Color Lookup Adjustment Layer
7. 31:40 Color Grading With The Gradient Map

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Cinematic color grading in Photoshop gives a photograph the teal and orange movie look you see in summer blockbusters.

Color grading is a creative color correction. It adds a color theme or color palette to an image to help you tell a story. Film has used the term for years, and photographers now use it too.

This tutorial is for anyone who wants that movie look on their own photos. You do not need any color theory to follow it, because the video explains the little you need.

You will learn why teal and orange work together, how to remove a color cast first, and how to build the grade with two Curves adjustment layers. You will also see the same look built with Selective Color, Color Balance, Color Lookup and Gradient Map, then export it as a LUT.

The video was recorded in Photoshop 2015.5, and every adjustment layer it uses still works the same way in the current version.

What You Will Learn

• How to tell a color correction from a color grade, and why the correction comes first
• How to set the black, white and gray points with the Curves eyedroppers
• How to read a color cast in the Info panel
• How to split luminosity and color across two Curves layers with blend modes
• How to build the teal and orange look channel by channel with the Targeted Adjustment Tool
• How to get a similar look with Selective Color, Color Balance, Color Lookup and Gradient Map, and how to export your grade as a LUT

Requirements

Keyboard Shortcuts

What Is Cinematic Color Grading?

You can think of color grading as a creative color correction. It adds a color theme or color palette to an image or video to help you tell a story.

The most popular movie look is the teal and orange combination. Teal tints the shadows, and orange sits in the highlights, mostly in the skin tones.

The two colors work because they are complementary colors. Complementary colors pop when they are used side by side, so they make the actor stand out in the frame.

Look at a color wheel. Yellows, oranges, reds and magentas are where you find the skin tones. Their opposites are the greens, teals, cyans and blues.

The video shows a set of movie stills so you can see the effect first. Fair warning: once you see the pattern, you will spot it in every movie.

• Terminator Genisys, Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation and Jurassic World put teal in the darks and orange in the skin tones.
• Wonder Woman and Justice League keep the skin tones warm, even in dark and cold scenes.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles uses teal darks and orange lights on a shot of New York City with no actors in it.
• Transformers (2007) pushes the effect too far. The skin is too orange and everything else is too blue.
• The Hobbit uses greens in the dark areas. The Matrix pushes green into the skin tones because the story happens inside a computer simulation.
• Amélie pairs green shadows with red highlights. Mad Max stays monochromatic, and Terminator Salvation uses grays with very little saturation.
• Limitless jumps from a cold, desaturated look to a hot, bright yellow the moment the pill turns the main character into a genius.

There are no rules about which colors to use or how to use them. The choice is up to you and the story you want the image to tell.

Remove the Color Cast Before Color Grading

A color correction removes color casts from neutral grays. A color grade then adds a creative color on top of a clean image.

If your image has a color cast, you cannot accurately add the colors you intend. So check for neutral grays first.

The truck image in the practice files has a green color cast. The video removes it with a Curves adjustment layer, the long way first, so you can see what the tool does behind the scenes.

Set the Black Point

1. Create a Curves adjustment layer.
2. Click the top eyedropper, which sets the black point.
3. Hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and drag the black point triangle under the curve to the right. The image shows strange colors, and that is fine.
4. Watch for the first areas that turn black. Those are the darkest points of the image. On the truck, they show up on the front tire.
5. Release the key. With the black point eyedropper still selected, click one of those black areas. That sets the black point.

Set the White Point

1. Click the bottom eyedropper, which sets the white point.
2. Hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and drag the white point triangle to the left. The first areas that turn white are the brightest points of the image.
3. Release the key and click one of those white areas.

Set the Gray Point

1. Click the middle eyedropper, which sets the gray point.
2. Click anywhere on the image that should be a neutral gray. On the truck, the white paint works. The image looks better right away.

That was the long way. Click the reset icon at the bottom of the panel to clear the adjustments, and try the faster route next.

The Faster Way: Auto Color Correction Options

Adobe hides many good options in the flyout menu, the icon with four small lines at the top right of a panel. Every panel has one, so click around and see what you find.

One of the hidden options is Auto Options. A faster way to reach it is to hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and click the Auto button. Both open the Auto Color Correction Options dialog.

Click Find Dark & Light Colors. Photoshop finds the dark and light points on its own, almost exactly where you set them by hand. Click OK.

Then click the gray point eyedropper and click the white paint on the truck again. The four Auto algorithms in Curves each work a little differently, and Find Dark & Light Colors is usually the best pick.

Read a Color Cast in the Info Panel

Go to Window > Info to open the Info panel. When you hover over the image, the panel shows the red, green and blue values under the cursor.

On a neutral gray, all three values are the same. The practice file has three gradients to prove it. The center gradient reads the same in every channel, wherever you hover.

The gradient to its right reads red 221, green 213 and blue 208 at one point. Red is higher everywhere along it, so the gradient has a red cast. The next one reads 177, 185 and 197, so blue dominates there.

Back on the truck, the white area reads red 122, green 177 and blue 122. Green is much higher, so the image has a green color cast.

The portrait you grade in this tutorial reads 139, 137 and 132 on the pillar and 61, 62 and 66 on the suit. The values are close, so there is no color cast.

Set Up Two Curves Layers: One for Light, One for Color

Create a Curves adjustment layer on the portrait. Make an extreme adjustment and watch the image. The curve changes the luminosity, but it changes the colors too. The face and the red pillars get far more saturated.

The video prefers to keep color and luminance separate, so each one can be controlled on its own. Blend modes make that possible.

Create the Luminosity Curve

1. With the Curves layer selected, change the blend mode from Normal to Luminosity in the Layers panel.
2. Make the same extreme adjustment. The luminance values change, but the colors stay at their original saturation.
3. Click the reset icon to clear the curve, and rename the layer to Luminosity so you know what it controls.
4. Drag the lower point down and the upper point up to add a little contrast.

Create the Color Curve

1. Create a second Curves adjustment layer.
2. Choose the Red channel from the channel drop-down and make an extreme adjustment. The image gets brighter, because you are changing luminosity and color at once.
3. Change the blend mode to Color. Now drag a point down, and the image only shifts toward the opposite color. It does not get darker.
4. Click the reset icon and rename the layer to Color.

You now have one layer for light and one for color. Everything that follows happens on the Color layer, with a trip back to the Luminosity layer when a tonal fix is needed.

How the Curves Panel Controls Light and Color

Before building the grade, the video adds a third Curves layer set to Normal, just to explain how the panel works. Delete it when you are done.

The point at the bottom left is the black point. The horizontal gradient under the curve shows the before value, and the vertical gradient on the left shows the after value.

Drag the black point up and it is no longer black. It becomes the shade of gray shown on the left. Drag the top right point down, and white becomes a dark gray.

Think of the curve as a dimmer switch. Add a point and drag it up to add light. Drag it down to take light away.

Each channel works the same way with its own color. On the Red channel, a point above the baseline adds red. A point below it takes red away and adds cyan, the opposite of red.

The Info panel shows the same pairs. Red sits across from cyan, green across from magenta and blue across from yellow. The download for this tutorial includes a graphic of these opposite colors.

Apply the Cinematic Color Grading With Curves

Remember the look: blue and teal in the darks, orange in the lights, especially in the skin tones. Select the Color layer and start with the Red channel.

Grade the Red Channel

1. Choose the Red channel. Drag a point in the shadows below the baseline. The darks pick up cyan.
2. Drag a point in the lights above the baseline. The skin tones get redder.

There is an easier way to place those points. Click the Targeted Adjustment Tool icon in the panel and hover over the image. A circle moves along the curve as you hover, showing the value under the cursor.

1. Click a dark area of the image and drag down to add cyan.
2. Click the face and drag up to add red.

That one adjustment already creates a convincing movie look effect.

Grade the Green and Blue Channels

1. Switch to the Green channel. Click the skin tones and drag down to take away green, which adds a touch of magenta.
2. Click the darks and drag up to add a little green.
3. Switch to the Blue channel. Click a dark area and drag up to add blue.
4. Click the face and drag down to take away blue, which adds a little yellow.

As simple as that, you have the teal and orange color effect in Photoshop. The grade is not finished yet, so keep working on it.

Fine-Tune the Points

The selected point on the curve is the one that is filled in. You can drag it, or use the arrow keys to nudge it up, down, left or right.

Press the plus key to move to the next point up the line, and the minus key to move down. Select the bottom point and nudge it up to take away some cyan, or down to add more.

Go back to the Luminosity layer and click areas that are too dark to lighten them. Drag down on areas that need to be a little darker.

When the grade looks right, hold Shift and click both Curves layers, then press CtrlG (Windows) or CommandG (macOS) to put them in a group. The video names the group Curves. Toggle the group off and on to compare before and after.

Target the Color Grade With a Layer Mask

Sometimes the adjustment layers on their own are not enough, and you need a more targeted result. Use another adjustment layer with a layer mask.

1. Select the Quick Selection Tool and drag over the face to select it.
2. Create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer above the Color layer. The selection becomes its layer mask.
3. Raise the Saturation slider a little if the face needs it. Too much turns the photo into the Transformers movie, so keep it subtle.

The same layer also works as a global adjustment. Delete the layer mask and lower the saturation. The tones you applied stay, but they are not as saturated, which is closer to the gray look of Terminator Salvation.

Other Adjustment Layers for the Movie Look Effect

The Curves adjustment layer can feel intimidating at first. The video’s pick is still Curves, because it gives the most control, but the layers below are more visual and can feel more intuitive when you are starting out.

Selective Color

Selective Color lets you pick a color range and add or take away another color. Drag a slider to the right to add that color, or to the left to add its opposite.

1. Create a Selective Color adjustment layer and choose Blacks from the Colors menu. Add cyan, take away magenta to add green, and take away yellow to add blue. Add black to make the darks darker.
2. Choose Reds, where the skin tones usually lie. Take away cyan, add magenta and add yellow. Make them a little darker or brighter to taste.
3. Choose Neutrals and add a hint of cyan, plus a hint of blue by taking away yellow.

This layer stays on Normal, because the Black slider adjusts the luminance on its own. The result is very close to the Curves grade.

Color Balance

Color Balance splits the image into Shadows, Midtones and Highlights. Each slider runs between a channel color and its opposite, so it is a great reminder of the pairs.

1. Create a Color Balance adjustment layer and choose Shadows. Add cyan, blue and green for the teal.
2. Choose Highlights. Add a little red, magenta and yellow for the orange.

Again, you get the same blue, teal and orange effect.

Color Lookup and LUT Files

A Color Lookup adjustment layer applies lookup tables, or LUT files. Video editors use LUTs for color grading, and Photoshop ships with a set of them.

1. Create a Color Lookup adjustment layer and open the drop-down list of LUTs.
2. Scroll through the list to preview the color grades. Pick a teal and orange preset. The video chooses one that also adds contrast, and it lands close to the look built with Curves.

The catch is that there are no controls. You can lower the layer opacity, set the blend mode to Color to take only the colors, or set it to Luminosity to take only the tones. The video uses Color Lookup layers all the time, but with those limits in mind.

Export Your Color Grade as a LUT

You can turn the grade you built with regular adjustment layers into a LUT file and apply it to video. First, delete the extra adjustment layers so only the Curves group and the photo remain.

1. Go to Layer > New > Background from Layer. The export needs a locked Background layer.
2. Go to File > Export > Color Lookup Tables. Leave the options at their defaults, make sure CUBE is checked, and click OK.
3. Name the file and click Save. The video names it Cinematic Color Grading.
4. To test it, turn off the Curves group, create a Color Lookup adjustment layer and choose Load 3D LUT. Pick the .cube file and click Load.

The result matches the Curves grade exactly, on one single adjustment layer. The same file loads in Premiere Pro and After Effects, so your grade transfers to video. To go deeper, see how to create and apply your own lookup tables in Photoshop.

Gradient Map With Photographic Toning

A Gradient Map works differently from the other adjustment layers. It maps a color onto each luminance value in the image, which can produce some interesting color grades.

1. Create a Gradient Map adjustment layer. It starts with the foreground and background colors, so click the down arrow next to the gradient and choose Black, White. The image turns black and white.
2. Double-click the gradient to open the Gradient Editor. The color stop on the left controls the darkest point, and the stop on the right controls the lightest point.
3. Pick a preset with two other colors. A purple to orange preset makes the darks purple and turns what used to be white into orange. The tones in between become a gradient of the two.

Two colors and OK rarely make a good grade on their own. You have to use blend modes such as Overlay, Soft Light or Color so the colors blend with the photo.

1. Click the down arrow, click the gear icon and choose Photographic Toning. Click OK to replace the default gradients.
2. Pick one of the toning gradients and set the blend mode to Soft Light. Try Overlay for a stronger effect. Color usually does not work as well.

Soft Light with Photographic Toning is one of the video’s favorite combinations. Browse the set to find the grade that suits your image. For a more advanced version, see this color grade built with two Gradient Map layers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

You now know what a color grade is and why teal and orange work together. You also know how to remove a color cast and build the movie look with two Curves layers.

Curves gives you the most control, but Selective Color, Color Balance, Color Lookup and Gradient Map all get you close. Pick the one that feels natural and adjust it for your own image.

Watch the full video above to see every adjustment as it happens, and comment on the video if you have a question.

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Related Links

• Export LUTs in Photoshop! Unlock The Power Lookup Tables
• Photoshop 2021: Color Grading in Camera Raw
• Beautiful Color Grade In Photoshop – “Homecoming” Poster – Copycat #6
• Create and Apply Color Effects Using Lookup Tables in Photoshop
• Hidden Algorithms for Easy Color Correction in Photoshop

Final Image

Drag the slider to see before and after

BeforeAfter