Burning Questions about Adobe Premiere Beta’s new dedicated Color Mode by Scott Simmons

Just in time for NAB 2026, Adobe has released into the Premiere Beta what might be one of its biggest feature additions in the history of the application, in a new dedicated Color Mode. Color Mode is a dedicated workspace for color correction and color grading.

Many editors and colorists have questions about the new Color Mode in the Premiere Beta. As I have before, let’s answer some of the burning questions about Premiere’s new dedicated Color Mode.

Why do we need a new Color mode in Adobe Premiere?

The Lumetri Color Panel was introduced in Adobe Premiere over a decade ago and was built from their acquisition of SpeedGrade, a dedicated color grading application. While Lumetri was great at the time (it gave Premiere much better color tools than the built-in color correction effect), a lot has changed over the past decade. 

Better color science, improved color management, new acquisition formats, HDR, Wide-gamut, REC2020 and new codecs have all left Lumetri behind in terms of overall color correction quality and support for modern technology. Rather than continue to update an outdated tool, why not build something better? 

If you want more detail on why the new Color Mode, why now, and who’s behind it, check out this article on the ProVideo Coalition.

Wait, is it called the new Color Panel? Or Color Page? Or Color Mode? 

Technically, it’s called Color Mode because that was the term Adobe used way back in 2022, when they introduced (with great controversy) the dedicated Import and Export “modes.” At the time, many people did not like the dedicated modes that changed the Premiere interface, preferring to use a panel instead. They also did not like the new menu bar at the top of the application because it seemed to take up extra screen real estate. Count me among those who didn’t like the new bar across the top. They (I) even talked about how to turn it off on a Mac. 

But here we are, over five years later. I think we now see there’s a bigger plan than just adding a few tabs to the interface. It’s more than just new tabs on the left; it also includes status, navigation, and other tools on the right. I’m happy to admit I was wrong. 

How do I get to this new Color Mode?

No need to apply an effect or open a panel. Just click the new Color tab at the top of the interface.

Are there shortcuts to move between these different modes?

There are. Check Window > Mode. They default to option+ 1, 2, 3, 4. And they have keyboard shortcuts.

This new Color Mode looks very different than what I’m used to in Lumetri or what I might see in other color correction tools. Where do I even begin? 

With great power comes great responsibility, so any time your software makes a big change and introduces big new tools, the most important thing is education. Educating yourself on the why a change was made, but most importantly, educating yourself on the how, as in how to use it. 

The new Color Mode is different from what you might be used to, but it’s built for the future, not just the present. And it’s built for a new generation of editors and colorists who might not have been trained on DaVinci 2Ks, Tektronix scopes and don’t know what a three-way color corrector is. 

How hard will this be to learn?

Like any big change to a software tool, time spent learning the changes, nuances and improvements will serve you well. Work on a test project and do not go all-in on beta software. This beta will update old project and they may not be downgradable. Adobe has its own training, so I would start there.

Getting started with Color Mode

Navigating the Color Mode Interface

Understanding the Color Controls

Great, but where is the deep training so we can really dig into this new Color Mode?

If you want to dig deep then head over to this YouTube playlist with 26 videos that dive deep. These were created by Alexis Van Hurkman, Adobe’s Principal Product Manager of Color and the author of the definitive book on color correction. (Oh, and he also had a hand in writing most of the DaVinci Resolve manual. 🤫)

Why do we need this when we have Lumetri?

Did you not read the answer to the first question? It’s the same answer. Better color science, improved color management, new acquisition formats, and new codecs have left Lumetri struggling to keep up with the current class of color correction competition. I’m most excited about better color science. A test I’ve used for years is to have someone bring up a three-way color corrector in Lumetri, DaVinci Resolve or a great plugin like Magic Bullet Colorista. You could adjust the three-way color corrector almost exactly the same way, and the Lumetri result didn’t look as good as some competitors’. 

Can you do good color grading in Lumetri? You can definitely do it, and I’ve done a lot of great color work over the years using Lumetri. But there are better options, and now Premiere is getting one built right in. 

What happens to Lumetri?

The Lumetri panel, the Lumetri Engine, and all things associated with Lumetri will continue to be part of Adobe Premiere, I’m sure, for years to come, but in this new beta, the dedicated Lumetri panel is gone. You can add Lumetri from the effects panel, but you’ll have to adjust its parameters in the effects controls panel. Unless you need some kind of backwards compatibility and you’re in the beta, don’t use Lumetri; use the new Color Mode. When it ships, use the new Color Mode.

Not everyone will migrate right to the new color experience right away, as it is a bit of a learning curve. There needs to be backward compatibility with older projects. My guess is that Lumetri will eventually be moved to legacy status or marked as an obsolete effect before being removed entirely at some point in the distant future.

Lumetri was an effect I could see in the Effect Controls. How does Color Mode work there?

When the color mode has been used on the clip, you will see a new color effect pop up under the effect controls. The color effect will have editable controls, but just jump over to color mode if you need to do any adjustments. Don’t try to work the color tools there.

When will Color Mode ship in the release version of Premiere?

Adobe hasn’t said, but remember, remember the old adage?  Announce at NAB, ship at IBC. That’s not always the case, but I think that’s what companies in our space shoot for. Adobe also has its own big event in and around the fall as well. 

Can I use Lumetri and the new Color Mode together? 

Technically, you can, but you don’t want to because there are two entirely different color systems, so don’t do it. 

What’s BETTER about the new Adobe Premiere Color Mode?

We’ve already covered this in questions one and three. 

As far as controls go, the dedicated interface lets you focus on color without the distractions of the editorial tools you don’t need while doing color correction and color grading work. New tools have been designed, it feels like to me, with simplicity in mind, and this is what I, as an editor, want in my color experience. A fast way to get a good look without being too simple, but also without being too complex.

The new Color Experience is still a panel-based interface, so it’s customizable, but you get exactly what you need front and center. A Program viewer to see the results. Controls front and center. A fast and customizable way to see the clips in the timeline with color grades applied.

Will there be nodes? Why or why not?

The new Adobe Premiere Color experience does not use nodes, and I’m thankful for that. If you want nodes, then go to Resolve. As an editor who also does color work, I find DaVinci Resolve overly complex (though very powerful), and I don’t want to deal with it for many of the color jobs I take on.

IMHO, Adobe Premiere is a better offline editing and craft editorial tool than DaVinci Resolve. I also feel like this new color experience is designed with editors in mind, not colorists. Nodes can be incredibly powerful, but if I never have to connect another arrow to a square or figure out the flow from one node to the next, I’ll be okay with that. Give me great power and simple tools for part of the post-production process I often have to handle by default, not because I want to. I’m happy to hand off color work to a dedicated colorist, but that’s not always possible. Premiere has been missing a powerful, fast, and high-quality color interface.

Will I still use Resolve? Absolutely, as there will be times when perhaps some of Resolve’s dedicated features might be better. But for many jobs, editors can stay in Premiere and achieve the same quality they get in Resolve. I mean, we do that now with Lumetri, so imagine having much better color tools without have to move the edit to a whole other application, and I think that will make many editors happy.

How do we apply multiple corrections beyond just a primary?

Even though the new color mode doesn’t use nodes, there are still options to apply corrections beyond just a primary. The new masking tools can be used to mask a section for secondary color corrections. Multiple adjustments can be made using operations. You can apply multiple corrections, including something like a primary correction and a style effect, to the same clip. Clips can also be grouped to apply a single correction to multiple clips. The grouping and sorting is very intuitive, which will make it fast to fly through things like interview-heavy documentaries.

We were talking about clips, but what about putting a grade on an entire sequence?

You’re in luck because, in addition to clip grades, there are also sequence grades, which will let you apply color grades, styles, and LUTs to an entire timeline.

You’ll be able to see Sequence Styles applied while in the timeline and move them to different tracks.

What is a “module”?

When adding a grade you can add an Adjustment, Style or LUT. Adjustments are just that, a color grade adjustment. A Style can be a preset like high contrast, cool, warm or a color boost. But the real fun comes with Modules. They are will apply different tools for different kinds of grading.

Does the image in the new color experience transmit out to a client monitor and/or my calibrated color grading display? 

Yes, Mercury Transmit is part of the new color experience. Any third-party hardware you use to display your image on the client monitor will work in the new color experience. I think this could be a marketing opportunity for someone like Flanders Scientific to sell high-quality monitors to editors who might not realize they need a true-color grading display. 

But you can also set Mercury Transmit to output a full-screen image on a connected display. Put that iPad Pro into reference mode, and you have a nice little grading monitor already sitting there in your possession. 

Better color management was introduced in a recent Adobe Premiere update. Do those things still apply?

Color management still applies, and there is new color management in the new Color Mode. Color management now gets its own panel and it’s front and center as one of the default panels in the new Color Mode. 

Why are the new color tools a separate, dedicated interface beyond just a panel like Lumetri?

The modular panel-based nature of Premiere is one of my favorite things about Adobe Premiere because it allows for great customization options. But a really great color experience for processes like color correction and color grading is smart, since you often spend hours on them. You can save a color grading workspace with all the current Lumetri tools built in, but it still feels smart to rethink color grading and choose an approach that works better than Lumetri, which is basically the Lumetri color panel and the Lumetri scopes. 

I’ve been beta testing this new color experience, and I can tell you it’s much better than the Lumetri panel. The image is front and center, the controls are right there, and you can customize the thumbnails across my entire timeline for easier navigation.

Speaking of scopes, what’s the status of video scopes in the new color experience?

There is a new Video Scopes panel that can be used in the new color experience and docked like any panel.

These are new scopes written just for this new color experience. If you want the old Lumetri scopes, go to the Video Scope panel’s hamburger menu and choose Show Legacy Scopes. But don’t. Use the new ones.

Beyond the Video Scopes panel, once you move any new control in Color Mode first thing you’ll notice when you click any control in this new Color Mode is a context-sensitive video scope heads-up display that pops up to show you video scope feedback in real time as you make your adjustment. It’s a fully customizable HUD that is a new way to use scopes in Premiere.

This new scope is fully customizable and available when you need it. These new scopes will be different from the Waveform, Vector Scope, and Parade scopes you may be used to. While those scopes are still available, the pop-up HUD-style scopes were built around this new color experience. My advice is to turn off the old scopes and learn to use the new ones (though I do leave the good old Parade scope up most of the time). 

I see some things are missing, like 3-way color wheels with Lift/Gamma/Gain. Where are those familiar tools?

Good question. We can assume they’re coming, and I’m hoping they will be. But talking to Alexis Van Hurkman, he told me why those specific controls haven’t been included. Lift Gamma Gain comes from old standard-def color correction thinking. While they’re still useful, they’ll want to build these new color tools for modern workflows, including high-definition, wide-gamut, and HDR grading. 

Check out this specific video from the new Color Mode training tools about Lift/Gamma/Gain:

If exposure and contrast don’t work for you, you can still get adjustments similar to lift and gain by using the Shadows and Highlights zones. It’s a different way of working, but once you dig into it, play with it, and understand it, you’ll probably get the exact look you were aiming for with something like Lift, Gamma, and Gain Controls. 

That said, even with how good a lot of the new tools are, I still found myself wanting to use some of the old-school tools I’m familiar with in this new color experience, probably because I learned a lot of those old controls. There is no direct gamma control, but new tools and new modules will be added, and we should see a gamma control return. 

Without 3-way color wheels, how will my control surface, like a Tangent Wave or Tangent Ripple, work?

That’s to be determined, but Adobe has said that third-party hardware control services will be supported. It’s important to remember that this is the first public beta of a major addition to Adobe Premiere. This new color experience wasn’t built with AI over the last couple of months. It’s been a long time coming, and a lot of engineering, research, and design time has gone into this new tool. Early betas always ship without certain features, and that’s the point of the beta: to put it out in the world, gather feedback and continue to refine. 

Will other control surfaces with color support the new color experience, like the Logitech MX Creative Console, Loupedeck, TourBox?

One thing I love about the hardware surfaces mentioned above is their strong integration with Premiere, which makes them very useful. That includes the hooks into Lumetri color tools; something like the Loupedeck CT is amazing for controlling Lumetri. Activate that part of the CT, and the dials can control many Lumetri features without ever opening the Lumetri panel.

I hope we will eventually get similar hooks into the new Color Mode. It’s part of what sets Premiere apart from competitors. If that happens, it will be up to the hardware vendors to ensure their software supports these hooks for the new color experience. I would expect a company like Logitech to support this pretty quickly after the option is available. I will try to hold them to that in a public space such as this website.

What about curves and – insert your favorite missing color correction tool here -? 

If you are looking for a color correction feature that is missing, then just refer to the question above about three-way color wheels and beta applications. I hope Adobe doesn’t try to include every single crazy color tool that people like in the world. Yes, a few things are missing that I hope will be added in the future (here’s looking at you, noise reduction). I also hope it does not get cluttered with a lot of tools we will never use. 

That said Style Presets and Style Modules is going to be a place where there’s room for a lot of additional tools to be created. The new Color Mode ships with just a few, but expect more to be added in the future. 

Can we expect regular updates and new tools added to the new color experience?

Has Adobe ever shipped beta software that didn’t receive regular updates or new tools? 

You’ve been part of Tool Tip Tuesday for Adobe Premiere here on PVC for quite awhile, give us one good tip.

Here’s my tip: when you first use a new control, hover the mouse over it to see the pop-up tooltip. This will tell you the controls for that parameter.

Now, here’s the tip: don’t try to click and hold/drag your mouse or trackball to adjust. Single-click the control, and the control will hold and let you adjust the parameter(s). It’s so much easier than click-and-drag. And you can hold shift to lock the axis.

Any other advice for controlling this new color experience?

Yes (and speaking of trackballs), I feel like a trackball is the best control tool for the new Color Mode. I’ve used it with a mouse, a trackpad and a trackball. Depending on the color control you’re working with, you can achieve different tool results when moving along the X or Y axis. I feel like a trackball is the best, cleanest, and most precise way to control the new Color Mode interface.

Let’s be honest, this new color experience in Adobe Premiere is a direct response to DaVinci Resolve, isn’t it?

I think that’s rather obvious. Resolve has been making great strides in the post-production and content creator market, as Blackmagic has created a powerful tool that it updates regularly. 

But Lumetri was old, and if you’re going to update it, why not update it with a more modern overall color experience? That’s exactly what Adobe is doing.

Did I see correctly that the new color experience has dedicated keyboard shortcuts that are different from the rest of the application?

You did, and it does. Open the Keyboard Shortcuts tool, and there is both now an Edit mode and a Color Mode. 

Does that mean I have to remember new keyboard shortcuts?

If you are a keyboard-based editor, possibly yes. If you want to be a faster and more efficient editor, then you really should be a keyboard-based editor. 

So is my third-party keyboard with dedicated custom keycaps obsolete? 

Not obsolete because you’re still going to spend a lot of time just editing in Premiere. But when you go to the new Color Mode, your rainbow-colored keycaps will not mean as much. I usually advise against these types of keyboards, even though I know they’re big business. I think they’re a crutch and hold editors back from becoming faster than they could be. They don’t rely on default keyboard shortcuts and colored keys under their nose. 

How can I get the most out of this new Adobe Premiere Color Mode?

Education is how you’ll get the most out of the new color tools. These are simple and approachable enough to jump into without prior knowledge of the new Color Mode. Spending some time with Adobe’s official tutorials will go a long way toward understanding what the new Color Mode is all about.