How do you color grade product photos for different platforms and media?

1 Why color grade product photos?

Color grading is not just a cosmetic touch-up. It can also communicate your brand identity, highlight your product features, and influence your audience's perception and emotions. For example, you can use warm colors to create a cozy and inviting atmosphere, or cool colors to convey a sleek and professional image. You can also use color grading to match the color schemes of different platforms and media, such as websites, social media, print, or video.

2 How to color grade product photos in Photoshop?

Photoshop is one of the most popular and powerful tools for color grading product photos. You can use various adjustment layers, such as curves, levels, hue/saturation, color balance, and selective color, to fine-tune the colors and contrast of your images. You can also use masks, blending modes, and filters to apply different effects and styles to specific areas or layers. To save time and maintain consistency, you can create and apply presets, actions, or LUTs (look up tables) to your product photos.

3 How to color grade product photos in Lightroom?

Lightroom is another popular and user-friendly tool for color grading product photos. You can use the basic panel, the tone curve, the HSL (hue, saturation, luminance) panel, and the split toning panel to adjust the colors and contrast of your images. You can also use the graduated filter, the radial filter, and the adjustment brush to make selective changes to your product photos. To speed up and simplify your workflow, you can use presets, profiles, or LUTs to apply different color grades to your product photos.

4 How to color grade product photos for web?

When you color grade product photos for web, you need to consider the size, resolution, format, and quality of your images. You want to optimize your images for fast loading, clear display, and accurate colors on different devices and browsers. You can use Photoshop or Lightroom to resize, crop, sharpen, and export your images in the appropriate format, such as JPEG, PNG, or GIF. You can also use tools like TinyPNG or JPEGmini to compress your images without losing quality. You can use tools like ColorZilla or ColorPick Eyedropper to match the colors of your images with the colors of your website.

5 How to color grade product photos for social media?

When you color grade product photos for social media, you need to consider the platform, the audience, and the goal of your posts. You want to create images that stand out, engage, and convert on different social media channels, such as Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. You can use Photoshop or Lightroom to crop, rotate, and adjust your images according to the aspect ratio, dimensions, and guidelines of each platform. You can also use tools like Canva or VSCO to add text, graphics, filters, or stickers to your images.

6 How to color grade product photos for print or video?

When you color grade product photos for print or video, you need to consider the medium, the environment, and the purpose of your project. You want to create images that look consistent, realistic, and attractive on different print or video materials, such as flyers, brochures, posters, or commercials. You can use Photoshop or Lightroom to edit, export, and convert your images in the suitable format, such as CMYK, RGB, or sRGB. You can also use tools like Adobe Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve to color grade your product videos.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?