How to add an A24 Editorial color grade to a photo

Open PixMojo's A24 Editorial tool, drop any phone photo, pick a film preset (Past Lives, Aftersun, Everything Everywhere All At Once, or Moonlight), and download. The cool teal cast, lifted blacks, restrained saturation, and optional 2.35:1 letterbox that define the modern indie cinema look — applied in seconds. Browser only, no signup, takes about a minute.

The 5 steps

Open the A24 Editorial tool

Go to pixmojo.app/a24-editorial. The tool loads instantly — no AI model, no upload, no signup. Pure HTML5 canvas color grading.

Upload your photo

Drag a photo onto the upload zone. JPG, PNG, WEBP, HEIC, up to 20 megabytes. Preview canvas shows the default Past Lives preset — cool teal cast, considered shadows, indie-restrained.

Pick a film preset

Four presets. Past Lives — cool teal, restrained, the canonical A24 look. Aftersun — slightly warmer, lifted blacks, no letterbox, more home-video soft. EEAAO — high dynamic, sharper. Moonlight — deeper blues, cinema mood.

Decide on letterbox

Past Lives, EEAAO, and Moonlight include 2.35:1 black bars by default. Aftersun skips it (the film itself used a fuller ratio). The letterbox makes the photo read as cinema rather than phone capture.

Download

Hit Download. The file saves as PixMojo.app-yourphoto-a24-editorial-past-lives.png at full resolution. No watermark. No PixMojo tag.

The three ingredients of an A24 Editorial frame

Cool teal cast. Mid-tones shift toward blue-green. Slight cyan in highlights. It signals indie cinema without screaming.
Lifted blacks. Instead of crushing shadows to pure black, the grade pushes them toward mid-grey. Photos feel softer, more memorial than dramatic.
Restrained saturation. Colors hold but never push. The image feels considered, not enhanced.

Best photos for the A24 look

Window-lit portraits — soft side light, intimate framing.
Magic hour exteriors — golden hour or blue hour, natural mood.
Suburban scenes — empty pools, parking lots, backyards. Pure A24 territory.

Why A24 looks so distinct from Hollywood blockbusters

Hollywood cinema generally pushes orange-teal contrast hard for action visibility and saturated cinematic punch. A24 (and the indie tradition it built on) does the opposite: cool but soft, considered but not flat. The result feels emotional rather than designed. PixMojo's A24 Editorial tool replicates the grade — not the script.

Frequently asked

What is the A24 color grade exactly?

A24 films share a consistent indie color science: cool teal cast, lifted blacks (shadows hold detail), restrained saturation, and considered contrast. The look skews emotional and observational rather than action-cinema saturated. Past Lives (2023) and Aftersun (2022) are the cleanest references.

How is this different from Wong Kar-Wai?

Wong Kar-Wai leans warm — reds, oranges, magenta neon, emotional saturation. A24 leans cool — teals, lifted shadows, considered restraint. They're opposite ends of cinematic mood. Use Wong Kar-Wai for longing. Use A24 for quiet observation.

Why are the blacks lifted?

Modern A24 cinematography lifts shadows toward neutral mid-grey instead of crushing them to pure black. The result feels more like memory than dramatic cinema — softer, more lived-in. It's a defining choice in films like Aftersun and Moonlight.

Does my photo get uploaded?

No. The effect runs entirely in your browser. Your photo never leaves your device. We have no servers processing photos.

What photos work best?

Outdoor magic hour. Window-lit indoor portraits. Suburban scenes. Anything quiet, considered, observational. The grade feels off on bright daylight beach photos or harsh flash shots.

Can I print this?

Yes — full-resolution PNG output prints cleanly. The cool, restrained grade looks especially good on matte paper at 4x6 or 5x7.