Using Color mode with Color Management

Last updated on Apr 15, 2026

Learn how Color mode works with Color Management in Adobe Premiere (beta) to simplify color workflows and deliver consistent, high-quality results.

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How Color mode works with Color Management

Color mode is designed to work alongside Color Management to provide an optimized starting point for color adjustment. When enabled with properly tagged source media, Color Management automatically transforms all your source media to the intended output format, providing the best starting point for color adjustment within an optimized image processing pipeline. Ideally, if your source media is of good quality, you shouldn’t have to make major color adjustments and can stay focused on the small tweaks that separate good images from great ones.

All color adjustment tools in Color mode have been expressly designed to work in conjunction with whichever Color setup you’re using to configure your sequence’s color management, so whether you’re using Direct Rec. 709 (SDR) or Wide Gamut (Tone Mapped), you should get great results. Furthermore, they’ve been designed to work well and deliver great results when creating either SDR (Rec. 709) or HDR (Rec. 2100 HLG or PQ) output.

Caution

You should always double-check that sequences are using the correct color setup before you start grading. Using the wrong color setup could give you unexpected results, and changing the color setup you’re using after you’ve made color adjustments may change the appearance of your clips, and isn't recommended.

The Wide Gamut (Tone Mapped) color setup really makes Color mode shine, as the output tone-mapping gives you a pleasing roll-off in the highlights and shadows, making it easy to push the signal around without constantly worrying about clipping. To facilitate this, the default Tone Mapping and Gamut Compression settings have been improved to work correctly with graphics and SDR media using the new Apply Inverse Tone Mapping and Gamut Compression checkbox in the Advanced settings.

Note

The new Apply Inverse Tone Mapping and Gamut Compression checkbox in the Advanced settings is a work in progress during the public beta, so trying out the Wide Gamut (Tone Mapped) color setup and giving us your feedback on the results is critical to ensuring we’re delivering the results you need.

Color Management panel shows advanced color management settings, including tone mapping and gamut compression options. — Adjust advanced color management settings to control tone mapping, gamut compression, and working color space.

Choosing and maintaining a color setup

Color Controls in Color mode are color-space-aware, meaning they behave consistently regardless of your selected setup. However, visual results may vary slightly between configurations.

To ensure consistent results:

Choose the appropriate color setup before starting your adjustments.
Keep the Working color space unchanged throughout your workflow.
Avoid switching color spaces after making adjustments, as this can alter the appearance of your grade and require additional refinements.

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