Plan a gel look
Turn a desired look into numbered light roles, a placement diagram and ordered test frames.
Open the plannerFlash gels and color tools for photographers
Plan a color look with your own lights, understand how gels interact, troubleshoot your test shot, and save a setup you can use again.
COLOR & GELS STUDIOChoose the color.
Choose the color.
Understand the light.
Start with a photograph you want to make, even if you do not know the color-theory vocabulary yet. Build around the lights you actually have.
No account needed for basic planning. Save on this device and export a backup.
Fix my gel color
Get one diagnostic test, possible outcomes and a practical correction for your symptom.
Find my next testExplore gel looks
Filter useful starting setups and verified looks, then adapt a copy to your kit.
Browse the looksExperiment with color
Compare palettes, overlapping beams and stacked filters in three distinct modes.
Open the playgroundRequest a shoot review
Send a private question and optional photographs for a human review request.
Request a Gel Shoot ReviewThree frames that explain more.
- Gel only. Find the color and check where it lands.
- Neutral key only. Find the unwanted white spill.
- Both together. Compare without changing WB or processing.
Selected starting setups
See every look Find a direction.
2 lights · natural skin
Natural skin. Teal background.
Separate the face from the color.
1key2background
Illustrative setup — not studio-tested.
Use this look3 lights · natural skin
Amber edge. Cool surroundings.
Put warmth on the outline, not the nose.
1key2rim3background
Illustrative setup — not studio-tested.
Use this look2 lights · natural skin
Restrained pink & lavender
Let a little color carry the mood.
1key2background
Illustrative setup — not studio-tested.
Use this lookUnderstand the next frame
A little theory. A useful test.
The complete guide to flash gels and color
Choose a palette, keep skin natural, match mixed light and diagnose weak color. Includes illustrated setups and a downloadable shoot checklist.
Explore the lesson or toolWhy does a gel look washed out?
Compare gel-only and combined frames at fixed WB. White-light spill can dilute color; clipping can erase it. A pale filter or intentional pastel is a different case. The next test should identify which one you have.
Explore the lesson or toolNatural skin, colored background
Give the neutral key and colored backdrop separate jobs. Start with each light alone and inspect where it reaches. Flags, grids, aim and subject-to-background separation help prevent unwanted overlap.
Explore the lesson or toolOverlapping lights vs. stacked gels
Separate beams add their contributions where they meet. Filters on one light remove parts of the source spectrum in sequence. Our playground keeps these operations in separate modes.
Explore the lesson or toolA colored rim without unwanted nose spill
Start behind and to the side, then make a rim-only frame at the final face angle. Move or flag the source to control the front edge and flare. A profile with a deliberate lit nose can be an artistic choice.
Explore the lesson or toolWhite or gray background?
Compare actual materials with the same source, fixed WB and controlled exposure. A white surface can work well when spill is controlled. Gray reflects less overall; its color is not automatically more saturated under every condition.
Explore the lesson or toolFixed WB makes a useful comparison
Choose a camera WB and rendering profile, then hold them steady through your isolated and combined tests. Source color temperature describes a light; camera WB describes its rendering. Green–magenta adjustments are separate from the warm–cool axis.
Explore the lesson or toolKeep the plan moving.
Light & Tone Mapper ↗Compare rendered appearance targets, not recovered meter readings.Reference Photo Planner ↗Study visible light, color and retouch clues in your reference.Portrait Recipe Builder ↗Choose the shadow pattern independently of your color placement.Lighting Variations Planner ↗Build a sequence of looks around the lights you have.Flash Power Calculator ↗Use a measured reference from your exact gel and modifier.Modifier Calibration ↗Measure filtration loss separately from creative brightness.Light Spill Mapper ↗Measure contributions at the face, body and background.My Gear & Shoot ↗Review your saved kit and camera targets.Saved Setups ↗Keep, print and back up your local lighting plans.On-set Field Card ↗Carry the plan and record the real test frames.
Sources, evidence & screen previews
These tools propose experiments. Screen colors are appearance targets, not recovered spectra, gel identities or guaranteed camera results. Numeric measurement inputs are supplied by you; publication and studio testing are separate checks.
- Rosco · Guide to Colour Filters ↗
Selective transmission, source spectra and materials. This is technical background, not proof that our starting setups were photographed.
- Rosco · Choreograph Your White Balance ↗
A photographer’s documented example of camera white balance interacting with filtered light; not a universal Kelvin prescription.
- Rosco · White Walls Don’t Have to Be White ↗
Examples of isolating colored contributions and testing the combined result.
- W3C · CSS Color 4, sRGB transfer functions ↗
The linear-light conversion used in our educational RGB display model.
- Learn Studio Lighting · Rim light placement, power & gels ↗
Placement, lens flags, metering methods and a downloadable f/8 reference card.