Shape the light
Tone
Exposure sets how bright; Tone sets the shape. Contrast, your black and white points, where the image pivots — Tone is where a flat capture gets its punch, or a harsh one gets tamed.
What it is
Where Exposure decides how bright, Tone decides the shape of your tones — how far apart the lights and darks sit, where true black and true white land, and which tones the contrast pivots around.
It's the fast, macro version of a curve: one move to add punch to a flat log shot or rein in a harsh one, without drawing a single point.
The controls
Contrast
Spreads the tones apart from a center point — more separation between lights and darks, or less.
Whites
Sets where your brightest tones land — the white point of the image.
Blacks
Sets where your darkest tones land — anchor true black, or lift it for a faded look.
Pivot
Chooses the tone that contrast rotates around, so you control whether mids brighten or darken as you add punch.
What to do with it
Where Color Match earns its place in a real grade.
Add punch to a flat log shot
Log footage lands soft and grey; a contrast move with the right pivot snaps it to life.
Tame harsh contrast
Pull contrast back and lift the blacks to soften a punishingly contrasty capture.
Set true black and white
Anchor your black and white points so the image uses its full range — or deliberately doesn't, for a faded look.
Control where contrast bites
Move the pivot so adding contrast brightens the mids instead of crushing them, or vice versa.
Field tips
- Watch the waveform as you add contrast — it's the fastest way to see when you're about to crush blacks or clip whites.
- A faded-black look lives almost entirely in the Blacks control; lift it just off the floor.
The science
The part nobody else explains
Contrast is slope
Adding contrast steepens the relationship between input and output tones around the pivot — exactly what a steeper curve does, just driven by one slider. Steeper means more separation; flatter means less.
Black and white points define the range
Where you set Blacks and Whites determines how much of the available range the image actually uses. Pin them to the extremes for maximum punch, or pull them in for a softer, filmic feel.
The pivot decides who moves
Contrast rotates tones around the pivot point. Put the pivot low and your mids ride up with the highlights; put it high and they fall toward the shadows. It's the difference between bright, airy contrast and heavy, moody contrast.
Tone vs curves
Tone is the macro interface to the same math curves expose point by point. Reach for Tone for fast, global shaping; drop into Color Curves when you need to bend one specific region.
Frequently asked
Tone vs Color Curves — which do I use?
Tone for a fast, global contrast move; Color Curves when you need to shape one specific tonal region by hand. Tone is curves' quick macro version.
What's the pivot?
The tone that contrast rotates around. It decides whether your midtones brighten or darken as contrast increases — a small change with a big effect on mood.
Why set black and white points?
They define how much of the range your image uses. Setting them deliberately is the difference between a flat capture and one with real depth — or a controlled, faded look.
Related features
Try Tone on your own shot
Build a look, match it across a set, and export a LUT or preset in minutes — free for 14 days, no installs.