What is the difference between editing and colour grading?
Short Answer:
Editing is assembling the footage into a story — choosing shots, sequencing them, setting pacing, and adding music and sound. Colour grading is a later, separate stage that adjusts the look — colour, contrast, and tone — of the locked edit. Editing decides what you see and when; grading decides how it looks and feels.
Overview
Editing and grading are distinct crafts, often done by different specialists. Editing shapes the narrative; grading polishes the image. Grading normally happens only after the edit is locked, so the colourist is not working on shots that might change.
Detailed Explanation
Editing vs colour grading
Editing: selecting and ordering shots, timing, structure, music, and basic sound — it builds the story.
Colour grading: balancing and stylising colour and contrast across the finished edit — it builds the look.
Order: grading follows picture lock, so effort is not wasted on shots that get cut.
Skill sets: editors are storytellers; colourists are image specialists, and larger projects split the roles.
On bigger jobs, editing, grading, and sound are handled by separate people so each stage gets dedicated expertise, which is part of why quality post-production takes time.
Example
An editor might cut a two-minute brand film and lock it; the colourist then takes that locked film and grades every shot to a consistent, on-brand look — two separate jobs on the same footage.