Cinematic Color Grade

This tutorial walks through a complete teal-and-orange cinema grade applied to an outdoor scene. The technique generalizes to any palette; just change the wheel angles.

Original photo: neutral colors, balanced exposure — Before: neutral edit with balanced exposure.

Finished cinematic grade: teal shadows, orange highlights, slight contrast — After: teal & orange grade applied.

What we're trying to do

Push the shadows toward teal and the highlights toward orange. This is one of the most recognizable looks in modern cinema, used precisely because human skin sits in the orange range and contrasts sharply against teal.

Color grading is a finishing step, not a fix. Make sure the photo is already well-exposed and white-balanced before opening the wheels.

1. Establish the baseline

Open Adjustments (D).

Slider	Set to	Why
Exposure	adjust to taste	Get midtones right first.
Highlights	as needed	Recover any clipping.
Shadows	as needed	Open shadows just enough to read.
Temperature / Tint	neutral your image	Don't fight the camera with a strong cast before grading.

2. Open the Color Grading wheels

In the Color section, scroll to Color Grading. The 3-Way tab is selected by default; you'll see three wheels (Shadows, Midtones, Highlights) plus two sliders below (Blending, Balance).

3. Push shadows toward teal

Drag inside the Shadows wheel toward the lower-left, around 200° (teal). Push the wheel marker about 30 to 50% out from center for moderate saturation.

Watch the dark areas of the photo take on a cool cast.

4. Push midtones toward orange

In the Midtones wheel, drag toward the upper-right, around 30° (orange). Match the saturation level you used in shadows.

Watch the bright areas, including any skin and sun-lit surfaces, pick up warmth.

Color Grading panel with shadows wheel pointed at teal and midtones wheel pointed at orange — The Color Grading 3-Way wheels with shadows toward teal and midtones toward orange.

5. Tune Blending and Balance

Slider	Set to	Why
Blending	60 to 70	Smoother transitions between zones. Lower for harder, more stylized cuts.
Balance	0	Keeps shadow / highlight emphasis equal. Push negative for shadow-dominant images, positive for highlight-dominant.

6. Finishing touches

A few small adjustments seal the look.

Slider	Set to	Why
Contrast	+40	Adds bite.
Vibrance	−10	Tones down the now-extra saturation from the grade.
Effects → Halation	8	Subtle warm bloom on highlights, very film-like.
Effects → Glow	10	Adds atmosphere without being obvious.

Other looks built the same way

Same workflow, different wheel angles:

Look	Shadows	Midtones	Highlights
Teal & Orange	Teal (~200°), sat 30 to 50%	Orange (~30°), sat 30 to 50%	Neutral or slight orange
Bleach Bypass	Slight cyan, sat 15%	Slight yellow-green, sat 15%	Neutral; lower global Saturation
Warm Filmic	Brown (~30°), sat 20%	Warm yellow (~50°), sat 30%	Neutral
Cold Cinema	Strong blue (~210°), sat 50%	Slight cyan (~190°), sat 20%	Neutral
Vintage Magenta	Magenta (~330°), sat 30%	Yellow (~60°), sat 20%	Slight magenta

7. Save it as a Style preset

Once you're happy:

Open Presets (P).
+ New Preset → name it ("Teal & Orange") → choose Style preset mode.
Apply to other photos in this shoot or future shoots with one click.

You can also share the preset with the Community Presets by opening an issue on GitHub.