How to Color Match Footage in Premiere Pro (The Quick and Dirty Way)
Not every project needs a cinematic color grade in DaVinci Resolve.
Sometimes, you’ve got a deadline, you’ve got mixed footage, and you just need your clips to look like they belong in the same world. That’s where Premiere Pro’s Color Match feature comes in fast, automatic, and surprisingly decent when you don’t have time to fuss.
In this tutorial, I’m walking you through how to use the Lumetri Comparison View in Premiere Pro to match colors between two clips, apply the look from a still image, or even mimic a movie scene like “The Matrix” all without touching curves or wheels.
What Is Color Matching?
Color matching is the process of aligning the overall tone, brightness, and color of one clip to match another. You might use it to:
Match stock footage to your main camera
Blend slow-motion b-roll with your interview footage
Pull a creative look from an image or film reference
Premiere Pro’s Lumetri Color > Comparison View gives you a side-by-side interface to do exactly this — with an “Apply Match” button that handles the grunt work.
How to Match Two Clips in Premiere Pro
Here’s the fast workflow:
Drop both clips into your timeline.
Select the clip you want to change.
Go to
Window > Lumetri Colorand open the Comparison View tab.Scroll your timeline until your reference clip (the one you want to match) is displayed on the left side of the comparison.
Click Apply Match.
Instantly, the clip on the right will update its color grade to match the reference.
You can undo and try it the other way around, too. This is especially helpful when blending clips from different sources like stock footage with wildly different white balances.
Pro Tip: Match a Still Image or Movie Look
You can even bring in an image like a screenshot from The Matrix and match your footage to that.
Import the image and place it in your timeline.
Select the clip you want to adjust.
In Comparison View, scrub to the frame showing the image reference.
Hit Apply Match.
It won’t be perfect, sometimes you’ll need to nudge the tint or saturation manually, but it gets you surprisingly close, fast.
Limitations and Manual Tweaks
While Adobe’s match tool is impressive, it’s not magic. Some results might be a little off. Don’t be afraid to:
Manually adjust the tint, exposure, or saturation afterward
Use additional effects like LUTs or Curves to refine the final look
But for YouTube content, client drafts, or quick-turnaround edits, this is one of the fastest ways to create cohesion across your footage.
Final Thoughts
Premiere Pro’s Color Match isn’t trying to replace Resolve. But when you need fast results without plugins or grading know-how it can save your edit.
Try it on your next video and see how it transforms the vibe.
Looking for more quick Premiere tricks? Check out the full tutorial on YouTube and subscribe for more fast fixes.
Want a smoother workflow? Jump into the comments and let me know what’s slowing you down and I’ll build a tutorial around it.