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# How to make a video black and white in Premiere Pro
- URL: https://premiereproclub.com/black-and-white-premiere-pro/
- Published: 2026-11-05T16:12:47.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-05T16:18:56.000Z
- Description: Turn a clip or a scene black and white, keep a colored area with a Lumetri mask, and check the treatment across the cuts.
- Author: Jack Sullivan
- Tags: Color

To make a video black and white in Premiere Pro, select the timeline clip, open [Window > Effects](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/add-video-effects/apply-video-effects/apply-effects.html?ref=premiereproclub.com), search for [Black & White](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/add-video-effects/effects-and-transitions-library/image-control-effects.html?ref=premiereproclub.com), and drag the effect onto the clip. For the Lumetri route, set [Creative > Adjustments > Saturation to 0](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/correct-color/add-color-effects/apply-lumetri-looks.html?ref=premiereproclub.com). An adjustment layer carries the same treatment across several clips.

I'd use the separate Black & White effect for a simple clip conversion because you can remove it without resetting the clip's [color correction](https://premiereproclub.com/color-correction-premiere-pro/). Settle the picture timing and sound first, then balance the shots and add the monochrome treatment. After a late trim, check the treatment's start and end against the new edit points.

## Apply Black & White to one clip

1. Select the video clip in the timeline. Open **Window > Effects** and enter **Black & White** in the search field.
2. Drag the matching effect onto that clip. Park the playhead on a frame with useful detail and check that the Program Monitor shows grayscale.
3. Inspect the applied effect in **Effect Controls**. Adobe's [Black & White description](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/add-video-effects/effects-and-transitions-library/image-control-effects.html?ref=premiereproclub.com) says it can't be animated with keyframes; don't look for an intensity control to fade it gradually.

[![Effects panel search for Black & White with the matching effect highlighted](https://storage.ghost.io/c/77/55/77555393-c1bd-4bdb-8b52-1f1199ed8675/content/images/2026/11/a13-5843524d1a7b-owner130-bw-effect-search.webp)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/77/55/77555393-c1bd-4bdb-8b52-1f1199ed8675/content/images/2026/11/a13-5843524d1a7b-owner130-bw-effect-search.webp?ref=premiereproclub.com)

Search for Black & White, then drag the matching effect onto the timeline clip.

Play from just before the preceding cut into the converted shot. The check is the cut itself: the change to monochrome should happen where you intended, with no unexpected brightness jump.

## Use Lumetri for partial or complete desaturation

In **Lumetri Color**, open **Creative > Adjustments** and set **Saturation** to **0** for monochrome. Adobe documents this control's range as [0 for monochrome through 200 for double saturation](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/correct-color/add-color-effects/apply-lumetri-looks.html?ref=premiereproclub.com). Move toward 0 when you want to reduce color without removing it completely.

[![Lumetri Creative Adjustments with Saturation set to zero](https://storage.ghost.io/c/77/55/77555393-c1bd-4bdb-8b52-1f1199ed8675/content/images/2026/11/a13-c57e01f8f102-owner130-creative-saturation.webp)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/77/55/77555393-c1bd-4bdb-8b52-1f1199ed8675/content/images/2026/11/a13-c57e01f8f102-owner130-creative-saturation.webp?ref=premiereproclub.com)

Creative > Adjustments > Saturation at 0 removes color from the clip.

If the clip already has a Lumetri correction you want to keep separate, use [Add Lumetri Color Effect from the panel's fx dropdown](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/correct-color/color-correction-fundamentals/create-and-edit-multiple-lumetri-color-effects.html?ref=premiereproclub.com). Select the new instance before changing Saturation; the selected instance has a check mark in the list. You can use **Rename** to call it **Monochrome**, so the instance is easy to find again.

## Read the scopes, then judge the picture

Open [Window > Lumetri Scopes](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/correct-color/add-color-effects/display-lumetri-scopes.html?ref=premiereproclub.com) and right-click a scope to choose the display. Use [Waveform Luma for brightness and contrast, and Vectorscope YUV for hue and saturation](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/correct-color/add-color-effects/available-lumetri-scopes.html?ref=premiereproclub.com). Read those first, then inspect the face, clothing or other detail that needs to remain distinct in grayscale.

Removing color can leave two differently colored objects with similar gray tones. In Lumetri's [Basic Correction controls](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/correct-color/color-correction-fundamentals/basic-color-correction-options.html?ref=premiereproclub.com), Contrast changes the separation around the midtones. Use Highlights and Shadows for the bright and dark areas, then refine Whites and Blacks while watching for lost texture. Judge the detail in this shot instead of copying another shot's slider values.

With a shared monochrome layer, make a shot-specific correction on the footage underneath it. Play through the cut into the next shot and compare their brightness. Keep the common layer for the treatment that should remain the same across both.

## Cover several clips without changing title colors

For a scene with titles, the track stack can read from top to bottom: **V3 titles, V2 monochrome adjustment layer, V1 footage; A1 dialogue, A2 music**. The adjustment layer affects video on the tracks below it, so put a colored title above it if the title should keep its color.

1. Choose [File > New > Adjustment Layer](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/add-video-effects/apply-video-effects/create-adjustment-layers.html?ref=premiereproclub.com), review the Video Settings, and select **OK**.
2. Drag the layer from the Project panel onto the video track above the footage. Click the layer's body to select it.
3. Search for **Black & White** in Effects and add it to the selected layer. Keep the layer above the clips that should change and below titles that should stay colored.
4. [Drag the layer's start and end](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/add-video-effects/apply-video-effects/resize-adjustment-layers.html?ref=premiereproclub.com) to cover the intended section.

Park the playhead before the layer begins and play across its leading edge, the cuts underneath and its ending edge. An uncovered frame can flash back to color. After a late trim, repeat that pass and check any title now sitting under the layer.

## Keep one color or one area of the frame

Choose the exception by what you want to keep. Adobe's [Color Pass effect preserves a chosen color](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/add-video-effects/effects-and-transitions-library/image-control-effects.html?ref=premiereproclub.com), wherever that color appears: a red coat and a red sign can both remain colored. A spatial mask protects an area instead, including every color inside its boundary.

For one object, I'd use a mask on a separate monochrome Lumetri effect because its boundary can exclude another object with the same hue. Start with a clip that still contains color. A full-frame Black & White effect or monochrome adjustment layer covering this shot will remove that color even if the mask is correct.

1. On the selected clip, add a separate **Lumetri Color** instance using the panel's **fx > Add Lumetri Color Effect** option. Select that instance and set **Creative > Adjustments > Saturation** to **0**. Keep the clip's existing correction in its original instance.
2. With the clip selected in the timeline, [hold the Object Mask Tool in the Toolbar](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/add-video-effects/work-with-masks/create-masks-using-shapes.html?ref=premiereproclub.com) and choose **Ellipse Mask Tool**, **Rectangle** or **Pen Mask Tool**. Draw around the area to keep in the Program Monitor.
3. In **Effect Controls**, confirm that the mask belongs to the desaturating Lumetri instance. If the shape is listed under **Unassigned Masks**, drag it onto that instance. A mask on Opacity changes the clip's visibility; it doesn't limit the Lumetri correction.
4. Select [Inverted to protect the enclosed area and apply the effect outside it](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/add-video-effects/work-with-masks/refining-and-combining-masks.html?ref=premiereproclub.com). The outside becomes monochrome while the area inside keeps its incoming color.
5. Refine the edge with **Feather** and **Expansion**. Set the mask **Overlay** to **None** when its tint gets in the way of judging the result. Inspect the whole shot as the subject moves; adjust the mask wherever the boundary stops enclosing the intended area.

[![Effect Controls mask refinement with Inverted selected](https://storage.ghost.io/c/77/55/77555393-c1bd-4bdb-8b52-1f1199ed8675/content/images/2026/11/a13-92ef8406fe93-owner130-mask-inverted.webp)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/77/55/77555393-c1bd-4bdb-8b52-1f1199ed8675/content/images/2026/11/a13-92ef8406fe93-owner130-mask-inverted.webp?ref=premiereproclub.com)

On the mask attached to the monochrome Lumetri effect, select Inverted to protect the area inside.

If the object is gray too, check that color reaches this effect and that another full-frame treatment isn't removing it later. If too much of the surrounding area remains colored, inspect the mask's assignment, boundary and Opacity before changing the clip's overall color correction.

## Restore color without resetting other effects

Select the item that owns the treatment: the video clip for a clip effect, or the adjustment layer for a shared effect. Removing the effect from the layer restores color across the section it covers; removing an effect from footage underneath won't cancel a treatment on the layer above. In [Effect Controls, select Black & White and press Delete or Backspace](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/add-video-effects/apply-video-effects/remove-effects-from-a-clip.html?ref=premiereproclub.com). For a separate monochrome Lumetri instance, select that instance in the fx dropdown and choose **Clear**. Deleting a Lumetri instance removes the adjustments in that instance, so keep the original correction separate.

Play from before the first affected cut to after the last. Look for a frame that slips back to color, a title caught below the treatment or a mask that loses its subject. If the shared layer needs adjusting, use the [adjustment layer guide](https://premiereproclub.com/adjustment-layer-premiere-pro/) to check its position above the footage, then play through those edges again.