Insider Tips: Correctly Using HEX Color Values in Resolve

Every week, Frame.io Insider asks one of our expert contributors to share a tip, tool, or technique that they use all the time and couldn’t live without. Colorist Heather Hay shares how to bring HEX into your Resolve projects.


It’s a familiar story. Your client comes in with a PDF containing a given hex number (short for hexadecimal if you didn’t already know) along with a swatch of the product, logo, or graphic to match this specific hex#. But we’re working in RGB land, so how do we use this as a reference?

How to use HEX color values in Resolve

In the Edit page, click on Toolbox/Generators then click and drag a solid color to the end of your timeline or into a new timeline. Make sure the clip is selected and click on the color box for the color dialog box to appear. On the lower right, under the RGB sliders, enter your Hex Color #. Right-click the solid color clip in the timeline and make a new compound clip.

Entering a HEX# in DaVinci Resolve
Under the RGB sliders, enter your Hex Color #

To double-check your HEX reference, make note of the RGB slider values above the HEX number you just entered and get the RGB values. In the Color Page, select the color picker in Resolve to pick the color. Right-click on the space next to the viewer to click on Show picker RGB value.

Right-click on the space next to the viewer to click on Show picker RGB value.
Right-click on the space next to the viewer to click on Show picker RGB value.

When you have an accurate value, grab a still to the gallery, go to the Edit Page, and delete the Solid Color clip from your timeline. Now you have your Hex Color saved in the Gallery for reference.

Alternative method (serial node)

In the Color Page, add a new serial node. On the top right, select Effects/ Resolve FX Generate/Color Generator and drag that onto your new node. Click on the color box for the color dialog box to appear. On the lower right, under the RGB sliders, enter your hex number.

To double-check your hex reference, make note of the RGB slider values above the hex number you just entered and get the RGB values. Select the color picker in Resolve to pick the color. Right-click on the space next to the viewer to click on Show picker RGB value:

When you have an accurate value, grab a still to the gallery. Now you have your hex color saved in the Gallery for reference.


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Heather Hay

With 20 years of experience, Heather Hay began her career at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA. She transitioned to film coloring at Avenue-Edit in Santa Monica, CA, then moved to the Chicago office before making a mark at Vandal (formally FSM) in Sydney, AU. After six years there, she joined Cinema 305 in Mexico City, and for the past seven years, she's been freelancing remotely from CDMX, showcasing her versatility and expertise in the field. You can see more of her work here.

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