The 7 Best Color grading cards (2023 reviews)

We consider a color grading card to be a worthy investment in the long run. We are here to help you choose the right one for your purposes from all the best available products in market today.

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Our Top Picks:

Best Overall: Buy: Xrite ideal tool READ REVIEW

Best For Video: Buy: Xrite Color grading card READ REVIEW

Best For Blackmagic workflow: Buy: Datacolor Color grading card READ REVIEW

Best reference: Buy: Calibrite Color grading card READ REVIEW

Best Quality card: Buy: Pixel Perfect Color grading card READ REVIEW

Best With both JPEG: Buy: DGK Color tools Color grading card READ REVIEW

Best For Good Quality: Buy: DGK Color tools Aperture reference READ REVIEW

Best Overall: Xrite ideal tool

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Here, we review card that manages to win our hearts. It's the xrite ideal tool and it's widely considered as one of best card you can buy. If you are "truly" concerned about color balance in your RAW images, the X-Rite Colorchecker Passport enables you to profile YOUR specific camera's sensor. The passport photo 2 combines four photographic targets into one pocket-size protective case that adjusts to any scene, allowing you to set exposure, create custom white balance, colour profiles and much more. It provides a precision colour reference for the tightest or most close up shots.

This folds into a nice compact, durable package that can slip anywhere in your bag. The included software makes color profiles from the specific lighting conditions you're shooting in, which allows you to apply that profile to all the images using those lighting conditions. It does improve imperfections in the CRI system and camera color correction. The target itself is easy to use, reasonably sturdy, and fits into a camera bag.

The use is any task involving photography, from personal photos, professional and industrial shoots, and the arts.

• Definitely handy for getting white balance under mixed light conditions
• Great for portraits, landscapes and still photography
• Great for easy and fast white balance and color correction
• Fantastic piece of kit for photographing textures for game and film production

Best For Video: Xrite Color grading card

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We would, of course, be remiss if we didn't mention xrite color grading card for daily purpose. This is how to take your color editing to the next level. It provides chromatic colour chips, skin tone chips and grey reference chips on one side and a spectrally neutral white balance card on the other side. It includes a focus target and integrates with davinci resolve and color finale. It can be difficult to open, close, and switch between the pieces. It's solid, compact, and well made.

It's designed to help achieve ideal camera exposure on set. The non-video version is for stills, and there is a Lightroom plugin to automatically calibrate photographs. It's a quick and easy way of helping to verify color accuracy when you get started on your edit.

• Small and convenient for nailing color and white balance
• Perfect for having on set for quick access
• Wonderful & portable color checking tool

Best For Blackmagic workflow: Datacolor Color grading card

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We would, of course, be remiss if we didn't mention datacolor color grading card for daily purpose. The Datacolor Sck200 spyder is a plastic cardboard series of colors to help the photo software find the right color balance for your photos, it's sort of a go between your eye and the camera eye. It is coated with some layer of plastic or vinyl. It can be used for advanced color editing or as a color check card. It is ideal for blackmagic workflow.

The grayscale is very useful and accurate in getting proper white balance. It is compatible with a wider variety of photo software. It is a useful, affordable piece of equipment for any photographer who aspire to have consistent colors during a photoshoot. This is a useful, affordable piece of equipment for any photographer who aspires to have consistent colors during a photoshoot.

• Useful for all photographers, essential for studio and event photographers
• A must-have tool for color-accurate product photography
• Compact design, and accurate color range
• Practically essential tool for photographers and videographers

Best reference: Calibrite Color grading card

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Calibrite offers a variety of card for personal choice and yet maintaining quality in all the variants. The Passport Photo 2 combines four photographic targets into one pocket-size protective case that adjusts to any scene, allowing you to set exposure, create custom white balance, colour profiles and much more. It can be used to create camera profiles, correct white balance, colour correction, colour grading and more. The notches that stop the passport at specific stopping points are very tactile and significant to the point it's very difficult to not put your hands onto the color balanced squares that would over time change their color.

The colorchecker gray balance card is an 18% grey reference for exposure metering and grey balance in photography and adjusting your camera's colour sensitivity to exactly match the ambient lighting conditions, as well as verifying grey balance in video workflows through camera, light and film configuration. This software is required to be added to lightroom as a plugin. It is a larger version of the colorchecker classic for those shots taken at a greater distance like at an outdoor event or for drone photography.

• Delivers what they promise
• New and hot release

Best Quality card: Pixel Perfect Color grading card

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We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate card. The pixel perfect color grading card is exactly that - it's a simple card that hits all the right notes. This "Pixel Perfect" calibration tool fits the bill as it is a x-rite clone of the ColorChecker Classic. It offers full size, spectrally formulated pigment patches, and highly accurate free adobe correction software. The color chart can allow you to produce an icc profile for your camera. It's thin cardboard. There are two in the pack and they are printed on good quality card stock. It's accurate and a good size. It works with the x-rite software.

This card matches the macbeth standard.

• Light can pass through and throw off readings
• Laminated card stock, flexible just like a playing card in a poker card deck
• One of the new comers and featured product

Best With both JPEG: DGK Color tools Color grading card

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The angle you hold the card for a reference shot can have a big effect on how much help the shot will be for the real shot you took just before or after. It works with every digital camera, both jpeg and raw files. It's convenient to cut the card in two between the grays and the colors.

Taking a picture of the front of the card allows you to compare the color of the picture on your monitor with the colors on the card and you might be surprised at how poorly your monitor is rendering the colors. It's nice that they are two sided, one with multiple colors, and one side that's majority gray. The color output is much better than using the auto white balance settings present in the camera.

• Very useful for adjusting the calibration of the monitor
• Heavy acid-free stock, color patches are 100% n-chrome coated
• A must have for any photographer's bag
• Easy accurate white balance setting, exposure setting, and color correction all in one

Best For Good Quality: DGK Color tools Aperture reference

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The dgk color tools aperture reference is satisfactory and appropriate and fits well with your daily usage. It is engineered for today's HD camcorders and digital video slr cameras. It features the 6 vector color test patterns to evaluate and adjust the color matrix with waveform or vectorscope displays. It can assist with calibration of broadcast or recording equipment, especially in a multi-camera installation where all camera signals must match.

The skin tone (first of the two) hits the skin tone line on the vectorscope nicely. It features the 6 vector color test pattern to evaluate and adjust the color matrix with waveform or vectorscope displays.

• Works with picasa, aperture, photoshop lightroom, photoshop elements and photoshop cs
• Good for amateurs and students, but pros
• Small, flimsy almost does the job
• Includes two large 14 by 788 inch (365 by 200 mm)