# Effects and looks

> Apply quick Looks, stack GPU effects, import LUTs, and isolate corrections.

Formats Studio docs · Creative tools · https://formats.app/docs/effects-color · Updated 2026-09-27

## Add and manage effects

1. Select a visual clip and find **Creative tools** in Properties.
2. For video, image, GIF, or composition clips, choose **Looks**, select a category and preset, then adjust **Intensity**. Selecting the active Look again removes it.
3. Choose **Effects**, then use **Add Effect** to search or pick from a category. You can also add built-in **Presets** or your own saved presets.
4. Reorder the stack with **Move up** and **Move down** — order changes how effects combine.
5. Disable, reset, or remove an effect from its panel; numeric parameters can be keyframed.

## The effect catalog

| Category | Effects |
| --- | --- |
| Color | Brightness, Contrast, Exposure, Saturation, Vibrance, Hue Shift, Temperature, Levels, Curves, Color Wheels, Gradient Map, LUT |
| Blur | Gaussian, Box, Motion, Radial, Zoom |
| Distort | Pixelate, RGB Split, Twirl, Wave, Bulge/Pinch, Kaleidoscope, Mirror, Fluted Glass, Ripple Glass, Glass Mosaic, Blocks, Droste, and more |
| Stylize | Vignette, Film Grain, Sharpen, Glow, Scanlines, CRT, VHS, Halftone, Dither, ASCII, Ink, Pixel Sort, Block Glitch, Color Glitch |
| Keying | Chroma Key (green- and blue-screen removal) |

> **Note:** All effects render on your Mac’s GPU. Recent additions include **Gradient Map**, **VHS**, **CRT**, **Droste**, **Block Glitch**, the **Ripple Glass** and **Glass Mosaic** distortions, **Ink**, and **Pixel Sort**.

> **Tip:** **ASCII** can render its own characters: set **Character Set** to **Custom**, type your **Custom Characters** (the ramp goes densest to lightest), and choose a **Font** (Monospace, Courier, Consolas, or Lucida Console). Built-in sets include ASCII Ramp, Dense, Binary, and Symbols.

## Color inputs and the eyedropper

- Every color control accepts a **hex** value; type it directly into the field (it updates the preview as you go).
- Where transparency is supported, the field takes 8-digit hex (`#rrggbbaa`) and the picker adds an alpha slider.
- Click the **eyedropper** (pipette) to sample a color from anywhere in the app or preview; a magnifier loupe follows the cursor so you can land on the exact pixel, then click to apply.

> **Note:** The eyedropper samples straight from the preview and needs no permission prompt.

## Use quick Looks

- Looks are ordinary editable `gpu-color-wheels` grades, not baked image overlays.
- Correct, Cinematic, Film, Modern, and Mono categories keep the picker compact while exposing distinct starting points.
- Intensity interpolates from the neutral grade to the selected Look, so reducing it does not fade the whole clip.
- Applying, changing intensity, and removing a Look use the same undo and auto-keyframe paths as other effect edits.

## LUTs and isolated corrections

- Add the **LUT (.cube)** effect, choose **Import .cube LUT**, then set **Intensity** to blend it in.
- **Secondary Qualifier** keys a correction to a range of hue, saturation, and luminance.
- **Power Window** limits a correction to an ellipse or rectangle mask with feather and invert.
- Add an **adjustment layer** to grade or apply effects to every clip on the tracks below it.

## Related

- [Keyframes](https://formats.app/docs/keyframes): Animate transform, crop, text, effect, and audio values with keyframes and ready-made animations.
- [Shapes and masks](https://formats.app/docs/shapes-masks): Add shape items, draw custom paths with the pen tool, and use any shape as a clip mask.
- [Clip properties](https://formats.app/docs/properties): Transform, crop, opacity and blend, and the type-specific controls for each kind of clip.