Category: Post-Production

Definition: The creative process of adjusting and enhancing colors in photography to achieve specific aesthetic, mood, or brand look. Goes beyond basic color correction to create distinctive visual style through selective color adjustments, toning, and creative color treatments.

Why It Matters: Establishes consistent brand aesthetic; creates emotional impact; differentiates brand from competitors; enhances storytelling; makes imagery more engaging; creates cohesive campaign look.

Use Cases: Lookbook photography, brand campaigns, seasonal collections, social media content, editorial photography, creating signature brand look, lifestyle photography.

Example of Real Use Case: A sustainable fashion brand develops a signature color grade featuring warm earth tones and slightly desaturated greens that reinforces their eco-friendly positioning. Customers report 65% brand recognition from color aesthetic alone.

Software/Service: Adobe Lightroom, Capture One, DaVinci Resolve, Photoshop, VSCO, color grading LUTs (Look-Up Tables)

Common Issues: Inconsistent grading across photographers, over-grading creating unnatural appearance, color grade obscuring product colors, time-consuming manual process, difficulty maintaining consistency at scale.

Do's and Don'ts:

• ✓ Do create and save brand-specific presets

• ✓ Do maintain product color accuracy in e-commerce

• ✓ Do use color grading for brand storytelling

• ✓ Do test grading across different screens

• ✗ Don't sacrifice color accuracy for aesthetic

• ✗ Don't over-process creating unnatural colors

• ✗ Don't use inconsistent grading within campaigns

Related Terms: Color Accuracy, RAW Format, Post-Production, Style Transfer, Batch Editing

Also Known As: Color Treatment, Color Styling, Color Enhancement