How to Use LUTs in Premiere Pro

A workflow taught by Adobe Certified Instructors at Adobe Video World.

A LUT is a one-click color preset that can transform the look of your footage — a teal-and-orange blockbuster grade, a vintage film stock, or a clean correction for log footage. Premiere Pro makes LUTs easy to apply, but using them well takes a little understanding. This guide covers both creative and technical LUTs and how to get the most from them.

What a LUT Actually Is

LUT stands for Look-Up Table, a file that remaps the colors in your footage according to a fixed recipe. Feed it a color and it outputs a new one, applying the same transformation to every pixel in your shot. The result is a consistent, repeatable look applied in a single step.

Think of a LUT as a sophisticated color filter created by a professional colorist. Instead of manually adjusting dozens of controls, you load a file that does the work instantly — which is why LUTs are a staple of fast, consistent color workflows.

Technical vs. Creative LUTs

There are two distinct kinds of LUT, and confusing them causes most LUT mistakes. Technical (or conversion) LUTs transform flat log footage into a standard, neutral look — they’re a correction, not a style. Creative LUTs apply an artistic grade, like a film emulation or a moody cinematic tone.

The order matters: apply a technical LUT first to normalize log footage, then a creative LUT on top for style. Slapping a creative LUT directly onto raw log footage skips the correction step and usually looks wrong, which is the number-one reason LUTs disappoint beginners.

Apply a LUT in Lumetri

Premiere offers two places to add a LUT in the Lumetri Color panel. The Basic Correction section has an Input LUT slot for technical conversion LUTs, while the Creative section has a Look dropdown for stylistic LUTs.

Choose your LUT from the dropdown or browse to a custom file, and your footage instantly takes on the new look. Using the correct slot for each type keeps your color pipeline clean and predictable, which becomes important as your grades get more complex.

Control the LUT’s Intensity

A LUT applied at full strength is often too much. In the Creative section, the Intensity slider beneath the Look dropdown lets you dial the effect back until it feels right rather than overpowering. Pulling it down to 50–70% is common for a more natural result.

This single slider is the difference between a LUT that enhances your footage and one that crushes it into an unrealistic, oversaturated mess. Always treat a LUT as a starting point to be tuned, not a finished grade to accept as-is.

Correct Before You Apply

A LUT expects footage that’s already reasonably balanced, so correct exposure and white balance first. If your shot is underexposed or has a color cast, the LUT amplifies those problems rather than fixing them. A quick Basic Correction pass gives the LUT a clean canvas.

This mirrors the wider grading principle of correcting before creating, as our color grading guide explains. Spend a moment neutralizing each shot, and the same LUT will look great across very different clips instead of only working on one.

Install Custom LUTs

Premiere ships with a handful of LUTs, but the real power comes from the thousands available online, free and paid. To make a custom LUT appear permanently in your dropdowns, place the .cube file in Premiere’s LUT folder and restart the application.

Alternatively, you can browse to any LUT file directly from the dropdown’s ‘Browse’ option without installing it. Building a small, curated library of LUTs you trust speeds up your grading enormously, since you reach for proven looks instead of starting from zero each time.

Use LUTs with Log Footage

Modern cameras often shoot in a flat ‘log’ profile that preserves maximum detail but looks washed out straight from the camera. This footage is designed to be graded, and a technical LUT matched to your camera’s log format restores it to a natural, contrasty image in one step.

Apply that conversion LUT in the Input LUT slot first, then grade or add a creative look on top. Using the right log-to-Rec.709 LUT for your specific camera is the cleanest way to unlock the quality that log footage captures but hides.

Match LUTs Across Your Project

For a consistent look, apply the same creative LUT across every shot, then use color matching to even out differences first. A LUT alone won’t make mismatched clips agree — it applies the same transformation to each, so clips that started different stay different.

Combine a LUT with the color match tool for the best of both: match your shots to each other, then unify them under a single creative LUT. This layered approach gives a whole sequence a polished, cohesive style.

LUT Best Practices

• Correct exposure and white balance before applying any LUT.
• Use technical LUTs for log conversion, creative LUTs for style.
• Pull the Intensity slider back so the look feels natural.
• Build a trusted library of .cube LUTs for quick, consistent grading.

Common LUT Mistakes

• Applying a creative LUT directly to raw log footage.
• Leaving the LUT at 100% intensity, crushing the image.
• Expecting a LUT to fix exposure or white balance problems.
• Using a one-size-fits-all LUT on every clip without correcting first.

Free vs. Paid LUTs: What to Know

Thousands of LUTs are available, both free and paid, and quality varies enormously. Free LUT packs are a great way to learn how different looks affect your footage, while paid packs from reputable colorists tend to be more refined and camera-aware. Either way, a LUT is a starting point, not a finished grade.

Be wary of LUTs that promise a perfect look on any footage, because no single recipe suits every camera, exposure, and lighting setup. Test a LUT on several of your own clips before relying on it, and keep only the handful that consistently flatter your style and your camera.

How LUTs Fit Into a Full Grade

A LUT is one ingredient in a complete grade, not the whole meal. The professional order is to correct your footage, apply a conversion LUT if you shot log, add a creative LUT for the base look, then refine with curves, wheels, and secondary adjustments on top. The LUT sets the direction; your tweaks finish the journey.

Thinking this way prevents the common trap of dumping a LUT on a clip and calling it done. Layered with the techniques from our color grading guide, a LUT becomes a powerful accelerator rather than a crutch, giving you a polished, intentional look every time.

Key Takeaways

• A LUT remaps colors with a one-click preset recipe.
• Apply technical LUTs to convert log footage, creative LUTs for style.
• Use the Input LUT and Creative Look slots in the Lumetri panel.
• Correct first, then control the LUT’s intensity to taste.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I apply a LUT in Premiere Pro?

In the Lumetri Color panel, use the Input LUT slot in Basic Correction for technical LUTs or the Look dropdown in the Creative section for stylistic LUTs, then choose your LUT or browse to a .cube file.

What’s the difference between a technical and creative LUT?

A technical LUT converts flat log footage to a standard neutral look — it’s a correction. A creative LUT applies an artistic grade like a film emulation. Apply the technical one first, then the creative one.

Why does my LUT look bad?

Usually it’s applied to uncorrected or log footage, or left at full intensity. Correct exposure and white balance first, use a conversion LUT on log footage, and lower the Intensity slider for a natural result.

Sources: Wikipedia’s explanation of color lookup tables.