---
title: "Color Grading Workflow: The Right Order | colorgrade.video"
description: "A practical color grading workflow: input, balance, shot matching, secondaries, look, finishing, checks and export, mapped to layers, Resolve nodes and Lumetri."
url: https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/workflow
---

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3. Grading workflow

Chapter 12 of 13 · Intermediate · 8 min read

# Color Grading Workflow: The Order That Works

Every tool in a grade can undo the work of another, so the order you use them in matters as much as the tools themselves. Colourists settled on a sequence long ago: get the footage into the right colour space, balance it, make the shots agree, fix specific areas, then add the creative look and the finishing texture, check it and export. Each stage hands the next a predictable picture, which is what keeps a grade under control.

This chapter walks through that colour grading workflow stage by stage, shows where each stage lives in the studio, and maps it to the **Layers** stack, DaVinci Resolve’s node tree and the section order of Premiere Pro’s Lumetri Color panel. It ends with keyframes, for shots where the light changes while the camera rolls. The earlier chapters cover each tool in depth; this one is about how they fit together.

Video guide

## Color Grading Workflow Step by Step: Balance to Look

Duration:  0:44 

Your browser can't play this video. [Download the MP4](https://colorgrade.video/media/videos/color-grading-workflow-step-by-step/video.mp4) or read the[full transcript](https://colorgrade.video/videos/color-grading-workflow-step-by-step).

Chapters

1. [ Play from  0:00 Balance and secondary ](https://colorgrade.video/videos/color-grading-workflow-step-by-step#t=0)
2. [ Play from  0:16 Look and finishing ](https://colorgrade.video/videos/color-grading-workflow-step-by-step#t=16)
3. [ Play from  0:27 Layers and keyframes ](https://colorgrade.video/videos/color-grading-workflow-step-by-step#t=27)
4. [ Play from  0:42 Try it yourself ](https://colorgrade.video/videos/color-grading-workflow-step-by-step#t=42)

English captions [Watch page and full transcript ](https://colorgrade.video/videos/color-grading-workflow-step-by-step) 

## Key takeaways

* Work in order: input, balance, match, secondaries, look, finishing, checks, export.
* Correct before you create: a look applied to an unbalanced shot carries the fault with it.
* The **Layers** stack is serial, so each layer works on the picture the layers above hand it.
* Use **Opacity** to ease a layer back and the row switch to bypass it while you compare.
* For light that changes during a shot, **Animate the grade** dissolves from a start grade to an end grade.

## In this chapter

1. [ 1. The grading workflow, in order ](#grading-order)
2. [ 2. Each stage in the studio ](#each-stage-in-the-studio)
3. [ 3. How the order maps to Layers ](#layers-stack)
4. [ 4. The same order in DaVinci Resolve and Premiere Pro ](#resolve-and-premiere)
5. [ 5. When the light changes: animating the grade ](#keyframes)
6. [ 6. Checks before export ](#checks-before-export)
7. [ 7. Try it: grade a clip in workflow order ](#try-it)

## The grading workflow, in order

1. **Input and colour management.** Convert log or HDR footage to the working colour space, so every later control behaves as designed. See [log footage and LUTs](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/log-footage-and-luts).
2. **Balance.** Set levels and contrast, then neutralise white balance, so the shot is accurate. See [contrast and tonal range](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/contrast-and-tonal-range) and [white balance](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/white-balance).
3. **Match shots.** Bring every shot of a scene in line with a hero shot. See [shot matching](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/shot-matching).
4. **Secondaries.** Fix or shape specific colours and areas: skin, sky, a distracting sign. See [secondary colour correction](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/secondary-color-correction).
5. **Creative look.** Give the scene its mood, usually the same look across all its shots. See [creative looks](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/creative-looks).
6. **Finishing.** Add texture last: grain, vignette, sharpening, glow.
7. **Checks.** Compare with the original, read the scopes and play the whole clip.
8. **Export.** Choose the format and quality for where it will be watched. See [delivery](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/delivery).

### Why this order works

Each stage assumes the one before it is done. Contrast controls expect normal display-referred footage, not a flat log signal. A look is designed for neutral, balanced input: put it on a shot that is too blue and you get a bluer version of the look, and two shots with different casts stay different after the same look goes on. Secondaries pulled from an unbalanced picture have to be redone when the balance changes. And texture comes last because grain and sharpening should sit on top of the final colour, not be stretched by the controls that follow them.

Working out of order also costs time. Fix a white balance problem inside the look and you will fix it again on every shot the look is pasted onto. Fix it on the shot’s correction and the look stays reusable.

## Each stage in the studio

Switch to **Pro** to see every panel and the scopes column. Here is where each stage lives.

### Input

In the **Footage** panel, set **Footage** to your camera’s log or HDR profile and use **Log exposure** to trim the level before the conversion. For a camera that isn’t listed, use **Import LUT** in **Creative** with **Apply LUT** set to **Before the grade**, and leave **Footage** on **Standard video (Rec.709)**. Use one conversion or the other, never both. Ordinary phone and camera video needs nothing here.

### Balance

**Adjust** edits the **Correction** layer. **Auto colour** (A) is a reasonable draft; then set **Exposure**, **Contrast**, **Whites** and **Blacks** against the **Waveform**, and neutralise the colour with **Pick white** (W), **Temperature** and **Tint**. The **Wheels** panel does the same job with **Lift**, **Gamma**, **Gain** and **Offset** if you prefer to balance shadows, midtones and whites separately.

### Match

In **Match**, use **Grab still** on the hero shot, **Show as reference** on the others, and **Match colours** for a first pass. **Copy grade** and **Paste grade** share a finished grade across shots.

### Secondaries

In **Secondary**, choose **Add a secondary layer**, then select what to change with the qualifier (**Pick colour**, or the **Skin**, **Sky** and **Foliage** presets), a window (**Circle**, **Rectangle**, **Gradient**, **Polygon**), or both. **Show mask** set to **Highlight** shows exactly what is selected.

[ ![A golden-hour portrait in the studio with a feathered Circle window drawn over the person’s face and Show mask set to Highlight, so the face shows in colour and the rest of the frame in grey.](https://colorgrade.video/guides/color-grading-tutorial/workflow/wf-secondary-window.webp)  (enlarge image) ](https://colorgrade.video/guides/color-grading-tutorial/workflow/wf-secondary-window.webp) 

A **Circle** window on a secondary layer, with **Show mask** on **Highlight**.

### Look

Pick a look in **Looks** and set its **Intensity**; **Protect skin tones** keeps faces out of it. Build or refine your own with **Curves**, **HSL** and **Split toning**, or load a creative LUT with **Apply LUT** set to **After the grade**.

### Finishing

In **Creative**, add **Grain**, a **Vignette**, **Sharpen**, **Halation** or **Bloom**. A little goes a long way, and all of them cost bitrate when you export.

## How the order maps to Layers

The **Layers** panel shows the grade as a stack, read from top (first) to bottom (last): **Footage**, the fixed input conversion; **Correction**; any layers you add, including secondary layers; **Look**; and **LUT**, when one is loaded. It is DaVinci Resolve’s serial node chain simplified to one column, and the default rows already follow the grading order.

### Order matters

Each layer works on the picture the layers above hand it. A warming correction before a teal-and-orange look changes what the look treats as warm, while the same warming after the look tints the look itself. A secondary that selects skin works best on the balanced picture, before a look has moved skin around. When a change behaves oddly, check where it sits in the stack; moving a row up or down often fixes it.

### Opacity and bypass

* **Opacity** mixes a layer’s result with what it received, from 0 to 100%. A look at 70% keeps its character with less force; a secondary at 50% softens a fix that went too far.
* The switch on each row bypasses that layer, so you can see exactly what it contributes. **Bypass** in the top bar (Shift+D) shows the original for the whole grade.
* Rows can be renamed, moved up or down, duplicated and, for added layers, deleted. You can add up to 12 layers, and up to 6 of them can have a mask.

Name layers by job

Rename added layers for what they do, such as Trim, Skin or Sky. When you come back to a grade, or paste it onto another shot, the stack reads like a list of decisions instead of a puzzle.

[ ![The Layers panel listing, from top to bottom, Footage, Correction, Secondary 1 with a mask badge, and Look with its Opacity at 70%, each row with an on/off switch.](https://colorgrade.video/guides/color-grading-tutorial/workflow/wf-layers.webp)  (enlarge image) ](https://colorgrade.video/guides/color-grading-tutorial/workflow/wf-layers.webp) 

The **Layers** stack runs top to bottom: **Footage**, **Correction**, a secondary layer, **Look**.

## The same order in DaVinci Resolve and Premiere Pro

The workflow is the same in every grading application; only the containers change. In Resolve’s Color page, a typical serial node tree starts with a Color Space Transform node for log footage, then a balance node, then nodes for secondaries and the look, with the order of the nodes doing the job of the studio’s rows. Resolve also has parallel and layer mixer nodes, which combine branches side by side; the studio keeps to one serial chain, which covers most single-clip grades.

Premiere Pro’s Lumetri Color panel lists its sections as Basic Correction, Creative, Curves, Color Wheels & Match, HSL Secondary and Vignette. That puts the Creative look above the secondary sections in the panel, so editors who want secondaries before the look often add a second Lumetri Color effect, or put the look on an adjustment layer over the clips. Our guides to [DaVinci Resolve](https://colorgrade.video/how-to-color-grade-in-davinci-resolve) and [Premiere Pro](https://colorgrade.video/how-to-color-grade-in-premiere-pro) show each control.

__Where each stage lives__
| Stage       | This studio                | DaVinci Resolve             | Premiere Pro (Lumetri)         |
| ----------- | -------------------------- | --------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| Input       | **Footage** panel          | Color Space Transform node  | Input LUT or colour management |
| Balance     | **Adjust**, **Wheels**     | Primaries on a balance node | Basic Correction               |
| Match       | **Match**                  | Shot Match, gallery stills  | Color Wheels & Match           |
| Secondaries | **Secondary** layers       | Qualifier and window nodes  | HSL Secondary                  |
| Look        | **Looks**, **Curves**, LUT | Look node or LUT            | Creative, Curves               |
| Finishing   | **Creative**               | Effects on the last nodes   | Creative (Sharpen), Vignette   |

## When the light changes: animating the grade

Some shots change while the camera rolls. The sun goes behind a cloud, automatic exposure creeps as someone walks past a window, or a camera moves from daylight into a room lit by bulbs. One grade can’t be right at both ends of a shot like that. Keyframes let it change with the light.

1. Grade the start of the shot as usual.
2. Open **Keyframes** on the timeline and choose **Animate the grade**. This creates an end grade, a copy of the start grade you can change.
3. Move the playhead to where the change begins and choose **Set start here**, then to where it ends and choose **Set end here**.
4. Choose **Editing: End** and correct the end of the shot. **Editing: Start** goes back to the first grade.
5. Pick **Ease**: **Smooth** starts and finishes the change gently; **Linear** changes at a steady rate, which suits a steady drift.

Between the markers the picture dissolves from the start grade to the end grade, as dynamic keyframes do on a Resolve node. Change only what the light changed, usually **Temperature**, **Tint** and level, and leave the look alone, so the shot’s style holds while its balance follows the scene. **Remove keyframes** returns to a single grade.

Check both ends on the scopes

Park on the first frame and the last frame and compare the **Parade** at each. If the neutrals line up at both ends, the dissolve between them will usually look natural. Remember that a .cube LUT can’t store keyframes.

[ ![The studio timeline with the Keyframes menu open after Animate the grade, showing start and end markers on the scrub bar, the Editing: Start and Editing: End choice and the Ease options Smooth and Linear.](https://colorgrade.video/guides/color-grading-tutorial/workflow/wf-keyframes.webp)  (enlarge image) ](https://colorgrade.video/guides/color-grading-tutorial/workflow/wf-keyframes.webp) 

**Animate the grade** adds an end grade; the picture dissolves between the markers.

## Checks before export

* Toggle **Bypass** (Shift+D) or set **Compare** to **Split** to see how far you have come. A grade that looks good only when you can’t see the original is often too strong.
* Set **View** to **Clipping** to find channels at 0 or 100%, and to **False colour** to check levels at a glance.
* Read the **Vectorscope** for skin on the skin tone line and the **Waveform** for black and white levels.
* Play the whole clip, not just the frame you graded: light, framing and skin change through a shot.
* Check the **In** and **Out** markers so you export the range you mean to.

Then export, choosing the format and quality for where the video will be watched. The [mistakes chapter](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/mistakes) is a good final checklist, and the [tutorial overview](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial) links every stage.

[ ![The golden-hour clip with Compare set to Split: the original on the left of the divider, the finished grade with its look, grain and vignette on the right.](https://colorgrade.video/guides/color-grading-tutorial/workflow/wf-compare-split.webp)  (enlarge image) ](https://colorgrade.video/guides/color-grading-tutorial/workflow/wf-compare-split.webp) 

**Compare** on **Split**: the original on the left, the finished grade on the right.

## Try it: grade a clip in workflow order

Grade a sunset clip stage by stage: balance it, fix the face with a secondary layer, add a look and finishing texture, check the layer stack, then animate the grade for the changing light.

1. 1  
### Balance on Correction
Open the clip, switch to **Pro**, and in **Adjust** set **Contrast** and **Temperature** while watching the **Parade**.
2. 2  
### Add a secondary
In **Secondary**, choose **Add a secondary layer**, add a **Circle** window over the face, set its **Feather**, and lift the face a little with **Exposure**.
3. 3  
### Add the look
In **Looks**, choose a look and set **Intensity** and **Protect skin tones**.
4. 4  
### Finish
In **Creative**, add a touch of **Grain** and a gentle **Vignette**.
5. 5  
### Review the stack
Open **Layers**, switch each row off and on to see its effect, and lower the **Look** row’s **Opacity** if it is too strong.
6. 6  
### Animate for the light
Open **Keyframes**, choose **Animate the grade**, set the markers with **Set start here** and **Set end here**, and adjust **Temperature** on **Editing: End**.

## Grading workflow: questions

### What is the correct order for color grading?

Convert log footage first, then balance levels and white balance, match the shots, make secondary corrections, add the creative look, add finishing texture, check, and export. Each stage gives the next a predictable picture, so later tools behave as intended.

### How many layers or nodes should a color grade have?

As few as do the job, with one job each. A balance, a look and perhaps one or two secondaries cover most shots. Splitting the work this way lets you bypass or adjust each part on its own; piling every change onto one layer makes the grade hard to read and to reuse.

### Why does layer order matter in color grading?

Because each layer or node works on the result of the ones before it. The same warming correction before a look changes what the look receives; after the look it tints the look itself. Getting the order right makes grades predictable and reusable.

### What is a good node structure in DaVinci Resolve?

A simple serial tree works for most shots: a Color Space Transform node for log input, a balance node, nodes for any secondaries, a look node, and finishing at the end. Keep one job per node so you can bypass each to see what it does.

### How do I color grade a shot where the light changes?

Use keyframes. Grade the start, choose **Animate the grade**, place the start and end markers around the change, and correct the end grade. The picture dissolves between the two; change only the balance, not the look.

[ ← Previous: chapter 11 Delivery and export ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/delivery) [ Next: chapter 13 → Common mistakes ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/mistakes) 

## Keep going

* [ Shot matching Make every shot in a scene look like it was filmed in the same light: by eye with the scopes, with a reference still, and with a shared grade plus trims. ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/shot-matching)
* [ Secondary correction Isolate one colour or one area of the frame with a qualifier or a power window, check the matte, and grade that part alone. ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/secondary-color-correction)
* [ Creative looks Build a look on top of a correction: complementary colour, film-style contrast and texture, split toning, black and white, and the restraint that holds it together. ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/creative-looks)
* [ How to color grade in DaVinci Resolve A beginner node tree on the Color page, from log conversion to Shot Match. ](https://colorgrade.video/how-to-color-grade-in-davinci-resolve)
* [ Delivery and export Why the same file looks different on a phone, a monitor and a TV, which output curve to choose, and how to export video, stills and LUTs without losing the grade. ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/delivery)

All 13 chapters 
1. [ 1\. Video scopes ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/video-scopes)  · Basics
2. [ 2\. Contrast and tonal range ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/contrast-and-tonal-range)  · Basics
3. [ 3\. White balance ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/white-balance)  · Basics
4. [ 4\. Colour wheels ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/color-wheels)  · Intermediate
5. [ 5\. Curves ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/curves)  · Intermediate
6. [ 6\. Secondary correction ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/secondary-color-correction)  · Intermediate
7. [ 7\. Skin tones ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/skin-tones)  · Intermediate
8. [ 8\. Log footage and LUTs ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/log-footage-and-luts)  · Advanced
9. [ 9\. Creative looks ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/creative-looks)  · Advanced
10. [ 10\. Shot matching ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/shot-matching)  · Advanced
11. [ 11\. Delivery and export ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/delivery)  · Advanced
12. [ 12\. Grading workflow ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/workflow)  · Intermediate
13. [ 13\. Common mistakes ](https://colorgrade.video/color-grading-tutorial/mistakes)  · Basics