Color.io, the browser-based color grading and film emulation platform that has earned a loyal following among photographers and filmmakers, will permanently shut down its online service on December 31, 2025. Founder Jonathan Ochmann announced he is moving on to a new opportunity at an undisclosed company, though Pro users will retain access to an offline desktop version indefinitely. Let’s dive into the color.io shutdown. The announcement marks the end of what began as a solo developer project more than a decade ago. Color.io distinguished itself in a crowded market of color grading tools through its unique approach to film emulation, using what the company called “film-derived math” rather than traditional static LUTs to simulate the non-linear light response of analog film. We previously covered Color.io back in 2021 when they released the Photon 3D color grading tool, which allowed users to visualize and manipulate color in three dimensions. The platform has since evolved considerably, adding AI-powered color matching, volumetric film grain simulation, and support for RAW development from over 600 camera models. Color.io Photon Release in 2021. Image credit: Color.io What made Color.io different Unlike conventional film emulation plugins such as Dehancer or FilmConvert that rely on sampled LUT data acting as a “black box,” Color.io built its engine on parametric film science derived from actual film scans. The company sampled numerous still photography and motion picture film stocks between 2012 and 2014, then rescanned five Kodak Vision3 color negative stocks on an ArriScan XT at 6K resolution in ultra-wide...
Published By: CineD - Tuesday, 16 December