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HSL Secondary controls use in Lumetri Color panel

Find out more about using the HSL Secondary controls in the Lumetri Color panel in Premiere Pro.

The HSL section of the Lumetri panel combines with the existing tools to give you even finer control of your shots. It is commonly used after primary color correction is complete.

The goal is to control a specific color, not the overall image. Control over a single color is useful, for example, when the overall hue saturation curves are hitting their limits. Curves are then lowered to meet broadcast safe limits. Another typical scenario includes enhancing a specific color by making it stand out from the background or keying a specific luminance range.

Color correct a clip using HSL Secondary controls

To color correct a clip using HSL Secondary controls, you must set a key, refine it, and apply a color correction to it.

Set Key

  1. Select the Color workspace. The Lumetri Color panel appears on the screen.

  2. Open the HSL Secondary controls by clicking on the HSL Secondary tab.

  3. Add and adjustment layer by selecting File > New > Adjustment Layer. For more information see Adjustment Layers

  4. To retouch only a portion of the clip, use the options under Key.

    To pick a target color, click the Set color eyedropper tool, and click again on a color in the clip. Use the plus and minus eye droppers to add or remove pixels from the selection. After you select a portion of the clip, the Hue, Saturation, and Lightness ranges reflect your color choice.

    Set color
    Set color

    Note:

    While picking a color with the eyedropper, you can press the Ctrl/Cmd modifier key to switch to a larger sample size.

    Alternatively, instead of picking a color from the image, click one of the color swatches. This process selects a preset color as a starting point.

  5. To view only the affected range when you manipulate a color, select the checkbox next to Color/Gray. Using the drop-down menu, you can also select between Color/Black or White/Black.

    Color/Gray view
    Color/Gray view

  6. Use the H/S/L sliders to adjust and refine your selection.

    The triangle at the top of the slider expands or restricts the range. The triangle at the bottom makes the transition between selected and non-selected pixels smoother. To move the entire range, click in the center of the desired slider and move it.

    H/S/L slider
    H/S/L slider

  7. To reset the ranges, click the Reset button below the sliders or double-click the range slider.

Refine

Adjust the range until the mask covers the entire desired region. To refine the selection, use the options under Refine:

  • Denoise: Use the denoise slider to smooth colors and remove any noise from the selection. When the image is manipulated, the colors adjust uniformly.
  • Blur: Use the blur slider to soften the edges of the mask to blend the selection.
Refine
Refine

Correction

Once you have a well-defined key, use the grading tools in the Correction section to apply an isolated color correction to your key. Deselect the checkbox next to Color/Gray to view the changes.

By default, a mid-tone color wheel is displayed, but you can switch to a traditional 3-way color wheel by clicking the icon just above the wheel.

Mid-tone color wheel
Mid-tone color wheel

3-way color wheel
3-way color wheel

Sliders for Temperature, Tint, Contrast, Sharpen, and Saturation are available below the color wheel to control the correction precisely.

Before
Before

After
After

Best practices

HSL Secondary controls can be used for the following cases:

  • To brighten an image
  • To change the color of an object or a person’s skin tone
  • To fix ambient light sources

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