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# How to Make a Two-Color (Duotone) Effect in DaVinci Resolve
- URL: https://davinciresolveclub.com/davinci-resolve-two-color-effect/
- Published: 2026-11-01T07:12:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-01T07:11:59.000Z
- Description: Desaturate in one node, then push Lift toward the shadow color and Gain toward the highlight color. Here are the Log wheel and Split Tone versions, a Fusion gradient map, and how to keep two colors while the rest goes grey.
- Author: Jason Miller
- Tags: Color Grading, Tutorials, Fusion, #learn, #color-grading-cluster

To make a two-color (duotone) effect in DaVinci Resolve, open the Color page, set **Saturation** to 0 in a first node, then add a second node and push the **Lift** wheel toward your shadow color and the **Gain** wheel toward your highlight color. It works in the free version and keeps all the texture of the shot. I keep the desaturation in its own node, because the tint node then always starts from a clean grey picture and either step can be switched off to check it.

"Two color effect" also covers three other looks: a softer split tone that keeps the original colors, a shot where only two colors survive and everything else goes black and white, and two-tone lighting with a different hue on each side of a face. Each one has its own route below, plus a Fusion gradient map for titles and motion graphics.

[Download](https://streamly.surf/c/2ebmf2MxAg6s?ref=davinciresolveclub.com)

## Which two-color effect you need

- **Duotone (free):** the whole picture runs from one dark color to one light color. Two nodes on the Color page.
- **Split tone (free, Resolve 20.1 and later):** the original colors stay, and the shadows and highlights pick up two different hues. The Split Tone Resolve FX or the Log wheels.
- **Gradient map in Fusion (free):** a duotone for titles and motion graphics, with both colors picked as swatches. Bitmap and Fast Noise nodes.
- **Keep two colors (free):** two hues stay in color while the rest of the frame turns black and white. Two qualifiers and a Key Mixer.
- **Two-tone lighting (free):** one colored light on each side of the subject. Soft windows on two nodes.

## Make a duotone on the Color page

1. **Desaturate in node 01.** Select the clip on the Color page and set Saturation to 0 in the Primaries palette. The [Reference Manual's Saturation entry](https://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/UserManuals/DaVinci%5FResolve%5F21.1%5FReference%5FManual.pdf?ref=davinciresolveclub.com#page=3147) defines 0 as completely desaturated and 50 as unity, so 0 gives you a true grey image.
2. **Add a serial node** with Option-S on a Mac or Alt-S on Windows, or Color > Nodes > Add Serial. This becomes the tint node.
3. **Push the Lift wheel toward the shadow color.** Drag the indicator in the middle of the Lift wheel toward deep blue, teal or purple. The dark parts of the image take on that color.
4. **Push the Gain wheel toward the highlight color.** Drag the Gain indicator toward orange, yellow or pink. The bright parts of the image take on the second color.
5. **Balance the middle.** Leave Gamma neutral for a smooth blend, or nudge it toward either color to decide which one dominates the midtones. The ring dials under the wheels set contrast if the two colors look flat.
6. **Check it in playback** on a few different frames. A dark frame shows mostly the Lift color, a bright frame mostly the Gain color.

That's the same two-step build that [PremiumBeat's duotone tip](https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/davinci-resolve-tip-create-a-duotone-look-in-2-steps/?ref=davinciresolveclub.com) uses, with the shadows pushed far toward blue and the highlights toward orange. If you only want one tint, skip the Lift move: desaturate fully and push Gain toward yellow, which tints the white point and leaves black neutral.

![DaVinci Resolve Color page with two serial nodes, a desaturated node 01 and node 02 with the Lift wheel pushed toward blue and the Gain wheel toward orange, turning a city street shot into a blue and orange duotone](https://storage.ghost.io/c/a9/29/a929429b-cfab-4467-b902-a0cd9c90feac/content/images/2026/10/duo-wheels.webp)

Node 01 removes the color; node 02 puts back exactly two: Lift for the shadows, Gain for the highlights.

### Pick the two colors

I put the darker, cooler hue in Lift and the lighter, warmer hue in Gain, because the picture then keeps its normal light and shadow and reads at a glance. Swap them and you get a negative-poster look, which can be the point for a music video, but it's harder on faces. Opposite hues such as blue and orange, teal and red or purple and yellow give the strongest separation. Two shades of one hue, such as navy and pale blue, make a quieter tinted monochrome.

### Get a harder split with the Log wheels

Lift, Gamma and Gain overlap broadly, so the two colors melt into each other through the midtones. For a graphic, poster-like split, switch node 02 to the Log wheels and push Shadow toward the first color and Highlight toward the second. On normal footage, the [manual's section on Log mode with normalized media](https://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/UserManuals/DaVinci%5FResolve%5F21.1%5FReference%5FManual.pdf?ref=davinciresolveclub.com#page=3155) describes Shadows, Midtones and Highlights as non-overlapping thirds of the tonal range. Low Range and High Range move those borders, so you decide exactly where one color stops and the other starts.

If you combine both sets of wheels, watch the order. Inside one node, Lift, Gamma and Gain are applied before the Log wheels, and the manual says to use a later node when you want the Log adjustment to come first.

### Use curves instead of wheels

Custom curves give the same result with finer control. They're ganged by default, so click the R, G or B Curve Edit button to work on one channel; the [manual's curves chapter](https://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/UserManuals/DaVinci%5FResolve%5F21.1%5FReference%5FManual.pdf?ref=davinciresolveclub.com#page=3196) shows the Gang button that links them again. On the grey picture, raise the bottom of the blue curve and lower its top, then raise the top of the red curve. The shadows turn blue and the highlights turn warm orange.

### Shape the grey before you tint it

The duotone colors follow the brightness of the grey picture, so the grey version decides where each color lands. In node 01, the RGB Mixer's Monochrome checkbox lets you mix the red, green and blue channels into your own grey; the [manual's Monochrome mode section](https://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/UserManuals/DaVinci%5FResolve%5F21.1%5FReference%5FManual.pdf?ref=davinciresolveclub.com#page=3187) gives the Rec. 709 defaults of 21, 71 and 7\. Lowering blue darkens a sky so it takes more of the shadow color. The [black and white guide's RGB Mixer section](https://davinciresolveclub.com/davinci-resolve-black-and-white/#get-more-control-with-the-rgb-mixer-in-monochrome-mode) covers that mix in more detail.

## Use the Split Tone effect (Resolve 20.1 and later)

Split Tone is a Resolve FX filter that arrived in DaVinci Resolve 20.1\. Blackmagic's [20.1 release notes](https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=225417&ref=davinciresolveclub.com) describe a fully customizable mode in which "shadows and highlights can be tinted to any pair of arbitrary colors." In the 21.1 manual it sits in the Film Emulation chapter without the "Studio Version Only" label that Camera Shake, Film Grain, Film Look Creator and Halation carry there, and [Toolfarm's free versus Studio breakdown](https://www.toolfarm.com/tutorial/in-depth-davinci-resolve-studio-vs-the-free-version/?ref=davinciresolveclub.com) doesn't list it among the paid effects either. I treat it as part of the free toolset.

1. **Add the effect to a node.** Open Effects at the top right of the Color page, search for Split Tone and drag it onto a node. Put it after the Saturation 0 node for a true duotone, or on the color picture for a softer split tone.
2. **Set Split Tone Mode to Custom.** Natural is designed to mimic film and Strong is a more stylized look; both use a single Hue Angle. Custom gives each side its own color.
3. **Set Shadows Hue and Strength,** then Highlights Hue and Strength. In this effect, Strength is the saturation of that side of the split.
4. **Move Pivot** to set the brightness where the shadows end and the highlights begin. Turn on Preview Influence to see which color lands where.
5. **Set the overall Strength,** which controls how much of the split color is added to the image.

Leave Protect Neutrals off on a grey input. According to the [manual's Split Tone controls](https://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/UserManuals/DaVinci%5FResolve%5F21.1%5FReference%5FManual.pdf?ref=davinciresolveclub.com#page=3568), regions below its Minimum Saturation are preserved as grey, and after Saturation 0 the whole picture is below that line. On a color shot, the same control keeps greys and whites clean while the rest takes the split.

I reach for Split Tone when one look has to go on many shots, because hue, strength and pivot are numbers you can read back and match, while wheel positions are harder to repeat by eye. The wheels stay quicker for a single shot. If you already use the Studio [Film Look Creator](https://davinciresolveclub.com/davinci-resolve-film-look-creator/), it has its own Natural and Strong split tone modes; the standalone effect is the one to use when you only want the split.

![DaVinci Resolve Split Tone effect settings with Split Tone Mode set to Custom, Shadows and Highlights Hue and Strength, Protect Neutrals off, Strength and Pivot, applied to a skateboarder at a concrete skatepark tinted teal and amber](https://storage.ghost.io/c/a9/29/a929429b-cfab-4467-b902-a0cd9c90feac/content/images/2026/10/duo-splittone.webp)

Custom mode gives shadows and highlights their own hue; Pivot decides where the split happens.

## Build a gradient map duotone in Fusion

For titles, logos and motion graphics, the Fusion page can map brightness straight to two colors you pick as swatches. Justin Robinson's [JayAreTV duotone lesson](https://jayaretv.com/fusion/duotone-look-in-davinci-resolve/?ref=davinciresolveclub.com) uses this chain, and the manual explains why each setting matters:

1. **Open the clip on the Fusion page.** You start with MediaIn1 connected to MediaOut1.
2. **Add a Bitmap node.** Press Shift-Spacebar, type Bitmap and add it. Connect MediaIn1 to its orange input and set Channel to Luminance in the Inspector.
3. **Add a Fast Noise node.** Connect the Bitmap output to the white Noise Brightness Map input of Fast Noise, and connect Fast Noise to MediaOut1.
4. **Set Detail to 0** on the Noise tab. The [manual's Fast Noise inputs section](https://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/UserManuals/DaVinci%5FResolve%5F21.1%5FReference%5FManual.pdf?ref=davinciresolveclub.com#page=2363) says that with Detail at 0, the brightness map replaces the noise pattern altogether, so the brightness of your clip drives the colors.
5. **Pick the colors on the Color tab.** Two Color makes a smooth transition from the first color into the second, so set the dark color first and the light color second. Gradient opens the Advanced Gradient control for three or more colors.

Robinson's recipe also turns on Discontinuous, which the manual describes as hard lines along the contours instead of smooth interpolation. Treat it as a style switch: turn it on and off and keep the edge that suits the design. For ordinary footage I'd still use the Color page, because two nodes there are faster to grade and copy across a timeline. Fusion earns its place when the duotone is part of a comp. The [Fusion beginner guide](https://davinciresolveclub.com/davinci-resolve-fusion-tutorial-for-beginners/) covers the node basics if this is your first comp.

![DaVinci Resolve Fusion page node graph with MediaIn1 feeding a Bitmap node connected to the Noise Brightness Map input of a Fast Noise node that outputs to MediaOut1, with the Fast Noise Color tab set to Two Color](https://storage.ghost.io/c/a9/29/a929429b-cfab-4467-b902-a0cd9c90feac/content/images/2026/10/duo-fusion.webp)

The Bitmap passes the clip's brightness into Fast Noise; with Detail at 0, the two swatches color the picture.

## Keep two colors and turn the rest black and white

When "two colors" means a red coat and a yellow taxi staying in color while the street turns grey, you need two keys combined into one. The structure is simple: key each color in its own node, then combine the two keys in a Key Mixer. The [manual's Key Mixer steps](https://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/UserManuals/DaVinci%5FResolve%5F21.1%5FReference%5FManual.pdf?ref=davinciresolveclub.com#page=3431) show the wiring:

1. **Add the Key Mixer.** Right-click the gray area of the Node Editor and choose Add Node > Key Mixer.
2. **Add two corrector nodes for the keys.** Connect their RGB inputs to the RGB output of your main node, and their key outputs to the key inputs of the Key Mixer.
3. **Qualify one color in each node.** Pick the first color with the qualifier in one node and the second color in the other. Use the highlight view to check the matte.
4. **Feed the combined key to the desaturation node.** Connect the Key Mixer's key output to the key input of the node that will remove the color. By default, the Key Mixer adds both keys together.
5. **Invert the key and desaturate.** On that node, open the Key palette, turn on Key Input Invert and set Saturation to 0\. The two colors stay; everything else goes grey.

Key Input Invert is exactly what an Outside node uses: the [manual describes Outside nodes](https://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/UserManuals/DaVinci%5FResolve%5F21.1%5FReference%5FManual.pdf?ref=davinciresolveclub.com#page=3417) as correctors with that control switched on. For a single color, the [keep-one-color method](https://davinciresolveclub.com/davinci-resolve-black-and-white/#keep-one-color-or-turn-only-part-of-the-frame-black-and-white) needs only a qualifier and an Outside node, and the [Outside node and Key Mixer section](https://davinciresolveclub.com/davinci-resolve-nodes-explained/#outside-nodes-and-key-mixer) of the node guide explains the key paths. If a key edge crawls, the qualifier's Matte Finesse controls, such as Clean Black, Clean White and Blur Radius, clean it up before you touch the grade.

![DaVinci Resolve Color page node tree with two qualifier nodes feeding a Key Mixer whose key output goes into a desaturation node, keeping a red umbrella and a yellow taxi in color on a black and white rainy street](https://storage.ghost.io/c/a9/29/a929429b-cfab-4467-b902-a0cd9c90feac/content/images/2026/10/duo-keymixer.webp)

Two qualifier keys meet in the Key Mixer; the inverted key lets the final node grey out everything else.

## Create two-tone lighting with windows

One of the video results for this search means a different look: one colored light on each side of the subject, for example teal from the left and magenta from the right. It's built on top of the normal color image with soft windows, not with a desaturated picture.

1. **Add a node with a circular window** using Option-C or Alt-C (Color > Nodes > Add Serial Node + CPW), and place the window over the left side of the subject.
2. **Soften the window heavily** so it reads as falloff from a light, then push Gain and Gamma toward the first color.
3. **Add a second window node** for the right side and push it toward the second color.
4. **Track the windows** in the Tracker palette if the subject moves.

I darken the base node slightly before adding the colors, because tints on a bright, flat image look like colored fog, while on a darker base they read more like light. The [color grading guide's windows step](https://davinciresolveclub.com/how-to-color-grade-davinci-resolve/#step-7-use-qualifiers-and-power-windows-only-where-needed) shows where these nodes fit in a full grade.

## Fix common two-color problems

- **The tint disappears:** the Saturation 0 node sits after the tint node. A later Saturation 0 strips every color added before it, so desaturate first.
- **Only one color shows:** the shot is mostly dark or mostly bright. Spread its contrast with the ring dials under Lift and Gain before tinting, or move the Split Tone Pivot toward the middle of the image's brightness.
- **Split Tone adds no color:** Protect Neutrals is on with a grey input, or Strength is at 0.
- **Whites are no longer white:** that's the Gain color doing its job. For clean whites, leave Gain neutral and tint only Lift, or use Split Tone on the color picture with Protect Neutrals on.
- **The kept colors have noisy edges:** tighten the qualifiers, use Matte Finesse, or limit each key with a window.
- **Fusion shows a cloudy noise pattern:** Detail isn't at 0, or the Bitmap goes into the wrong Fast Noise input instead of Noise Brightness Map.
- **The look differs between clips:** grade one shot and [copy the grade to the other clips](https://davinciresolveclub.com/copy-color-grade-davinci-resolve/) rather than rebuilding it.

## Two-color effect FAQ

### Is there a duotone filter in DaVinci Resolve?

There's no effect called duotone. The closest built-in filter is Split Tone, added in Resolve 20.1, set to Custom mode on a desaturated node. The classic method uses two Color page nodes: Saturation 0, then Lift and Gain pushed toward two colors.

### Does the two-color effect work in the free version?

Yes. The node method, the Log wheels, curves, Split Tone, the Fusion gradient map and the Key Mixer are all available in the free version. The Film Look Creator, which has its own split tone modes, is Studio only. The [free version feature list](https://davinciresolveclub.com/davinci-resolve-free-version-features/) covers the other differences.

### What's the difference between duotone and split tone?

A duotone removes the original colors and rebuilds the picture from two. A split tone keeps the original colors and adds one hue to the shadows and another to the highlights, which is subtler and better for faces.

### How do I apply the duotone to a whole video?

Switch the Node Editor to Timeline mode and build the two nodes there, or grade an Adjustment Clip placed above the shots. Both apply one grade to everything under it, so one change updates the whole video.

### How do I keep one color instead of two?

Qualify that color in one node, add an Outside node with Option-O or Alt-O and set its Saturation to 0\. The Key Mixer is only needed when two or more separate keys have to stay in color.