Split a PNG into LAB Channels
Convert an image into its CIELAB components — Lightness (L) and the two opponent-colour channels a and b — each as a grayscale PNG. LAB is a perceptually-uniform model designed to match how humans see colour differences. Drop a file and download the channels as a ZIP, processed in your browser.
Drop images here
Multiple files allowed · one ZIP per image
What each channel is
- L (Lightness) — perceptual brightness from black to white; the best-behaved of any grayscale.
- a — the green-to-red axis (neutral in the middle).
- b — the blue-to-yellow axis (neutral in the middle).
Why LAB is special
Unlike RGB, LAB is perceptually uniform: a numeric distance between two colours roughly matches how different they look to the eye. That makes the L channel ideal for brightness edits that don't shift colour, and a/b useful for colour-based selection and matching. The conversion here assumes an sRGB source under a standard D65 white point.
FAQ
Why do the a and b channels look mostly gray?
They're centred on neutral (mapped to mid-gray) and only move toward white or black where a colour leans strongly green/red or blue/yellow. Muted images stay near the middle.
Is the L channel the same as grayscale?
Very close — L is the most perceptually accurate lightness there is, so it's an excellent black-and-white. Our Grayscale tool uses a simpler luma formula that's near-identical for most images.
Part of: Get pixel values out in another colour space
Pick by what the receiving code expects: HSL to reason about hue, LAB for perceptual distance, YCbCr for video, CMYK for print.
- 1 PNG to HSL Hue, saturation, lightness — the one for CSS
- 2 PNG to LAB Perceptually uniform, for measuring colour difference
- 3 PNG to YCbCr Luma and two chroma planes, as video codecs see it
- 4 PNG to CMYK The four ink plates a press will actually lay down