Skin Tone Balance Reference

Lab and RGB reference values across a full range of complexions. Use these to evaluate whether your colour grade is handling skin tones correctly.

Fair#f5d4b4

Lab: L:84 a:10 b:18RGB: 245, 212, 180

Very light complexion. Watch for over-warm grades pulling orange. Tint slightly cool.

Light#e8bc94

Lab: L:77 a:13 b:22RGB: 232, 188, 148

Light complexion. The 'default' reference for many calibration targets.

Medium Light#d4965e

Lab: L:64 a:17 b:28RGB: 212, 150, 94

Common in Caucasian and lighter Latino/East Asian complexions.

Medium#c07840

Lab: L:54 a:20 b:30RGB: 192, 120, 64

Mid-range. Key reference for balanced LUTs — if this looks right, most others follow.

Medium Dark#9c5c28

Lab: L:43 a:22 b:28RGB: 156, 92, 40

Watch for shadow detail — this tone needs clean shadows in the grade.

Dark#6e3c14

Lab: L:29 a:20 b:22RGB: 110, 60, 20

Deep complexion. Overly warm grades push orange; overly cool grades go grey-green.

Deep#4a2408

Lab: L:20 a:16 b:16RGB: 74, 36, 8

Darkest reference. Shadow detail is critical — avoid LUTs that crush blacks.

Why skin tones are the grading reference

Human skin tones occupy a predictable region in Lab colour space — the 'a' channel (red-green axis) should stay positive (red side), and the 'b' channel (blue-yellow axis) should also stay positive (yellow side). A grade that pulls skin tones into negative 'a' values (green cast) or negative 'b' values (blue cast) will look unflattering regardless of how good it looks on the overall image.

The Vectorscope skin tone line

In DaVinci Resolve and professional colour systems, the vectorscope shows a "skin tone indicator" — a diagonal line that all human complexions should fall along when the grade is accurate. When you apply a teal-orange grade, orange skin tones naturally drift toward the orange sector of the vectorscope, while shadows go teal. This is intentional — but the skin tone line is your reference for how far is too far.

How to use the HSL secondary for skin tone protection

In Luttie's HSL secondary panel, use the eyedropper to sample a skin tone from the canvas. This sets the hue range to your subject's specific skin tone. You can then apply corrections — temperature, tint, luminance, saturation — to just the skin without affecting the rest of the image. This is how professional colorists "protect" skin tones when a creative LUT is pulling them off.