The Studio
A complete guide to every panel, tool, and keyboard shortcut in the Cineon Studio.
Immersive Mode
Every panel animates out of view in Immersive Mode pressing space — leaving just the canvas, histogram and properties panel.
Image Strip
The leftmost column. Holds all image slots in the current session.
Adding images
Click the upload button at the top of the strip or drag an image from your filesystem onto it. Supported formats include JPEG, PNG, TIFF, WEBP, HEIC/HEIF, and HDR/EXR.
Switching and managing slots
- Switch slots — click any thumbnail to activate it; the canvas and effect chain update instantly
- Delete a slot —
Cmd+ click a thumbnail; a confirmation dialog appears before deletion - Multi-select — hold
Shiftand click thumbnails to select multiple slots; pressEscapeto clear the selection
Modifier modes
The upload button and slot thumbnails change appearance to reflect the active modifier. Modifiers are mutually exclusive — the first key held locks the mode until released.
| Modifier | Mode | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| (none) | Default | Upload button ready; click a slot to activate it |
Cmd / Ctrl | Delete | Button disabled (red tint); click a slot to delete it |
Shift | Select | Button disabled (blue tint); click slots to multi-select |
Alt / Option | Scroll | Button disabled (orange tint); scroll to resize the grid |
Modifier modes are suppressed when the strip has no images. The scroll mode is also suppressed with a single image, since the grid cannot expand.
Grid zoom (Alt + scroll)
Hold Alt / Option to enter scroll mode, then scroll over the strip to change how many columns are displayed. The maximum number of columns scales with the number of images loaded:
| Images in strip | Max columns |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 (zoom disabled) |
| 2 | 2 |
| 3 or more | 3 |
Removing images automatically clamps the grid back to the new maximum.
Thumbnails
Thumbnails are rendered live as effects are applied, excluding framing effects (Letterbox, Pillarbox, Dirty Matte) so the thumbnail stays readable at any grid size.
Cinematic Palette
The left panel. Your effect chain lives here.
Effect layers
Each row in the palette is one effect layer. From left to right:
- Drag handle — reorder layers by dragging
- Enable toggle — click to bypass the effect without removing it
- Effect name — click to open its controls in the Properties panel
- Context menu — right-click for duplicate, delete, move to top/bottom
Adding effects
Click the + button at the top of the palette, or press Cmd K to open the Effect Command Palette — a searchable list of all available effects. Start typing to filter by name.
Chain order
Effects are processed top-to-bottom by default. Press T T (double-tap T) or use the Toggle Chain menu action to reverse the processing order. The palette header shows an arrow indicating current direction.
Presets
The palette toolbar has three preset actions:
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Save Preset | Exports your current effect chain as a .on file |
| Load Preset | Imports a .on file and replaces the current chain |
| Share Preset | Copies a portable preset code to your clipboard |
Preset files are portable — share them with anyone using Cineon.
Canvas
The center panel. Your image rendered in real-time with all effects applied.
Navigation
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Zoom in/out | Mouse wheel or trackpad pinch |
| Pan | Hold Space + drag, or two-finger drag on trackpad |
| Reset view | Press R |
Before/After compare
A split-view slider lets you compare the graded and original image side-by-side. Click the compare button in the canvas toolbar to activate it, then drag the divider left/right.
Draft mode
The canvas renders in draft resolution by default for real-time performance. Switch to Full Resolution in the toolbar to preview at 1:1 before exporting.
Context menu
Right-click the canvas for quick access to: Replace Image, Export, Reset View, and Toggle Chain.
Properties Panel
The rightmost panel. Shows controls for whichever effect layer is selected in the Cinematic Palette.
- Selecting a layer in the palette immediately loads its controls here
- The Histogram lives at the top of this panel — it updates live as you adjust parameters
- All sliders support scrubbing: click the value label and drag horizontally for fine-tuned input
Export
Click Export in the top-right of the canvas, or use a keyboard shortcut.
Formats
| Format | Use case |
|---|---|
| JPEG | Sharing, web — high quality, smaller file size |
| PNG | Lossless, transparency support |
| TIFF 16-bit | Half-float — professional color grading pipelines |
| TIFF 32-bit | Full float — maximum precision, DCP / VFX workflows |
Quality presets
When exporting JPEG, a dialog lets you choose a quality preset. Cineon remembers your last choice per format.
Batch export (ZIP)
Select multiple slots in the Image Strip, then press Cmd Shift X — all selected images are rendered and downloaded as a .zip with the same effect chain applied to each. If no slots are selected, all slots in the session are exported.
Projects
Projects save your entire session — all image slots, effect chains, and parameters — to a .cine file on disk.
| Action | Menu / Shortcut |
|---|---|
| New project | Menu → New Project |
| Open project | Menu → Open Project |
| Save project | Menu → Save Project |
If you try to open or create a project with unsaved changes, Cineon prompts you to save, discard, or cancel.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Cmd Z | Undo |
Cmd Shift Z | Redo |
Cmd X | Export (single, last format) |
Cmd Shift X | Export all slots as ZIP |
Cmd K | Open Effect Command Palette |
Space | Toggle Immersive Mode |
R | Reset canvas view |
T T | Toggle chain processing order |
Alt + scroll | Resize image strip grid (2+ images required) |
Settings
Open Settings from the menu (top-right ··· button). Available sections:
- Interface — toggle surface glass effects
- Features — experimental features
- Subscription — manage your plan, view usage
- Integrations — connect Pinterest for direct publishing
- Affiliate — your referral link and earnings dashboard