Color Correction vs Color Grading in Photos

Color correction

Correction answers the question "is this right?" It fixes white balance and exposure, brings skin tones back to something natural, matches a garment or product to the real thing, and makes frames from different lights or days look like they belong together.

You can usually check correction against something real: a color target, a product sample or a brand's color standard.

Color grading

Grading answers the question "how should this feel?" It might mean warm highlights, cool shadows, faded blacks or a palette that runs through a whole story. It's a creative choice, so there's no right answer to check against, only a reference and an opinion.

Which comes first

Correction, nearly always. A grade built on an image with a color cast or mismatched frames has to fight those problems the whole way, and it won't hold together across a series. Correct first, so that every frame starts from the same place, and then grade.

Where the two collide

A strong grade can pull a product away from its true color. That may be fine in an editorial, but it's a real problem in a campaign or on a product page. If color accuracy matters, say so before grading starts, and see how to keep product color consistent.

How to ask for it

• For correction, send the reference: the sample, the color standard or a frame you trust.
• For grading, send images that have the feeling you want, and say what you like about each.
• If you want both, say which one wins when they conflict.

Our color correction page lists what's included, and what files to send a retoucher explains why RAW files help.