How to Copy a Color Grade in DaVinci Resolve

To copy a color grade in DaVinci Resolve, open the Color page, click the graded clip in the Thumbnail Timeline and press Cmd+C (Ctrl+C on Windows). Then select the clip you want to change and press Cmd+V (Ctrl+V). The faster route is to select the destination first and middle-click the graded clip's thumbnail. To copy it across a whole scene, Shift-click the scene's first and last thumbnails before you paste or middle-click. Both routes replace the grade already on those clips, so one careless middle-click can wipe out twenty clip-specific corrections.

Before you replace a grade, save the project and keep the destination correction as a still or a separate version. Try one destination first. Appending keeps the existing nodes, but it can still push the image the wrong way if transforms, LUTs or effects end up doubled.

For a one-time replacement, use ordinary copy/paste, middle-click or Apply Grade. Use Append Node Graph to keep the existing tree, or paste into a chosen node to replace only its settings. When later changes should stay linked, look at Groups, Shared Nodes or Remote Grades. Whichever you pick, check the preservation settings before copying.

DaVinci Resolve Copy Grade Methods Compared

A one-time copy is independent only when the copied graph has no linked Shared Nodes and the destination isn't on a linked remote version. Check those relationships before you change a copied correction.

In the terms of Blackmagic's Resolve 21.1 Reference Manual, whole grade means the node tree at the active grade level, subject to the preservation settings. Ordinary clip-to-clip copying leaves out keyframes and motion tracking; the Gallery and individual-node workflows below handle those separately.

If your project uses Node Stack Layers, don't assume a middle-click carries every layer. Check the copy scope and the active layer before you apply a grade to several clips. A Gallery still saves all stack layers, while the documented Copy Active Layer command copies only the active one. Look at the destination layers after you apply the saved grade.

Groups and Shared Nodes keep the corrections you choose linked. Remote Grades add a third relationship: clips that use remote versions and come from the same Media Pool source share grades, even across timelines in one project. That isn't remote grading between workstations. Ripple Node Changes is a one-time command, not a persistent link.

Copy a Whole Color Grade With the Keyboard

Click the source clip in the Thumbnail Timeline, press Cmd+C on macOS or Ctrl+C on Windows, select the destination clip or clips, and press Cmd+V or Ctrl+V. The current DaVinci Resolve 21.1 Reference Manual describes two behaviors: with focus on the Thumbnail Timeline you copy the whole grade, and with focus in the Node Editor you copy the selected node.

The catch is focus. The same two shortcuts do a different job depending on which part of the interface you clicked last. With the Node Editor active, they work on the selected node, not the whole grade. There's also a checkbox at Preferences, then User, then Color, labeled Always perform copy and paste on selected nodes, and it pins the behavior to nodes only.

If Ctrl+V pastes one node when you wanted the whole tree, or the whole tree when you wanted one node, check two things: that checkbox and where you last clicked.

On the Edit page, use Copy on the source clip, select the destination clips and choose Edit > Paste Attributes (Option+V on macOS, Alt+V on Windows/Linux in the default preset). Turn on Color Correction and leave unrelated attributes unchecked. This works at clip level and isn't the Color-page node dialog. It replaces the copied color correction; it doesn't append nodes.

How to Copy a Color Grade With Middle Click

Blackmagic calls this the fastest way on its own Color page documentation: middle-click a clip in the film strip to copy its grade to the current shot in the viewer. Most copy-paste habits go source first, destination second. This one runs backwards.

1. Open the Color page and make sure the Thumbnail Timeline is showing.
2. Click the clip you want to change. It becomes the current clip.
3. Middle-click the thumbnail of the clip you want to copy from.

The destination grade is replaced, subject to the Copy Grade preservation settings. Select several destination clips first to do the same to all of them. Check the first result before you repeat this on shots that already carry careful grades.

A trackpad has no middle button by default, and you don't need a still to work around that. Select the destination clip or clips, right-click the graded source clip, and choose Apply Grade. A third-party trackpad utility can also map a three-finger click to mouse button 3 if you want the one-action version back.

Copy a Color Grade With Gallery Stills and Apply Grade

A Gallery still is more than a picture. Resolve saves the grade together with a reference frame, so you can recognize it, compare it and use it again.

1. Grade a clip the way you want it.
2. Right-click anywhere in the viewer and choose Grab Still. Blackmagic documents this as the way to save a grade into the Gallery.
3. The still shows up in the Gallery at the top left, sorted into albums.
4. Select one or more destination clips in the timeline.
5. Right-click the still and choose Apply Grade. Middle-clicking the still does the same thing.

To inspect a saved grade before you apply it, turn on Live Preview in the Gallery options menu. The preview depends on the selected node and the preview settings, so check the applied result as well. A hover preview isn't a saved change.

Add a Saved Grade Without Overwriting Nodes

Apply Grade replaces the destination tree. When you want the saved correction to sit on top of a balance pass you've already built, right-click the Gallery still and choose Append Node Graph. Resolve adds those nodes after the existing ones, so nothing already in the tree gets overwritten.

You can also drag a still from the Gallery onto a connection line in the Node Editor and drop it when the plus icon appears. That way you decide where in the tree the nodes land.

Cmd-drag on macOS or Ctrl-drag on Windows appends the saved graph as a single compound node. I like that for long saved grades, because it keeps your graph from turning into a row of boxes you have to scroll past.

It also answers a common complaint about the Gallery: that reusing a look destroys the per-shot correction underneath it.

Copy a Grade to Several Clips With Memories

Memories are eight unnamed grade slots, A to H, that hold the same information as a Gallery still. They're hidden by default: click the Memories button to the right of the Gallery list button, at the top left of the Gallery, as the Gallery chapter of the 21.1 manual shows. You can also drag a still onto a slot, or drag a memory into the Gallery to keep it as a still.

1. Save the grade. With the graded clip selected, choose Color > Memories > Save Memory A to H, or press Option+1 to Option+8 on macOS (Alt+1 to Alt+8 on Windows/Linux). Saving into a used slot overwrites it.
2. Select the destinations. In the Thumbnail Timeline, Shift-click the first and last clips of a range, or Cmd-click (Ctrl-click) to add clips one at a time.
3. Apply it. Press Cmd+1 to Cmd+8 (Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+8), or right-click the memory and choose Apply Grade. The memory replaces the grade on every selected clip.

To try a memory on the current clip before you keep it, choose Color > Preview Memory (Option+Shift+P, Alt+Shift+P on Windows/Linux), then load the memory or apply a still. If you don't like the result, choose Preview Memory again and the clip goes back to its original grade. The memory steps in the manual list every save and load key. I'd keep memories for the two or three grades I'm reusing in one session and save anything I'll need next week as a still or PowerGrade, because a slot has no name and the next save overwrites it.

Copy One Node Instead of the Whole Resolve Grade

Select the node you want, press Ctrl+C or Cmd+C, select the node on the destination clip, then press Ctrl+V or Cmd+V. Holding Option or Alt while you drag a node onto another node is the mouse version of the same idea: it pushes that node's settings across.

Node-level copy is the right tool for a window, qualifier, keyframed correction or tracked operation that has to move without replacing the rest of the grade. The node's settings overwrite the selected destination node, so create or pick the right target first.

For selective node copying on the Color page, copy the source node, select the destination node and choose Edit > Paste Attributes (Option+V on macOS, Alt+V on Windows/Linux). Select the checkboxes for the palettes, individual windows, effects and keyframe options you need. The dialog copies whole palettes, not individual parameters inside them. Recheck or retrack a copied window on different footage, because the old movement doesn't describe a new subject.

Need one number rather than a whole palette, such as a single saturation or contrast value? Copy the source node with Cmd+C (Ctrl+C), select the destination node, open the palette that holds the parameter, double-click its number field and choose Edit > Paste Value (Shift+Option+V, Shift+Alt+V on Windows/Linux). It works only for parameters inside the Color page palettes, not for Resolve FX or OpenFX settings in the Inspector.

How nodes pass signal down the tree is what makes node-level copying safe. Paste a saturation node into position 2 of a tree that expected a balance node there, and every node downstream sees a different image from the one it was built for.

Shortcuts for Copying the Previous Clip's Grade

Two commands sit in the Color section of Keyboard Customization: Apply Grade From One Clip Prior and Apply Grade From Two Clips Prior. In the default DaVinci Resolve keyboard preset, Equals (=) applies the grade from one clip prior, and Minus (-) applies the grade from two clips prior.

Custom presets, remapped keyboards and non-US layouts can all change this. If neither key responds, open DaVinci Resolve, then Keyboard Customization, choose Color in the Commands list and search for Apply Grade to see what your build has assigned.

Both commands copy the entire grade from the earlier clip, so they suit grading a scene in timeline order. Blackmagic's example is a shot-reverse-shot scene, where two angles alternate and each angle keeps its own grade. For a look from somewhere else in the edit, a still is the better tool.

Copy One Grade to Every Clip in the Timeline

There are three ways to give every clip the same grade, and they behave differently the moment you change your mind about the look.

For one look over a whole edit, I'd use the Timeline grade, because a client note about the style then means one change instead of a ripple across every clip. The Clip vs. Timeline grading section of the manual describes the same split for a commercial spot: clip grades for correction and scene-to-scene balance, a Timeline grade for the style. Keep exposure and balance fixes in Clip mode, since they differ from shot to shot.

One trap catches people here. A still or memory saves both the Clip grade and the Timeline grade, but Apply Grade and Append Node Graph bring in only the one that matches the Node Editor's current mode. If you apply a still and nothing seems to change, check whether that dropdown is on Clip or Timeline.

An adjustment clip suits a look that should cover one scene rather than the whole edit; the adjustment clips guide shows how to place and trim one. For a worked Timeline grade, the black-and-white guide turns a whole video monochrome in Timeline mode.

Copy a Color Grade to Many Clips With Groups

Use Groups when several clips need the same correction and later revisions should reach every member. Group clips by the correction they really share, not because they happen to sit next to each other in the timeline.

Select the clips, right-click one and choose Add Into New Group. Switch the Node Editor to Group Pre-Clip or Group Post-Clip before you build the shared correction. Clip mode stays separate from the group grade; it can still contain Shared Nodes or use a linked remote version.

Once clips are grouped, the Node Editor mode selector adds Group Pre-Clip and Group Post-Clip next to Clip and Timeline. I'd balance shared camera or scene conditions in Pre-Clip, keep shot-specific corrections in Clip, and put a common look or output-side adjustment in Post-Clip.

Node trees built in Group Pre-Clip and Group Post-Clip affect every member of the group automatically. That's a persistent group-level relationship. Ripple Node Changes is a one-time command.

Share One Node Across Clips Without Copying It

To share one correction, build a Corrector node, right-click it and choose Save as Shared Node. Give it a label you'll recognize later. Then add that named node to other clips from the Node Editor's Add Node submenu.

Blackmagic locks shared nodes by default so you can't change every clip in a project by accident. Unlock one, and your edits carry across every clip that uses it.

Shared Nodes suit adjustments that must stay identical: a camera-wide CST, a show LUT, a film-emulation layer or an output trim. Anything a shot might need to deviate from later deserves a plain copy.

Check every instance before you unlock a Shared Node. To make one instance independent, right-click it and choose Convert to Corrector. Switching to local grades won't unlink Shared Nodes that are already in the tree. And don't reach for broad remote-to-local conversion as a quick fix: some timeline conversion commands overwrite local versions, and normal per-clip Undo can't bring them back.

Ripple a Resolve Grade Change Across Clips You Already Graded

Rippling is for clips that already got a copied grade and now need to change together. Select the clip you want to adjust so it's outlined orange, then Command-click on macOS or Ctrl-click on Windows to add non-adjacent clips, or Shift-click for a continuous range, so the targets turn red.

Make your adjustment, then choose Color, then Ripple Node Changes to Selected Clips. There's a matching command for the current group.

Rippling matches by node number. A change to Node 3 reaches Node 3 on every other selected clip. A clip with no node of that number gets nothing at all, silently.

Color, then Append Node to Selected Clips, adds the currently selected node to the end of every selected clip's node tree. That helps when the targets are missing the node you're about to ripple, but it won't reorganize node structures that already differ from one another.

Save a Resolve Color Grade for Other Projects

PowerGrade albums make reusable grades available to every project stored in the same project library, for the same user login. Each project library has its own PowerGrade collection, and an ordinary still album stays tied to its project.

Create a PowerGrade album from the Gallery album list and move or save the still there. For another library, workstation or colorist, export the still.

Exporting a still in an image format writes the reference image plus a matching DRX file that holds the grade. You can import a DRX on its own: the node structure survives, but there's no reference image to wipe against. Keep both files when you have them.

Right-click the still, choose Export, then import it into the destination Gallery. Send the reference image and DRX together as a pair. A DRX isn't a project backup, so confirm that the required LUTs, DCTLs, plug-ins and supported effects exist on the receiving system.

To pull a grade from an older project or a previous episode that nobody saved as a still, open the Gallery window with the Gallery View button at the upper right of the Gallery, or choose Workspace > Gallery. In the Stills navigator, expand Project Library > User > Project > Timeline. Its Timeline Media album shows the current grade of every clip in that timeline, and you can copy the ones you need into this project's Stills album or Memories. The Gallery window section of the manual points to series work as the main use.

When the look has to leave Resolve, for an on-set monitor or another app, export it as a LUT. Right-click the clip's thumbnail on the Color page, choose Generate LUT and pick a 17, 33 or 65 Point Cube or a Panasonic VLUT. The LUT export notes in the manual warn that any node with qualifiers, windows, sharpening, blur or an incompatible Resolve FX or OpenFX effect is skipped completely, along with every other correction in that node. The LUT guide explains which point size to choose and where to save the file.

Blackmagic's free official training guides cover the same gallery and group workflows in lesson form.

Copy Every Grade to a Re-Edited Timeline With ColorTrace

When the edit changes after grading, ColorTrace copies the grades from one timeline to another by matching the source timecode of each clip, and it works between timelines in the same project too. The ColorTrace chapter of the manual lists what it carries: local or remote grades, group Pre-Clip and Post-Clip grades and Fusion compositions.

1. Open the new edit. On the Media page, select the target timeline in the Media Pool and open it, then choose Timelines > ColorTrace > ColorTrace From Timeline.
2. Pick the source. Select the graded timeline in the project list and click Continue.
3. Check the matches. On the Automatic tab, green clips have one match, blue clips have several and red clips have none. Click a blue clip and double-click the right thumbnail under Matching Source Clip.
4. Choose what to copy. Leave Color on, then decide on Input Sizing, All Versions, Track Marks for keyframes and Flags and Markers. Preserve Num Nodes keeps the first nodes of the target grades from being overwritten.
5. Copy. Click Copy Grades & Exit.

Blue clips are often graphics or VFX shots that start at 00:00:00:00, and Hide Matching Clips leaves only the ones that still need a decision. When the new timeline has no timecode link to the old one, such as a flattened master against the original files, switch to the Manual tab: select a range of source clips and the same number of target clips, then click Paste, with Undo Last if a range lands wrong. The manual matching steps show how a fixed match turns purple. I'd run ColorTrace before touching any grade in a re-edit, because it copies every matched shot in one pass and flags the ones it couldn't place.

Why Copying a Color Grade Does Nothing

If the grade doesn't change, check these controls before you paste again:

• The Keyframe Timeline Mode is on Sizing. Mark, then Keyframe Timeline Mode, decides what a copy carries. All copies both the grade and the sizing. Color copies only the grade and leaves the target clip's Input Sizing alone. Sizing copies only the Input Sizing and leaves the target's grade alone. If it's sitting on Sizing while you copy a color change, it looks exactly like nothing happened.
• Copy Grade: Preserve Number Of Nodes is above zero. Right-click the gray background of the Gallery to find it. Set it to 5 and the first five nodes of a copied grade are ignored, as long as the destination clip already has at least five nodes. It's there for colorists who reserve the leading nodes for balance and shot matching. On a short node tree the copy can seem to do nothing, because every copied node falls inside the protected range.
• Copy and paste is acting on nodes, not the grade. Preferences, then User, then Color: Always perform copy and paste on selected nodes. With that on, Ctrl+V only writes into the selected node.
• Keyframes aren't coming across. Right-click the gray background of the Gallery and open Apply Grades Using. No Keyframes applies the grade as it was at the frame the still came from. Keyframes Aligning Source Timecode suits copying back to the same clip or a duplicate of it. Keyframes Aligning Start Frames suits a completely different clip with different timecode.

Before you apply the correction to several clips, check the selected clip, the active grade level and node focus one more time.

Keep Sizing and Stabilization When You Copy a Resolve Grade

Set Mark, then Keyframe Timeline Mode, to Color so the target clip keeps its own Input Sizing. When keyframes aren't part of the copy, set Apply Grades Using to No Keyframes as well. Copy Grade: Preserve Input Sizing in the Gallery menu protects the destination clip's Input Sizing values directly.

Stabilization and other clip-specific operations can behave differently depending on the copy method and preservation setup. Don't assume a setting survived: copy to one destination, open the Stabilizer and Sizing controls, and check the result before you apply the same operation to a full selection.

Also review Copy Grade > Preserve Camera Raw Settings before you apply a look to raw footage. A copied tree may contain camera-specific CSTs or LUTs. Confirm source, working and output color spaces in both projects, and don't add duplicate input/output transforms to an RCM-managed pipeline. The RCM and CST workflow guide explains which transforms belong where.

Copying a Resolve Grade Is Not the Same as Matching Shots

A copy moves numbers. It doesn't know your second camera was a stop and a half under, or that the sun moved between takes. Identical wheel positions on differently exposed footage give you two different images, which is why a copied grade so often looks wrong on the clip next door. Balance first, then copy the look.

Shot Match analyzes clips against a reference; it doesn't copy a node tree. Auto Color analyzes the current frame for an automatic correction. A LUT is a color transform, not a saved editable node graph. Keep those operations apart from copying an existing grade.

Use automatic corrections as a starting point, not a finished match. The shot-matching guide covers reference selection and comparison, and the automatic-color guide explains the separate analysis tools.

Check both the image and the waveform or vectorscope after every copy. The scopes show black-point, exposure and color-balance differences that are harder to judge on an uncalibrated display. The beginner grading workflow covers the correction order that makes copying work in the first place.

Copy Grade FAQ

Does copying a color grade in DaVinci Resolve also copy power windows and tracking?

Power windows and qualifier settings are part of a grade, but an ordinary clip-to-clip grade copy leaves out keyframes and motion tracking. Use Apply Grades Using when you copy keyframed Gallery grades, or copy and paste the individual node when you need its windows, qualifiers, keyframes or tracking. Input Sizing stays under the control of Keyframe Timeline Mode and Copy Grade: Preserve Input Sizing.

Can I copy a color grade between two different DaVinci Resolve projects?

PowerGrade albums are shared across projects in the same project library for the same user. For another library or machine, export a still and send its reference image with the matching DRX file. A DRX can be imported alone, but it can't supply the missing reference image for a wipe.

Do I need DaVinci Resolve Studio to copy a color grade?

No. Copy and paste, middle-click copying, gallery stills, Apply Grade, Append Node Graph, groups, shared nodes and node rippling all belong to the standard Color page.

Remote Grades that link instances of one Media Pool source aren't the same thing as Studio's remote grading between systems. A copied grade can still rely on Studio-only effects, installed LUTs or third-party plug-ins, and copying the nodes won't give you those licenses or missing resources. Check the free versus Studio guide before you share effect-heavy grades.

Can I copy a grade to a clip on a different timeline?

A saved Gallery still is one way to copy a grade between timelines, but you don't need one. Open the Gallery Timelines album and use its timeline dropdown to browse grades from another timeline in the current project. Select the destination and apply the source grade. Check the active grade level and node-stack scope first.

How do I undo a copied color grade in DaVinci Resolve?

On the Color page, select the affected clip and use Edit > Undo: Cmd+Z on macOS or Ctrl+Z on Windows/Linux with the default preset. Each clip keeps its own Color undo history, so look at every affected clip after a multi-clip operation. Closing the project clears undo history. Reset commands remove adjustments; they don't bring back the previous grade. If undo isn't available, restore a saved version, still or project backup.

Does copying a color grade overwrite the grade already on the clip?

Middle-click, a full clipboard paste and Apply Grade overwrite the destination grade, subject to the Copy Grade preservation settings in the Gallery menu. Append Node Graph adds the saved nodes to the existing tree. Copying a single node writes into the one node you paste onto and leaves the rest of the tree alone.

The safe shortcut is whichever one keeps the boundary you need: replace, append or stay linked. The Color Grading hub connects this transfer workflow with nodes, scopes, LUTs and color management.

Jason Miller I run DaVinci Resolve Club, an independent publication. My guides explain editing, color, Fairlight, Fusion and delivery, with clear Free vs Studio limits.