diff --git a/docs/guides/color-grading.mdx b/docs/guides/color-grading.mdx
index 7abca7425ac..5bc45a0be71 100644
--- a/docs/guides/color-grading.mdx
+++ b/docs/guides/color-grading.mdx
@@ -98,6 +98,9 @@ labelled `original` unless you pass `--no-baseline`. Up to sixteen cells land
 four to a row in `grade-compare.png`, or wherever `--out` points. Swap `--grades`
 for `--luts looks/a.cube,looks/b.cube` to compare LUT files the same way.
 
+Phone photos keep their displayed orientation and aspect ratio in the sheet;
+the source image file stays unchanged.
+
 {/* VISUAL NEEDED (4): a real grade-compare.png sheet — the labelled grid with
 `original` in the first cell. */}
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/grade-compare.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/grade-compare.test.ts
index a321a859ad0..bb94c7b00e7 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/grade-compare.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/grade-compare.test.ts
@@ -3,11 +3,13 @@ import { mkdtempSync, rmSync } from "node:fs";
 import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { basename, join } from "node:path";
 import { HF_COLOR_GRADING_ATTR, serializeHfColorGrading } from "@hyperframes/core";
+import sharp from "sharp";
 import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import {
   buildGradeCompareHtml,
   buildGradeCompareSuccessPayload,
   capCandidateCells,
+  loadReferenceFrame,
   parseGradeCompareArgs,
   parseGradesFile,
   prepareGradeCompareTempProject,
@@ -134,6 +136,69 @@ describe("buildGradeCompareHtml", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("loadReferenceFrame", () => {
+  it.each([
+    { orientation: 1, width: 160, height: 80 },
+    { orientation: 2, width: 160, height: 80 },
+    { orientation: 3, width: 160, height: 80 },
+    { orientation: 4, width: 160, height: 80 },
+    { orientation: 5, width: 80, height: 160 },
+    { orientation: 6, width: 80, height: 160 },
+    { orientation: 7, width: 80, height: 160 },
+    { orientation: 8, width: 80, height: 160 },
+  ])("uses displayed dimensions for JPEG orientation $orientation", async (expected) => {
+    const dir = tempDir();
+    try {
+      const framePath = join(dir, "phone.jpg");
+      const buffer = await sharp({
+        create: { width: 160, height: 80, channels: 3, background: "red" },
+      })
+        .jpeg()
+        .withMetadata({ orientation: expected.orientation })
+        .toBuffer();
+      writeFileSync(framePath, buffer);
+
+      const frame = await loadReferenceFrame(framePath);
+
+      expect(frame).toMatchObject({ width: expected.width, height: expected.height });
+      expect(frame.buffer).toEqual(buffer);
+      expect(readFileSync(framePath)).toEqual(buffer);
+      const html = buildGradeCompareHtml({
+        cells: [{ label: "warm", grading: { preset: "warm-daylight" } }],
+        frameSrc: frame.stagedName,
+        frameWidth: frame.width,
+        frameHeight: frame.height,
+      });
+      const sheetHeight = expected.width === 80 ? 1184 : 344;
+      expect(html).toContain(`data-height="${sheetHeight}"`);
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("keeps the dimensions and bytes of a PNG without orientation metadata", async () => {
+    const dir = tempDir();
+    try {
+      const framePath = join(dir, "frame.png");
+      const buffer = await sharp({
+        create: { width: 160, height: 80, channels: 3, background: "red" },
+      })
+        .png()
+        .toBuffer();
+      writeFileSync(framePath, buffer);
+
+      expect(await loadReferenceFrame(framePath)).toEqual({
+        buffer,
+        width: 160,
+        height: 80,
+        stagedName: "frame.png",
+      });
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+});
+
 describe("prepareGradeCompareTempProject", () => {
   it("copies the frame and LUTs into a temp project and rewrites LUT src values", async () => {
     const dir = tempDir();
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/grade-compare.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/grade-compare.ts
index c6501119af6..3d3cc144f3c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/grade-compare.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/grade-compare.ts
@@ -515,7 +515,7 @@ async function extractVideoFrameToBuffer(videoPath: string): Promise<Buffer | nu
   }
 }
 
-async function loadReferenceFrame(framePath: string): Promise<ReferenceFrame> {
+export async function loadReferenceFrame(framePath: string): Promise<ReferenceFrame> {
   if (!existsSync(framePath)) {
     throw new Error(`Reference frame not found: ${framePath}`);
   }
@@ -528,15 +528,15 @@ async function loadReferenceFrame(framePath: string): Promise<ReferenceFrame> {
   }
 
   const sharp = await loadSharp("grade-compare");
-  const metadata = await sharp(buffer).metadata();
-  if (!metadata.width || !metadata.height) {
+  const { width, height } = (await sharp(buffer).metadata()).autoOrient;
+  if (!width || !height) {
     throw new Error(`Could not read reference frame dimensions: ${framePath}`);
   }
 
   return {
     buffer,
-    width: metadata.width,
-    height: metadata.height,
+    width,
+    height,
     stagedName: isVideoPath(framePath) ? "frame.png" : frameFileNameForPath(framePath),
   };
 }