Skip to content
Photonica

Colour grading with two points

Space replaces a wall of colour sliders with two pads. One chooses the colour of the light, the other the mood, and a slider beside each sets how loud the colour is and how soft the frame. Behind each pad is your own photo, graded at every spot, so you see where to go before you move.

The pads, their sliders and Mist softness are free, no account needed. Glow, Film and Silk softness are part of Pro.
Try Space
A woman in a white dress in a spring garden, graded at the chosen spot of the Light colour pad
Gold

Each tile is a real render of this portrait at that spot of the Light colour pad: left is colder, right is warmer, up and down choose the shade. Tap a tile or drag across the pad; down the middle the photo stays as it is.

How Space works

Open a photo in the editor. Three screens take it from the original to a look of your own.

  1. The editor on a phone: the original portrait above the Film category with its Space tile

    Turn on Space

    In Film, choose the Space tile. Space colours the photo instead of a film, so the film switches off; Adjust keeps working on top.

  2. The Light colour pad on a phone: a mosaic of 25 versions of the portrait with the point in golden light, and the Colours slider beside it

    Pick the colour of the light

    Every tile of the pad is your photo at that spot. Left is colder, right is warmer, and the further to the side, the stronger; up and down choose the shade, from turquoise and olive to blue hour and sunset. The Colours slider beside the pad makes all of the photo’s colour quieter or louder.

  3. The Mood pad on a phone: the point a little toward darker and contrasty, with the Softness slider and its four kinds below

    Choose the mood

    Left and right make the photo darker or lighter; up adds contrast, down fades it like an old print. Softness beside the pad adds a mist, a glow around the lights, a film camera’s halo and grain, or a fine silk.

Every corner is a look

The pads are built so every spot looks right: the light moves all the colours of the photo together, as real light does, and the mood never crushes black or burns white. The corners show how far they go.

Mood: the four corners

The portrait at the Drama corner: darker, with deep shadows
Drama Darker and denser: deep shadows under bright light.
The portrait at the Clear day corner: lighter and crisp
Clear day Lighter and crisp.
The portrait at the Dusk corner: dim, with rich colour
Dusk Darker and gentle, with deep, rich colour.
The portrait at the Faded day corner: light and matte
Faded day Lighter, with a lifted black, like a faded print.

The corners of the Mood pad under the same golden light. Every spot between them is a blend.

Softness: four kinds

The portrait softened with Mist: a veil and a soft glow
Mist A mist over the whole frame: lifted shadows, softly glowing lights.
The portrait softened with Glow: glowing sky and light, deep shadows
Glow Lights, sky and highlights glow while the shadows stay deep.
The portrait softened with Film: a warm halo and grain
Film A film camera’s reddish halo along bright edges, and coarse grain.
The portrait softened with Silk: smoother texture, the same colour
Silk The finest: smooths texture and a phone’s sharpening.

The same close-up at full softness in each kind. Glow, Film and Silk are Pro.

Fine-tune with your photo’s own colours

Behind the pads is a precise layer for when you know what you want. Each control draws data from your photo, so you move what is really there.

  1. The Palette on a phone: the photo’s colours as a cloud inside a hue circle, with the green point turned toward aqua

    Palette

    The photo’s colours as a cloud, with eight points around it. Drag a point around the circle to turn its colour, toward the centre or outward to change saturation. The thin line marks skin.

  2. Tone balance on a phone: handles for the shadows, midtones and highlights over the photo’s greys, with the highlights in hand

    Tone balance

    The same circle magnified at its centre, where greys show their tint. Handles sit on the average colour of the shadows, midtones and highlights; drag one to tint its tone.

  3. The Lightness curve on a phone over the photo’s histogram, with deeper shadows and calmer highlights

    Lightness curve

    A curve over your photo’s histogram that changes lightness alone, never hue or saturation. A red edge warns when tones pile up in pure black or white.

Both pads beside the photo

On a computer, the Space tab holds both pads, each with its slider under it. Each mosaic already includes the other pad’s point, and the precise layer follows in its own tabs.

The editor on a computer: the graded portrait beside the Space tab with the Light colour and Mood pads
The editor on a computer with the Space tab open.

Adjust works on top

Exposure, white balance, Development, Toning, Curves and Selective colour act on the graded photo, just as they do without a film.

Keep your look

Space is saved in personal presets like any other setting, so one look goes to your other photos in a tap.

Undo any move

Every drag is one step in the history. Compare shows the original, and Reset brings the pads back to the centre.

Try Space

Good to know

Is Space free?

Almost all of it. Both pads, the Colours slider, Mist softness and the precise layer are free in the Photonica editor; Glow, Film and Silk softness are Pro. You can edit without an account and export 3 photos a day; a free account removes the daily limit.

Can I use Space with a film?

Not at the same time. Space colours the photo instead of a film: turning it on switches the film off, and choosing a film turns Space off. Adjust and its tools keep working with either.

Will Space change skin tones?

Gently. The colour of light stretches the photo’s colours but barely moves orange, the hue of skin, and Colours makes skin louder less than the rest. It is a colour rule, not face detection, so a warm wall is treated the same way.

How is this different from colour wheels?

A colour wheel shows hues, not your photo: you turn it, look at the result and try again. Space draws your own photo at every spot of the pad before you move, and one point sets the colour of the light in the highlights, midtones and shadows and the photo’s palette together.

Does Space work on a phone?

Yes. Photonica runs in the browser on phones and computers with WebGPU. On a phone, each pad is a tool of its own, with its slider right beside it.

Are my photos uploaded?

No. Space grades your photo on your device; the photo is not sent to a server.

Photo: Airam Dato-on, Pexels. Every image on this page was made in the Photonica editor.