How do you use Highlight Tint in the Creative tab of Lumetri Color?

March 7, 2026 · caitlin

The Lumetri Color panel in Adobe Premiere Pro’s Creative tab offers powerful tools to enhance your video’s look and feel. Specifically, the Highlight Tint feature allows you to apply a color cast to the brightest areas of your footage, adding a unique stylistic element or correcting color imbalances. This guide will walk you through using this advanced color grading tool effectively.

Mastering Lumetri Color: The Creative Tab’s Highlight Tint Explained

The Lumetri Color panel is a cornerstone of video post-production, offering a comprehensive suite of color correction and grading tools. Within its "Creative" tab, you’ll find several creative adjustments designed to impart a specific mood or style to your footage. One such powerful, yet sometimes overlooked, tool is the Highlight Tint.

What is Highlight Tint in Lumetri Color?

Highlight Tint is a feature within the Lumetri Color panel’s Creative tab that allows you to selectively colorize the brightest regions of your video image. Instead of affecting the entire image, it targets the highlights, offering a nuanced way to add color or correct existing color casts. This is distinct from other color adjustments that might affect midtones or shadows.

Think of it like this: if your video has a bright sky or a shiny object, the Highlight Tint will add your chosen color specifically to those very bright areas. This can be used for subtle stylistic choices or to achieve more dramatic effects.

How to Access and Apply Highlight Tint

Accessing the Highlight Tint is straightforward within Adobe Premiere Pro.

Open the Lumetri Color Panel: If it’s not already visible, go to Window > Lumetri Color.
Navigate to the Creative Tab: Within the Lumetri Color panel, click on the "Creative" tab.
Locate Highlight Tint: Scroll down within the Creative tab until you find the "Highlight Tint" section.

Once you’ve found it, you’ll see a color swatch. Clicking this swatch opens the standard color picker, allowing you to choose any color imaginable.

Practical Applications of Highlight Tint

The applications for Highlight Tint are surprisingly diverse. It’s not just about adding a stylistic flair; it can also be a crucial tool for color correction and creative storytelling.

Stylistic Enhancements

Warmth and Glow: Adding a subtle warm tint (like a soft yellow or orange) to highlights can create a dreamy, ethereal glow, perfect for romantic scenes or golden hour shots.
Cooler Tones: Conversely, a slight blue or cyan tint can add a sense of coolness, drama, or a futuristic feel.
Creative Color Grading: For more artistic projects, you can experiment with bold colors. Imagine a sunset scene where you tint the brightest parts of the sun a vibrant magenta for an otherworldly look.

Color Correction

Balancing Skin Tones: Sometimes, highlights in skin tones can appear too yellow or too green. You can use Highlight Tint to subtly counteract these unwanted casts by applying a complementary color. For instance, if highlights are too yellow, a touch of blue in the Highlight Tint can help neutralize it.
Correcting Light Sources: If a bright artificial light source in your scene has an undesirable color cast, Highlight Tint can help you subtly adjust it without affecting the rest of the image.

Adjusting the Intensity and Balance

Simply applying a color might not be enough. The Lumetri Color panel provides controls to fine-tune the effect:

Tint Color: This is your primary color selection tool.
Intensity: This slider controls the strength of the applied tint. A lower intensity will result in a subtle effect, while a higher intensity will make the color more prominent.
Balance: This crucial slider determines how the tint is distributed between highlights and midtones. Moving it towards "Highlights" means the color will only affect the very brightest parts of the image. Moving it towards "Midtones" will allow the color to bleed into the midtone areas as well.

When to Use Highlight Tint vs. Other Lumetri Tools

It’s important to understand where Highlight Tint fits within the Lumetri Color workflow.

Basic Correction: For overall color balance, start with the Basic Correction tab.
Creative Looks: For applying LUTs or more generalized color looks, use the Creative tab’s other sections (like Look, Vibrance, or Saturation).
Specific Color Adjustments: For precise control over specific color ranges (like blues in the sky or greens in foliage), the Curves or Color Wheels & Match tabs are more appropriate.

Highlight Tint is best used for targeted colorization of the brightest areas, adding a specific stylistic flourish or correcting subtle color issues within those highlights.

Tips for Effective Highlight Tint Usage

To get the most out of this feature, consider these best practices:

Subtlety is Key: Often, the most effective uses of Highlight Tint are the most subtle. Overdoing it can make your footage look unnatural.
Consider Your Scene: Think about the existing light sources and colors in your scene. Does the tint complement or clash with them?
Use with Other Tools: Highlight Tint works best in conjunction with other Lumetri adjustments. Don’t rely on it as your sole color grading tool.
Watch for Artifacts: Pushing the intensity too high can sometimes introduce unwanted artifacts or posterization in the brightest areas.

Example Scenario: Enhancing a Sunset

Imagine you have footage of a sunset where the sky is beautiful, but the very brightest parts of the sun and clouds lack a certain warmth.

Apply a subtle orange or yellow tint using the Highlight Tint color swatch.
Adjust the Intensity slider to about 15-25% to avoid an artificial look.
Ensure the Balance slider is closer to "Highlights" to keep the effect focused on the brightest elements.
You might then use the Curves tab to slightly boost the overall warmth of the midtones to complement the highlight tint.

This targeted approach enhances the natural beauty of the sunset without making the entire image look orange.

Understanding the Controls: A Quick Reference

Control	Function	Best Use Case
Tint Color	Selects the color to be applied to the highlights.	Setting the desired color cast (warm, cool, creative).
Intensity	Determines the strength or opacity of the applied tint.	Fine-tuning how noticeable the tint is. Start low and increase gradually.
Balance	Controls the spread of the tint between highlights and midtones.	Keeping the tint focused on pure highlights or allowing it to blend into midtones.

This table provides a quick overview of the primary controls for Highlight Tint.