LUT (Look-Up Table)
A LUT — Look-Up Table — is a file that maps every input colour value to an output colour value. Apply a LUT to an image and every pixel’s colour is transformed according to the table: this shade of orange becomes that shade of gold; this neutral grey shifts warm. The entire transformation happens in one operation, at any bit depth, with zero quality loss.
LUTs originated in colour science and are the dominant colour grading format in video production — every film look you see in a cinema or a Netflix original is delivered as a combination of a technical LUT (correcting for camera log encoding) and a creative LUT (applying the director’s intended look). They’re now common in photo editing as “one-click presets” with more technical precision.
LUTs vs presets
A Lightroom preset is a set of slider values — it records that you moved the Temperature slider to 5800K, the Shadows slider to +15, the HSL Orange Hue to -12. Apply the preset and those slider values are applied. The effect depends on the starting point of the image.
A LUT is absolute: it defines the output value for every possible input value, regardless of where the slider started. A film emulation LUT applied to a Sony ARW file and to a Canon CR3 file will produce the same transformation of each colour, regardless of the base colour science of each camera.
In practice: presets are more adjustable (you can tweak the sliders after applying), LUTs are more colour-science-precise (the transformation is defined mathematically, not by slider approximation). Film emulation packages (VSCO, Mastin Labs, RNI Films) often use LUTs under the hood, delivered as preset files.
How to apply LUTs in common software
Lightroom / Lightroom Classic: HSL and Tone Curve don’t support LUTs directly. You can apply LUTs via the Color Grading section using .cube files, or via the Camera Matching profile section if the LUT is packaged as an ICC profile.
Photoshop: Image → Adjustments → Color Lookup. Supports .3dl, .cube, and .look formats. Apply as an adjustment layer for non-destructive use.
Affinity Photo 2: Layer → New Adjustment Layer → LUT. Supports .cube format. Full non-destructive support.
Capture One: Colour → ICC Color Profile. Capture One can use ICC profiles as creative LUTs; .cube format support varies by version.
DaVinci Resolve (video-adjacent): LUTs are a first-class workflow component. If you grade video alongside photos, using matching LUTs in both tools maintains visual consistency across deliverables.
Common LUT file formats
| Format | Extension | Software support |
|---|---|---|
| Cube (Adobe) | .cube | Photoshop, Affinity, Resolve, most tools |
| 3DL (discreet) | .3dl | Photoshop, Resolve |
| ICC profile | .icc, .icm | Universal; operates at OS level |
| LOOK (Adobe) | .look | Lightroom Camera Raw profiles |
See also
- Colour space (sRGB / Adobe RGB / ProPhoto) — the coordinate system LUTs operate within
- ICC profile — the device-level colour description that LUTs can be packaged inside
- Preset — the simpler slider-based alternative to LUTs
- Curves — the manual equivalent of what a LUT does parametrically