# Color / Look

> Pick one of 41 color grades, such as Teal & Orange, Kodak Portra or Bleach Bypass, and Nodaro adds that grade to the prompt of your image and video nodes.

Source: https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/color-look

The **Color / Look** picker sets the color grade of an image or a video: its palette and the way its colors are treated. You choose a look from its catalog, such as Teal & Orange, Kodak Portra, Bleach Bypass or iPhone HDR. Nodaro adds tested wording for that grade to the prompt of every node you connect it to. The picker never calls a model, so it costs no credits.

- Found in: Creative Controls › Light & Look
- Output: text
- API type: `color-look`

## When to use it
- Give an image the look of a film stock, such as Kodak Portra, Kodachrome 64 or Cinestill 800T.
- Match the colors of a social platform: Instagram Warm, TikTok Saturated, iPhone HDR or Polaroid Faded.
- Keep the same grade on every shot of a sequence: connect one picker to all its image and video nodes.
- Support an emotion with color, for example a Cool grade for a lonely scene or a Warm grade for a cozy one.

## How to use it
### Add the picker

Open the node picker and choose **Creative Controls › Light & Look › Color / Look**.

### Choose a look

Click the node and choose a look from the grid. The looks are grouped into **Palette**, **Film Emulation** and **Social Preset**.

### Connect it

Drag from the picker's output to the **Look** input of a [Generate Image](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/image/generate-image) or [Generate Video](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/generate-video) node. You can also connect it to a [Text](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/automate/text) or [Prompt](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/automate/prompt) node to use the wording in a longer text.

### Run the image or video node

The grade's wording is added to the end of the prompt when the connected node runs.

Workflow: One Color / Look picker grades both the still and the video made from it.

- Text → Generate Image (prompt)
- Color / Look → Generate Image (look)
- Atmosphere → Generate Image (look)
- Generate Image → Generate Video (start frame)
- Color / Look → Generate Video (look)

## Settings
| Setting | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Color / Look** | The grade to add. The default is **Warm**. |
| **Custom text (before)** | Your own words, added before the grade's wording, for example `heavy grain`. |
| **Custom text (after)** | Your own words, added after the grade's wording, for example `with film burn at the edges`. |
| **Prompt hint** | **Full** (default) adds a longer description of the grade. **Compact** adds only the short term. See [Full or Compact](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls#full-or-compact). |

To see the exact words the picker will add, switch the node to the **Prompt** or **Both** display mode. The settings panel shows the same text under **Will inject into prompt**.

## Every color look

Filter by group or search by name. The words under each name are the term the picker adds in **Compact** mode.

**Palette**

- Warm: `warm color grade`
- Cool: `cool color grade`
- Teal & Orange: `teal and orange grade`
- Split Toning
- Selective Color
- Faded Matte: `faded matte grade`
- Log Flat: `flat ungraded log footage`
- Desaturated: `desaturated color grade`
- Monochrome B&W: `black and white`
- Sepia: `sepia tone`
- Pastel: `pastel color palette`
- High Contrast: `high contrast color grade`
- Vibrant: `vibrant saturated color palette`

**Film Emulation**

- Kodak Portra
- Kodak Ektar
- Kodak Vision3
- Fuji Pro 400H
- Cinestill 800T
- Bleach Bypass
- Technicolor 3-strip: `three-strip technicolor`
- Two-Strip Technicolor
- Eastman Color
- Hand-Tinted: `hand-tinted black-and-white photograph`
- Agfa / ORWO: `orwo film stock`
- Day-for-Night: `day-for-night grade`
- Cross-Processed: `cross-processed film look`
- Kodachrome 64
- Ektachrome 100
- Kodak Tri-X 400 (B&W): `kodak tri-x 400 black-and-white film`
- Aerochrome / Color Infrared: `aerochrome color infrared film`
- Fuji Instax / Instant Film: `fuji instax instant film`
- Cinestill 50D
- Expired Film / Light-struck: `expired light-struck film`

**Social Preset**

- Instagram Warm: `warm instagram filter`
- TikTok Saturated: `saturated tiktok look`
- YouTube Vlog Flat: `flat youtube vlog grade`
- iPhone HDR
- Y2K Saturated: `saturated y2k digital color`
- MTV 90s VHS: `90s mtv vhs look`
- Polaroid Faded: `faded polaroid look`
- Lifestyle Warm Magazine: `warm lifestyle magazine grade`

On Nodaro Cloud, each tile shows the same base image with that grade. A switch beside the picker's heading changes the tiles to drawn illustrations. Self-hosted installs show the illustrations only.

## Tips
- **Grade and light together.** Color / Look works best with [Lighting](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/lighting): Golden Hour light with a Warm grade, or Blue Hour light with a Cool grade.
- **Use a film stock for a period feel.** Kodachrome 64, Technicolor 3-strip or Expired Film / Light-struck give an image an older look.
- **Pair color with the air.** A warm or cool grade with [Atmosphere](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/atmosphere) reinforces the mood, for example a Cool grade with Fog.
- **Grade a whole story.** In a story workflow, connect one Color / Look picker to every scene so the film has one grade.

## Frequently asked questions

### What does the Color / Look picker do?

It adds a description of a color grade to the prompt of every image or video node it is connected to, for example a Kodak Portra film look or a Teal & Orange grade. It never runs a model and costs no credits.

### Does the Color / Look picker cost credits?

No. Pickers only change the prompt. You pay only for the generation node that uses it.

### Can I apply two color looks at once?

No. The picker holds one look. To add a second color idea, type it in Custom text (after), or describe it in the prompt.

### How do I keep the same colors across many shots?

Connect one Color / Look picker to every image and video node of the sequence. Change the picker once, and every shot uses the new grade on its next run.