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How color management works

  1. Adobe Premiere Pro User Guide
  2. Beta releases
    1. Beta Program Overview
    2. Premiere Pro Beta Home
  3. Getting started
    1. Get started with Adobe Premiere Pro
    2. What's new in Premiere Pro
    3. Best practices for updating Premiere Pro
    4. Keyboard shortcuts in Premiere Pro
    5. Accessibility in Premiere Pro
    6. Frequently asked questions
    7. Release notes
  4. Hardware and operating system requirements
    1. Hardware recommendations
    2. System requirements
    3. GPU and GPU Driver requirements
    4. GPU Accelerated Rendering & Hardware Encoding/Decoding
    5. How to install drivers from NVIDIA
  5. Creating projects
    1. Start a new project
    2. Open projects
    3. Move and delete projects
    4. Work with multiple open projects
    5. Work with Project Shortcuts
    6. Backward compatibility of Premiere Pro projects
    7. Open and edit Premiere Rush projects in Premiere Pro
    8. Best Practices: Create your own project templates
  6. Workspaces and workflows
    1. Workspaces
    2. Import and export FAQs
    3. Working with Panels
    4. Windows touch and gesture controls
    5. Use Premiere Pro in a dual-monitor setup
  7. Frame.io
    1. Install and activate Frame.io
    2. Use Frame.io with Premiere Pro and After Effects
    3. Integrate Adobe Workfront and Frame.io
    4. Invite collaborators to co-edit a project
    5. Frequently asked questions
  8. Import media
    1. Importing
      1. Transfer files
      2. Importing still images
      3. Importing digital audio
    2. Importing from Avid or Final Cut
      1. Importing AAF project files from Avid Media Composer
      2. Importing XML project files from Final Cut Pro 7 and Final Cut Pro X
    3. Searching for imported media
      1. Media intelligence and Search panel
      2. Frequently asked questions
    4. File formats
      1. Supported file formats
      2. Support for Blackmagic RAW
    5. Working with timecode
  9. Editing
    1. Edit video
    2. Sequences
      1. Create and change sequences
      2. Set In and Out points in the Source Monitor
      3. Add clips to sequences
      4. Rearrange and move clips
      5. Find, select, and group clips in a sequence
      6. Remove clips from a sequence
      7. Change sequence settings
      8. Edit from sequences loaded into the Source Monitor
      9. Simplify sequences
      10. Rendering and previewing sequences
      11. Working with markers
      12. Add markers to clips
      13. Create markers in Effect Controls panel
      14. Set default marker colors
      15. Find, move, and delete markers
      16. Show or hide markers by color
      17. View marker comments
      18. Copy and paste sequence markers
      19. Sharing markers with After Effects
      20. Source patching and track targeting
      21. Scene edit detection
    3. Generative Extend
      1. Overview 
      2. Frequently asked questions
      3. Known issues
    4. Cut and trim clips
      1. Split or cut clips
      2. Trim clips
      3. Edit in Trim mode
      4. Perform J cuts and L cuts
      5. Create and play clips
      6. Adjust Trimming and Playback preferences
    5. Video
      1. Synchronizing audio and video with Merge Clips
      2. Render and replace media
      3. Undo, history, and events
      4. Freeze and hold frames
      5. Working with aspect ratios
    6. Audio
      1. Overview of audio in Premiere Pro
      2. Edit audio clips in the Source Monitor
      3. Audio Track Mixer
      4. Adjusting volume levels
      5. Edit, repair, and improve audio using Essential Sound panel
      6. Enhance Speech
      7. Enhance Speech FAQs
      8. Audio Category Tagging
      9. Automatically duck audio
      10. Remix audio
      11. Monitor clip volume and pan using Audio Clip Mixer
      12. Audio balancing and panning
      13. Advanced Audio - Submixes, downmixing, and routing
      14. Audio effects and transitions
      15. Working with audio transitions
      16. Apply effects to audio
      17. Measure audio using the Loudness Radar effect
      18. Recording audio mixes
      19. Editing audio in the timeline
      20. Audio channel mapping in Premiere Pro
      21. Use Adobe Stock audio in Premiere Pro
    7. Text-Based Editing
      1. Text-Based Editing
      2. Text-Based Editing FAQs
    8. Advanced editing
      1. Multi-camera editing workflow
      2. Editing VR
    9. Best Practices
      1. Best Practices: Mix audio faster
      2. Best Practices: Editing efficiently
      3. Editing workflows for feature films
  10. Video Effects and Transitions
    1. Overview of video effects and transitions
    2. Effects
      1. Types of effects in Premiere Pro
      2. Apply and remove effects
      3. Use FX badges
      4. Effect presets
      5. Metadata effect in Premiere Pro
      6. Automatically reframe video for different social media channels
      7. Color correction effects
      8. Effects Manager
      9. Change duration and speed of clips
      10. Adjustment Layers
      11. Stabilize footage
    3. Transitions
      1. Applying transitions in Premiere Pro
      2. Modifying and customizing transitions
      3. Morph Cut
  11. Titles, Graphics, and Captions
    1. Properties panel
      1. About Properties panel
      2. Edit text
      3. Edit shapes
      4. Edit audio
      5. Edit video
      6. Mask with shape
      7. Create, apply, and redefine text styles
    2. Essential Graphics panel (24.x and earlier) 
      1. Overview of the Essential Graphics panel
      2. Create a title
      3. Linked and Track Styles
      4. Working with style browser
      5. Create a shape
      6. Draw with the Pen tool
      7. Align and distribute objects
      8. Change the appearance of text and shapes
      9. Apply gradients
      10. Add Responsive Design features to your graphics
    3. Captions
      1. Speech to Text
      2. Translate captions
      3. Download language packs for transcription
      4. Working with captions
      5. Check spelling and Find and Replace
      6. Export text
      7. Speech to Text FAQs
      8. Translate captions FAQs
    4. Motion Graphics Templates
      1. Install and use Motion Graphics templates
      2. Replace images or videos in Motion Graphics templates
      3. Use data-driven Motion Graphics templates
    5. Best Practices: Faster graphics workflows
    6. Retiring the Legacy Titler FAQs
    7. Upgrade Legacy titles to Source Graphics
  12. Fonts and emojis
    1. Color fonts
    2. Emojis
  13. Animation and Keyframing
    1. Adding, navigating, and setting keyframes
    2. Animating effects
    3. Use Motion effect to edit and animate clips
    4. Optimize keyframe automation
    5. Moving and copying keyframes
    6. Viewing and adjusting effects and keyframes
  14. Compositing
    1. Compositing, alpha channels, and adjusting clip opacity
    2. Masking and tracking
    3. Blending modes
  15. Color Correction and Grading
    1. Overview: Color workflows in Premiere Pro
    2. Color Settings
    3. Auto Color
    4. Get creative with color using Lumetri looks
    5. Adjust color using RGB and Hue Saturation Curves
    6. Correct and match colors between shots
    7. Using HSL Secondary controls in the Lumetri Color panel
    8. Create vignettes
    9. Looks and LUTs
    10. Lumetri scopes
    11. Timeline tone mapping
    12. HDR for broadcasters
    13. Enable DirectX HDR support
  16. Color management
    1. About color management 
    2. How color management works
    3. Auto Detection of Log Camera Formats and Raw Media
    4. Disable color management
    5. Manage source media colors in the Program Monitor
    6. Configure clips for color management using Clip Modify
    7. Configure sequence color management
    8. Customize color presets for new or existing sequences
    9. Configure a sequence’s output color space
    10. Color management options
    11. Color management and Lumetri Color
    12. Premiere Pro and After Effects color management compatibility
    13. Working with color managed iPhone media
    14. Frequently asked questions
  17. Exporting media
    1. Export video
    2. Export Preset Manager
    3. Workflow and overview for exporting
    4. Quick export
    5. Exporting for the Web and mobile devices
    6. Export a still image
    7. Content Credentials in Premiere Pro and Adobe Media Encoder
    8. Exporting projects for other applications
    9. Exporting OMF files for Pro Tools
    10. Export to Panasonic P2 format
    11. Export settings
      1. Export settings reference
      2. Basic Video Settings
      3. Encoding Settings
    12. Best Practices: Export faster
  18. Collaborative editing
    1. Collaboration in Premiere Pro
    2. Get started with collaborative video editing
    3. Create Team Projects
    4. Add and manage media in Team Projects
    5. Invite and manage collaborators
    6. Share and manage changes with collaborators
    7. View auto saves and versions of Team Projects
    8. Manage Team Projects
    9. Linked Team Projects
    10. Frequently asked questions
  19. Long form and Episodic workflows
    1. Long Form and Episodic Workflow Guide
    2. Using Productions
    3. How clips work across projects in a Production
    4. Best Practices: Working with Productions
  20. Working with other Adobe applications
    1. After Effects and Photoshop
    2. Dynamic Link
    3. Audition
    4. Prelude
  21. Organizing and Managing Assets
    1. Working in the Project panel
    2. Organize assets in the Project panel
    3. Playing assets
    4. Search assets
    5. Creative Cloud Libraries
    6. Sync Settings in Premiere Pro
    7. Consolidate, transcode, and archive projects
    8. Managing metadata
    9. Content Credentials in Premiere Pro and Adobe Media Encoder
    10. Best Practices
      1. Best Practices: Learning from broadcast production
      2. Best Practices: Working with native formats
  22. Improving Performance and Troubleshooting
    1. Set preferences
    2. Reset and restore preferences
    3. Recovery Mode
    4. Working with Proxies
      1. Proxy overview
      2. Ingest and Proxy Workflow
    5. Check if your system is compatible with Premiere Pro
    6. Premiere Pro for Apple silicon
    7. Eliminate flicker
    8. Interlacing and field order
    9. Smart rendering
    10. Control surface support
    11. Best Practices: Working with native formats
    12. Knowledge Base
      1. Known issues
      2. Fixed issues
      3. Fix Premiere Pro crash issues
      4. Why do my Premiere Pro exports look washed out?
      5. Unable to migrate settings after updating Premiere Pro
      6. Green and pink video in Premiere Pro or Premiere Rush
      7. How do I manage the Media Cache in Premiere Pro?
      8. Fix errors when rendering or exporting
      9. Troubleshoot issues related to playback and performance in Premiere Pro
  23. Extensions and plugins
    1. Installing plugins and extensions in Premiere Pro
    2. Latest plugins from third-party developers
  24. Video and audio streaming
    1. Secure Reliable Transport (SRT)
  25. Monitoring Assets and Offline Media
    1. Monitoring assets
      1. Using the Source Monitor and Program Monitor
      2. Using the Reference Monitor
    2. Offline media
      1. Working with offline clips
      2. Creating clips for offline editing
      3. Relinking offline media
  1. Adobe Premiere Pro User Guide
  2. Beta releases
    1. Beta Program Overview
    2. Premiere Pro Beta Home
  3. Getting started
    1. Get started with Adobe Premiere Pro
    2. What's new in Premiere Pro
    3. Best practices for updating Premiere Pro
    4. Keyboard shortcuts in Premiere Pro
    5. Accessibility in Premiere Pro
    6. Frequently asked questions
    7. Release notes
  4. Hardware and operating system requirements
    1. Hardware recommendations
    2. System requirements
    3. GPU and GPU Driver requirements
    4. GPU Accelerated Rendering & Hardware Encoding/Decoding
    5. How to install drivers from NVIDIA
  5. Creating projects
    1. Start a new project
    2. Open projects
    3. Move and delete projects
    4. Work with multiple open projects
    5. Work with Project Shortcuts
    6. Backward compatibility of Premiere Pro projects
    7. Open and edit Premiere Rush projects in Premiere Pro
    8. Best Practices: Create your own project templates
  6. Workspaces and workflows
    1. Workspaces
    2. Import and export FAQs
    3. Working with Panels
    4. Windows touch and gesture controls
    5. Use Premiere Pro in a dual-monitor setup
  7. Frame.io
    1. Install and activate Frame.io
    2. Use Frame.io with Premiere Pro and After Effects
    3. Integrate Adobe Workfront and Frame.io
    4. Invite collaborators to co-edit a project
    5. Frequently asked questions
  8. Import media
    1. Importing
      1. Transfer files
      2. Importing still images
      3. Importing digital audio
    2. Importing from Avid or Final Cut
      1. Importing AAF project files from Avid Media Composer
      2. Importing XML project files from Final Cut Pro 7 and Final Cut Pro X
    3. Searching for imported media
      1. Media intelligence and Search panel
      2. Frequently asked questions
    4. File formats
      1. Supported file formats
      2. Support for Blackmagic RAW
    5. Working with timecode
  9. Editing
    1. Edit video
    2. Sequences
      1. Create and change sequences
      2. Set In and Out points in the Source Monitor
      3. Add clips to sequences
      4. Rearrange and move clips
      5. Find, select, and group clips in a sequence
      6. Remove clips from a sequence
      7. Change sequence settings
      8. Edit from sequences loaded into the Source Monitor
      9. Simplify sequences
      10. Rendering and previewing sequences
      11. Working with markers
      12. Add markers to clips
      13. Create markers in Effect Controls panel
      14. Set default marker colors
      15. Find, move, and delete markers
      16. Show or hide markers by color
      17. View marker comments
      18. Copy and paste sequence markers
      19. Sharing markers with After Effects
      20. Source patching and track targeting
      21. Scene edit detection
    3. Generative Extend
      1. Overview 
      2. Frequently asked questions
      3. Known issues
    4. Cut and trim clips
      1. Split or cut clips
      2. Trim clips
      3. Edit in Trim mode
      4. Perform J cuts and L cuts
      5. Create and play clips
      6. Adjust Trimming and Playback preferences
    5. Video
      1. Synchronizing audio and video with Merge Clips
      2. Render and replace media
      3. Undo, history, and events
      4. Freeze and hold frames
      5. Working with aspect ratios
    6. Audio
      1. Overview of audio in Premiere Pro
      2. Edit audio clips in the Source Monitor
      3. Audio Track Mixer
      4. Adjusting volume levels
      5. Edit, repair, and improve audio using Essential Sound panel
      6. Enhance Speech
      7. Enhance Speech FAQs
      8. Audio Category Tagging
      9. Automatically duck audio
      10. Remix audio
      11. Monitor clip volume and pan using Audio Clip Mixer
      12. Audio balancing and panning
      13. Advanced Audio - Submixes, downmixing, and routing
      14. Audio effects and transitions
      15. Working with audio transitions
      16. Apply effects to audio
      17. Measure audio using the Loudness Radar effect
      18. Recording audio mixes
      19. Editing audio in the timeline
      20. Audio channel mapping in Premiere Pro
      21. Use Adobe Stock audio in Premiere Pro
    7. Text-Based Editing
      1. Text-Based Editing
      2. Text-Based Editing FAQs
    8. Advanced editing
      1. Multi-camera editing workflow
      2. Editing VR
    9. Best Practices
      1. Best Practices: Mix audio faster
      2. Best Practices: Editing efficiently
      3. Editing workflows for feature films
  10. Video Effects and Transitions
    1. Overview of video effects and transitions
    2. Effects
      1. Types of effects in Premiere Pro
      2. Apply and remove effects
      3. Use FX badges
      4. Effect presets
      5. Metadata effect in Premiere Pro
      6. Automatically reframe video for different social media channels
      7. Color correction effects
      8. Effects Manager
      9. Change duration and speed of clips
      10. Adjustment Layers
      11. Stabilize footage
    3. Transitions
      1. Applying transitions in Premiere Pro
      2. Modifying and customizing transitions
      3. Morph Cut
  11. Titles, Graphics, and Captions
    1. Properties panel
      1. About Properties panel
      2. Edit text
      3. Edit shapes
      4. Edit audio
      5. Edit video
      6. Mask with shape
      7. Create, apply, and redefine text styles
    2. Essential Graphics panel (24.x and earlier) 
      1. Overview of the Essential Graphics panel
      2. Create a title
      3. Linked and Track Styles
      4. Working with style browser
      5. Create a shape
      6. Draw with the Pen tool
      7. Align and distribute objects
      8. Change the appearance of text and shapes
      9. Apply gradients
      10. Add Responsive Design features to your graphics
    3. Captions
      1. Speech to Text
      2. Translate captions
      3. Download language packs for transcription
      4. Working with captions
      5. Check spelling and Find and Replace
      6. Export text
      7. Speech to Text FAQs
      8. Translate captions FAQs
    4. Motion Graphics Templates
      1. Install and use Motion Graphics templates
      2. Replace images or videos in Motion Graphics templates
      3. Use data-driven Motion Graphics templates
    5. Best Practices: Faster graphics workflows
    6. Retiring the Legacy Titler FAQs
    7. Upgrade Legacy titles to Source Graphics
  12. Fonts and emojis
    1. Color fonts
    2. Emojis
  13. Animation and Keyframing
    1. Adding, navigating, and setting keyframes
    2. Animating effects
    3. Use Motion effect to edit and animate clips
    4. Optimize keyframe automation
    5. Moving and copying keyframes
    6. Viewing and adjusting effects and keyframes
  14. Compositing
    1. Compositing, alpha channels, and adjusting clip opacity
    2. Masking and tracking
    3. Blending modes
  15. Color Correction and Grading
    1. Overview: Color workflows in Premiere Pro
    2. Color Settings
    3. Auto Color
    4. Get creative with color using Lumetri looks
    5. Adjust color using RGB and Hue Saturation Curves
    6. Correct and match colors between shots
    7. Using HSL Secondary controls in the Lumetri Color panel
    8. Create vignettes
    9. Looks and LUTs
    10. Lumetri scopes
    11. Timeline tone mapping
    12. HDR for broadcasters
    13. Enable DirectX HDR support
  16. Color management
    1. About color management 
    2. How color management works
    3. Auto Detection of Log Camera Formats and Raw Media
    4. Disable color management
    5. Manage source media colors in the Program Monitor
    6. Configure clips for color management using Clip Modify
    7. Configure sequence color management
    8. Customize color presets for new or existing sequences
    9. Configure a sequence’s output color space
    10. Color management options
    11. Color management and Lumetri Color
    12. Premiere Pro and After Effects color management compatibility
    13. Working with color managed iPhone media
    14. Frequently asked questions
  17. Exporting media
    1. Export video
    2. Export Preset Manager
    3. Workflow and overview for exporting
    4. Quick export
    5. Exporting for the Web and mobile devices
    6. Export a still image
    7. Content Credentials in Premiere Pro and Adobe Media Encoder
    8. Exporting projects for other applications
    9. Exporting OMF files for Pro Tools
    10. Export to Panasonic P2 format
    11. Export settings
      1. Export settings reference
      2. Basic Video Settings
      3. Encoding Settings
    12. Best Practices: Export faster
  18. Collaborative editing
    1. Collaboration in Premiere Pro
    2. Get started with collaborative video editing
    3. Create Team Projects
    4. Add and manage media in Team Projects
    5. Invite and manage collaborators
    6. Share and manage changes with collaborators
    7. View auto saves and versions of Team Projects
    8. Manage Team Projects
    9. Linked Team Projects
    10. Frequently asked questions
  19. Long form and Episodic workflows
    1. Long Form and Episodic Workflow Guide
    2. Using Productions
    3. How clips work across projects in a Production
    4. Best Practices: Working with Productions
  20. Working with other Adobe applications
    1. After Effects and Photoshop
    2. Dynamic Link
    3. Audition
    4. Prelude
  21. Organizing and Managing Assets
    1. Working in the Project panel
    2. Organize assets in the Project panel
    3. Playing assets
    4. Search assets
    5. Creative Cloud Libraries
    6. Sync Settings in Premiere Pro
    7. Consolidate, transcode, and archive projects
    8. Managing metadata
    9. Content Credentials in Premiere Pro and Adobe Media Encoder
    10. Best Practices
      1. Best Practices: Learning from broadcast production
      2. Best Practices: Working with native formats
  22. Improving Performance and Troubleshooting
    1. Set preferences
    2. Reset and restore preferences
    3. Recovery Mode
    4. Working with Proxies
      1. Proxy overview
      2. Ingest and Proxy Workflow
    5. Check if your system is compatible with Premiere Pro
    6. Premiere Pro for Apple silicon
    7. Eliminate flicker
    8. Interlacing and field order
    9. Smart rendering
    10. Control surface support
    11. Best Practices: Working with native formats
    12. Knowledge Base
      1. Known issues
      2. Fixed issues
      3. Fix Premiere Pro crash issues
      4. Why do my Premiere Pro exports look washed out?
      5. Unable to migrate settings after updating Premiere Pro
      6. Green and pink video in Premiere Pro or Premiere Rush
      7. How do I manage the Media Cache in Premiere Pro?
      8. Fix errors when rendering or exporting
      9. Troubleshoot issues related to playback and performance in Premiere Pro
  23. Extensions and plugins
    1. Installing plugins and extensions in Premiere Pro
    2. Latest plugins from third-party developers
  24. Video and audio streaming
    1. Secure Reliable Transport (SRT)
  25. Monitoring Assets and Offline Media
    1. Monitoring assets
      1. Using the Source Monitor and Program Monitor
      2. Using the Reference Monitor
    2. Offline media
      1. Working with offline clips
      2. Creating clips for offline editing
      3. Relinking offline media

Learn how color management ensures accurate color interpretation and display across devices and formats for a seamless editing experience.

Color management automatically converts the color space of every source clip you edit into a sequence to that sequence’s working color space, in which all effects and color adjustments are applied. Then, the entire sequence is converted to an output color space for monitoring and export. In the process, tone mapping may or may not be used to automatically compress highlight and shadow detail that might otherwise be clipped or distorted in order to help convert wide gamut source media (such as camera raw media) to narrow gamut output formats (such as Rec.709) without you needing to do anything.

The first transformation from the Input Color Space to the Working Color Space and the second transformation from the Working Color Space to the Output Color Space are at the heart of color management. 

COLOR MANAGEMENT STARTS WITH SOURCE MEDIA  

Color management only works correctly when the color space of each clip that’s used in the program is correctly identified. Premiere Pro can read available metadata in formats such as QuickTime, MXF, and MP4, and select camera raw formats to automatically tag the color space of various media formats. If clips lack such metadata or have incorrect metadata, you can use Modify Clip > Color to verify whether or not your media is correctly tagged and change any clips that aren’t being correctly tagged.  

Note:

The Color Manage Auto Detected Log and Raw Media checkbox in the Project group of the Settings tab of the Lumetri panel must be turned on for clips to be automatically detected for color-management. This setting remains on once you've turned it on, but lets you disable clip auto detection when it's not convenient for your workflow.

COLOR MANAGEMENT IS CONFIGURED WITHIN SEQUENCES  

Whenever you create a new empty sequence, you can configure how that sequence will color manage the media you edit into it. Each sequence in your project can have its own color management settings, giving you the flexibility to accommodate multiple color workflows within the same project. Each sequence's color management settings govern how clips will appear when you edit them into that sequence and how they'll be output from that sequence during export. These settings are easily configured using the Color Management tab in the New Sequence dialog. 

After a sequence's creation, you can still modify a sequence's color management settings at any time using the Color tab in the Sequence Settings dialog or in the Sequence section of the Lumetri Color panel's Settings tab.

Note:

The working color space you choose determines how certain effects and color adjustments will look, and changing the working color space after you’ve applied certain effects and color adjustments may change how these effects appear.

The default color management preset enables SDR color processing in the Rec.709 color space, input tone mapping to fit wide gamut source media into Rec.709, and Rec.709 output. This is a good preset for programs that consist mostly of SDR source media when you want to work similarly to how Premiere Pro has in the past. 

It's also easy to choose other color management workflows by choosing one of the other provided presets that’s more appropriate for the kind of media you’re working with. For example, if you’re editing primarily camera raw source media, you might choose Wide Gamut (Tone Mapped) from the Color Setup menu of the Color Management tab, which will set up Premiere Pro color management to work in the ACEScct wide gamut color space, use output tone mapping to fit wide gamut media into the output color space you choose, and defaults to Rec.709 output (though you can change this at any time). This gives you more latitude for making color adjustments and guarantees the highest quality by only tone mapping after all image effects and color adjustments have been made, keeping all highlight and shadow detail retrievable at full quality.   

If your program has special requirements that aren’t met by any of the available color management presets, all parameters governing how automated color management works are available within the advanced group of controls, so you can customize color management in Premiere Pro to work however you need it to.

MONITORING AND EXPORT DEPEND ON THE OUTPUT COLOR SPACE  

Each sequence’s Output Color Space controls the color that the sequence produces in the Program Monitor, whether as video output via Transmit or rendered for export. 

Any time you choose a color management preset, an Output Color Space that’s most typically associated with that preset is automatically assigned. However, you can change the Output Color Space whenever you want, independently of the preset. This lets you output any sequence to any supported format, depending on your needs.

Every color management preset that ships with Premiere Pro defaults to Rec.709 output, as that’s by far the most common output. However, to output to any other SDR or HDR color space, you can access the color parameters in the Sequence Settings or the Lumetri Settings panel and change the Output Color Space to whatever you need to deliver. Color management in Premiere Pro automatically does everything necessary to convert your sequence to the output color space to ensure the image is output correctly. 

When you’re exporting your sequence out to a video file, if the Format or Bit Depth you’ve selected isn't compatible with the Output Color Space of the current sequence, then an Export Color Space might be assigned to convert to a color space that can be exported. If this happens, you’ll see a warning, and you can either change to a supported format or increase the bit depth if you want to export to the Output Color Space you chose.

TONE MAPPING AND GAMUT COMPRESSION SPEED UP YOUR WORKFLOW  

Camera raw and log-encoded media have much more latitude and color than can be typically output for local monitoring or distribution via streaming or broadcast; as a result, it’s necessary to either clip out-of-range values (which looks ugly) or compress out-of-range values into the viewable range of your display. While this can be done manually, tone mapping makes it faster to compress a wide range of luminance into the signal range you choose, while gamut compression makes it faster to compress a wider range of color into the signal range you choose. 

No matter how you decide to work, either using the default SDR image processing preset or one of the optional wide gamut image processing presets, tone mapping and gamut compression are available to speed up your workflow in the following ways:  

  • Input tone mapping and Input gamut compression are applied during the initial input to working color space conversion, which means that image conversion happens before imaging effects are applied. This can simplify SDR workflows, at the expense of occasionally making it difficult to retrieve highlight detail that ends up overly compressed. Also, because they’re clip-specific, these operations can be customized on a clip-by-clip basis. 

  • Output tone mapping and Output gamut compression are applied after all effects are processed, as part of the working to output color space conversion. For wide-gamut workflows, this guarantees that the color adjustments you make with Lumetri are of the highest quality and that all highlight and shadow detail available in your source media will be retrievable. Since these operations are applied on output, there can be only one setting for any sequence, which guarantees that all clips being composited together are tone-mapped identically.  

Note:

The use of output tone mapping, as configured in the Wide Gamut (Tone Mapped) preset, can have the effect of slightly darkening SDR media that’s being converted to a wide gamut working color space. This isn’t a problem for camera original SDR media that needs to have its color adjusted anyway, keeping in mind that all color adjustments happen before the output tone mapping is applied, so you’re always adjusting the source levels. However, it can be a problem for mastered SDR media that’s been previously graded, which now looks different. Be aware this issue can be minimized using the Wide Gamut (Minimal Tone Mapping) preset, which limits tone mapping to only the highlights of SDR clips, and has the added benefit of tone mapping out-of-gamut highlights.  

Tone mapping and gamut conversion are optional. You can turn them off at any time. However, when you do so, all out-of-range highlights and shadows will be clipped rather than compressed, and bright parts of the image will appear harsh unless you make some kind of manual adjustment to deal with these levels. 

Lastly, there are different tone mapping and gamut compression algorithms that produce slightly different outputs based on the range of color and contrast you have in a given image. Because the quality of these operations is subjective, and different algorithms may produce more pleasing results depending on the media and your preferences, you have a range of choices. However, the defaults have been chosen based on giving generally good results with the widest variety of media.

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