How do I reset black and white levels adjustments in Premiere Pro?

March 8, 2026 · caitlin

Resetting black and white levels adjustments in Adobe Premiere Pro is a straightforward process that can quickly restore your footage to its original state or a neutral starting point. This guide will walk you through the most effective methods to achieve this, ensuring your color grading efforts can begin anew.

Resetting Black and White Levels in Premiere Pro: A Quick Guide

If your video footage in Adobe Premiere Pro has been over-edited or you’re simply looking to start your color correction from scratch, resetting black and white levels is crucial. This process removes any manual adjustments you’ve made to the shadows (blacks) and highlights (whites), bringing your image back to a neutral baseline. Whether you’re dealing with Lumetri Color panel settings or other effects, there are simple ways to revert these changes.

Understanding Black and White Levels

Before diving into the reset process, it’s helpful to understand what black and white levels refer to in video editing. Black levels represent the darkest parts of your image, while white levels represent the brightest. Adjusting these controls allows you to deepen shadows, brighten highlights, and expand or contract the overall dynamic range of your footage. Incorrectly set levels can lead to crushed blacks (loss of detail in dark areas) or blown-out whites (loss of detail in bright areas).

Method 1: Resetting Individual Lumetri Color Controls

The Lumetri Color panel is Premiere Pro’s primary tool for color grading. If you’ve made adjustments within its various sections, you can reset them individually.

Resetting Basic Correction Sliders

The Basic Correction tab in Lumetri Color is where you’ll find sliders for exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, and blacks.

To reset a single slider: Hover your mouse over the slider you wish to reset. You’ll see a small circular icon appear. Click this icon to reset that specific slider to its default value.
To reset all Basic Correction sliders: At the top of the Basic Correction section, you’ll see a dropdown menu labeled "Input LUT." Right-clicking on this menu or the section title will reveal a "Reset" option. Selecting this will reset all parameters within the Basic Correction tab.

Resetting Curves Adjustments

If you’ve used the Curves tab to adjust black and white levels, you can reset those changes too.

Resetting individual curve points: Click on a point you’ve added to the curve and press the Delete key on your keyboard.
Resetting the entire RGB curve: At the top of the Curves panel, there’s an option to select different color channels (RGB, Red, Green, Blue). If you’re on the RGB curve, clicking the Reset button next to the channel selection will revert the entire RGB curve to its default flat state.

Method 2: Resetting the Entire Lumetri Color Effect

Sometimes, you might want to remove all color grading adjustments made with the Lumetri Color effect.

Using the Effect Controls Panel

Navigate to the Effect Controls panel (Window > Effect Controls).
Locate the Lumetri Color effect applied to your clip.
At the top of the Lumetri Color effect in the Effect Controls panel, you’ll see the effect’s name. To the right of the name, there’s a small fx icon.
Right-click on the Lumetri Color effect title.
From the context menu, select Reset. This will remove the Lumetri Color effect entirely, effectively resetting all your color adjustments.

If you want to keep the Lumetri Color effect but reset its parameters, you can also right-click on the effect’s title in the Effect Controls panel and select "Reset" from the dropdown menu. This will revert all settings within the Lumetri Color effect to their default state without removing the effect itself.

Method 3: Resetting Other Color Correction Effects

Premiere Pro offers other effects for color correction, such as the Color Balance effect or older Three-Way Color Corrector. The reset process is similar for most effects.

General Effect Resetting

Go to the Effect Controls panel.
Find the specific color correction effect you wish to reset.
Right-click on the effect’s name.
Select Reset from the contextual menu.

This action will revert all parameters within that specific effect to their default settings.

Practical Example: Recovering from Over-Saturation

Imagine you’ve drastically increased the saturation and contrast in Lumetri Color, making your footage look unnatural. To fix this:

Open the Effect Controls panel.
Find the Lumetri Color effect.
Go to the Basic Correction tab.
Right-click on the "Basic Correction" title and select Reset. This will immediately return your exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, and blacks to their original values.
If you also adjusted saturation in the Creative or Color Wheels & HSL tabs, you would reset those sections individually by right-clicking their respective titles and selecting Reset.

When to Reset Black and White Levels

Starting Fresh: When you want to begin color grading from a neutral point.
Correcting Mistakes: If you’ve made unintended adjustments that are negatively impacting your footage.
Applying New LUTs: Before applying a new Look-Up Table (LUT), resetting to neutral ensures the LUT has the intended effect.
Troubleshooting: If your footage appears too dark or too bright and you can’t pinpoint the cause, resetting levels can help isolate the issue.

Tips for Effective Resetting

Save Before Major Changes: Always consider saving a version of your project before making significant color grading adjustments.
Use Scopes: Utilize Premiere Pro’s Lumetri Scopes (Window > Lumetri Scopes) to monitor your black and white levels objectively. This helps prevent over- or under-correction in the first place.
One Step at a Time: If you’re unsure which adjustment is causing a problem, try resetting individual parameters before resetting entire sections or effects.