Video filters and looks · Mac and iPhone
Video filters that look graded, not filtered
Raw phone and webcam footage almost always looks flat. A filter is the quick fix, and in Zella every filter is a real colour grade: a good starting look you dial back to taste, so the result looks produced rather than pasted on.
Every bright look in Zella brightens. None of them darkens your face or the corners, and an automated corner test on a portrait frame checks that on every build. Only five deliberately dark looks shade the edges at all.
- Mac and iPhone
- Free on every tier
Quick answer
Zella's video filters are colour looks: 92 on iPhone and 93 on the Mac, applied in one tap or click and blended with an intensity slider, plus 3 Founder-exclusive grades (95 and 96 in total). On the Mac they sit in the Effects tab next to a Color Board for exposure, contrast, saturation, temperature and tint; on iPhone, open Effects → Looks. The looks are free; Color Match and the luma scope are part of Zella Pro.
How to do it in Zella
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Step 1: Open the looks
On the Mac, open the Effects tab and browse Color Presets by category: Studio, Cinematic, Film, Modern, Special and Vintage. On iPhone, open Effects → Looks.
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Step 2: Tap a look
Start with the 2026 creator pack, the grades creators actually run: Soft Glow, Bright Airy, Peachy, Terra Brown, Retro Halation, Tokyo Soft and Punchy.
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Step 3: Dial in the intensity
On the Mac, drag Look Intensity back to about 40 to 70 percent for a result that looks graded rather than filtered. iPhone has the same intensity slider.
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Step 4: Fine-tune the colour
Use the Color Board for exposure, contrast, saturation, temperature and tint, with separate control over shadows, midtones and highlights.
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Step 5: Match clips with Pro
On the Mac, turn on Advanced Tools to reveal Color Match and Scopes. Click Set Reference on the clip you like, move to the next and click Match.
Why do it this way
Looks that lift
The catalog is tuned to brighten skin and frames. The bright looks carry no baked vignette, and a build test measures the corners to keep it that way.
Your grade, not the AI's
Auto-Polish never applies a grade, so a look is always a choice you make. On iPhone, Make it Viral's colour pop skips any clip you have already graded.
Bring your own LUT
On the Mac (Load .cube File… in the Effects tab) and on iPhone you can import a .cube LUT alongside the built-in looks, so a grade from another tool comes with you.
What you need
- macOS 14 Sonoma or later (Apple Silicon or Intel), or iPhone on iOS 18 or later
- Free on every tier: every base look, the intensity slider and the Color Board, no watermark, exports up to 2 minutes at 1080p
- Zella Pro ($89 once, Mac and iPhone) for Color Match and the luma scope
- Zella Founder ($299 once) for the 3 Founder-exclusive grades
Questions
How many looks does Zella have?
There are 93 colour looks on the Mac and 92 on iPhone; the Mac's extra is Pop. With the 3 Founder-exclusive grades the totals are 96 and 95.
Does Auto-Polish change my colours?
No. Auto-Polish deliberately applies no grade on either platform. Make it Viral is the one-click pass that adds a colour lift.
Is Color Match free?
Color Match and the luma scope belong to Zella Pro's depth toolset on Mac and iPhone. A project already graded with Color Match still previews and exports on every tier, and every new install gets Pro Week, 7 days of Pro with no card.
Can captions stay in colour on a black-and-white video?
Yes, on the Mac. Apply a mono look and the footage turns grey while your captions keep their colour.
How strong should a look be?
Usually 40 to 70 percent intensity. At full strength most looks read as a heavy filter.
Related tools
Read the manual