photo-color-grading

name	photo-color-grading
description	Use when establishing a brand-wide color story across photography. Color grading = systematic color treatment across all photos.

Photo Color Grading

Color grading defines the photographic look of the brand. Cream-warm grading vs cool-steel grading is the biggest brand differentiator.

Color grading dimensions

1. Temperature (warm-cool axis): cream tint or steel tint
2. Tint (magenta-green axis): subtle warm magenta or cool green
3. Highlight color (warm or cool highlights)
4. Shadow color (warm or cool shadows)
5. Saturation (muted vs vibrant)
6. Contrast (gentle vs punchy)

Brand grading recipes

CardPrepAI editorial grading:

• Temperature: +5 warm
• Saturation: 85%
• Highlights: subtle cream cast
• Shadows: subtle warm cast
• Contrast: gentle (+5)
• Sharpening: -5 (soft)

X3 Fleet Safety industrial grading:

• Temperature: -10 cool
• Saturation: 80%
• Highlights: subtle steel
• Shadows: cool blue tint
• Contrast: punchier (+10)

Grading workflow

1. Pick a reference photo for the brand
2. Apply systematic grading to source
3. Create LUT (lookup table) for repeat use
4. Apply LUT to all brand photos
5. Spot-check across 5-10 photos for consistency

Where this fits in the X3 empire

Used as brand-wide photo grading rule across CardPrepAI imagery.