HSL colour editing on iPhone
Last updated 2 June 2026
HSL editing lets you change one colour without disturbing the others: you pick a colour band and adjust its hue, saturation, and luminance on their own. On the iPhone, EditMe has an eight-band HSL tool, free in the base editor, that runs entirely on the device, so a colour adjustment never leaves your phone.
What HSL controls
HSL splits an image into colour bands and gives each one three controls. Hue shifts the colour itself (a blue can lean cyan or violet). Saturation makes that band more or less vivid. Luminance makes it brighter or darker. Because the bands are separate, you can deepen a sky without dulling skin, or calm one loud colour without touching the rest of the frame.
HSL in EditMe
EditMe gives you eight bands, red, orange, yellow, green, aqua, blue, purple, and magenta, each with its own hue, saturation, and luminance. It works on colour images and runs on the device with no network, so nothing is uploaded. The HSL tool is included free in the base editor; the app itself is free to start, and edits are non-destructive. EditMe Pro adds advanced selective colour and other deeper tools.
How it compares
| What you can do | EditMe HSL | One saturation slider |
|---|---|---|
| Adjust one colour band on its own | Yes | No |
| Shift hue, not just saturation | Yes | No |
| Change a colour's brightness (luminance) | Yes | No |
| Runs on device, nothing uploaded | Yes | Varies |
| Number of colour bands | Eight | One (global) |
Frequently asked questions
What does HSL stand for?
Hue, Saturation, and Luminance. It lets you adjust the colour, the vividness, and the brightness of a specific colour band on its own.
Is there an HSL tool on iPhone?
Yes. EditMe has an eight-band HSL tool that adjusts hue, saturation, and luminance per colour band, on the device. It is free in the base editor.
Does EditMe upload my photos for HSL editing?
No. EditMe runs on the device with no network code, so HSL and every other adjustment happen on your phone and nothing is uploaded.
Is EditMe free?
EditMe is free to start. The eight-band HSL tool, basic editing, and film-negative inversion are all free. EditMe Pro is an optional subscription for the Darkroom, tone curve, local corrections, the full film-look collection, custom presets, 16-bit export, and other advanced tools.