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Freevisuals
LUTs remain one of the fastest ways to establish a consistent color direction across a project, but the actual workflow for importing and applying them has genuinely evolved, and editors following an older tutorial may find themselves looking for a menu that no longer sits exactly where they remember. Understanding both the established Lumetri Color method and the newer Color Mode workflow currently rolling out through beta releases keeps you working confidently regardless of which specific version you happen to be running.
Premiere Pro applies LUTs through its Lumetri Color panel, distinguishing between technical Input LUTs used for converting log footage and creative Look LUTs used for stylized grading, both fully supporting the standard .cube file format. This post covers the traditional Lumetri workflow, the correct dedicated system folders for permanently installing LUTs so they appear automatically in Premiere's dropdowns, a genuinely newer Add Clip LUT workflow currently available in Premiere Pro's Color Mode beta, the correct order for applying LUTs to log footage specifically, and the best practice of applying LUTs through an adjustment layer rather than individually per clip. It also includes a real video walkthrough, frequently asked questions, and links to Freevisuals resources worth pairing with this workflow.
By Jack Wright, Founder, Freevisuals. Updated 2026.
Premiere Pro's Lumetri Color panel distinguishes between two genuinely different LUT applications, and understanding this distinction matters considerably for getting predictable results. An Input LUT, applied through the Basic Correction tab, tells Premiere how to interpret your footage's actual color space, most commonly used to convert flat, log encoded footage from a camera into standard Rec.709 color before any further grading happens. A Creative Look LUT, applied through the separate Creative tab, functions as a stylized grading shortcut instead, applied after your primary technical corrections to establish a specific visual mood or aesthetic.
Confusing these two categories is a genuinely common source of unexpected results, applying a creative, stylized LUT directly to unconverted log footage through the Input LUT slot, for instance, can produce a noticeably different and often less predictable result than applying that same LUT correctly through the Creative tab instead.
With your clip selected on the timeline, open the Lumetri Color panel through Window, then Lumetri Color. For a technical, log conversion LUT, open the Basic Correction tab and select the Input LUT dropdown, choosing Browse to navigate to your specific .cube file on your system. For a creative, stylized LUT instead, open the Creative tab and use the Look dropdown in the same way. Once applied, reviewing your Lumetri Scopes alongside the visible result on your footage helps confirm the LUT is producing a technically sound result rather than one that merely looks correct on an uncalibrated monitor.
Rather than browsing to a LUT file manually every single time you want to use it, installing your regularly used LUTs into Premiere's dedicated system folders makes them appear automatically within the relevant dropdown menus going forward. On Mac, this location sits at Library, then Application Support, then Adobe, then Common, then LUTs, within your user folder, while on Windows it sits at AppData, then Roaming, then Adobe, then Common, then LUTs, within your user directory. Within this main LUTs folder, creating a Technical subfolder and a Creative subfolder specifically, then placing your respective LUT files into the matching folder based on their intended use, ensures Technical LUTs appear correctly within the Input LUT dropdown and Creative LUTs appear within the Look dropdown once Premiere Pro has been restarted.
For a full demonstration covering both LUT types and the folder installation process, watch How To Use LUTs In Premiere Pro, which walks through importing, applying, and troubleshooting LUTs within a real project. This is worth watching specifically because seeing exactly where the Input LUT and Look dropdowns sit within the Lumetri panel, and how each one visibly affects footage differently, clarifies the distinction between technical and creative LUTs considerably faster than reading about it in isolation.
Editors working in Premiere Pro's beta releases, or the newer Color Mode workflow as it continues rolling out, will find LUT importing looks genuinely different from the traditional Lumetri approach. Rather than navigating through the familiar Lumetri Color dropdowns, this newer workflow uses a dedicated Color Controls panel within the Color workspace, where clicking the plus icon and choosing Add Clip LUT lets you select your extracted .cube file directly, with a separate Intensity control available afterward to dial back the LUT's strength if the default application feels too strong for your specific footage.
This interface change has understandably confused editors following older tutorials expecting the traditional dropdown location, and knowing that both approaches ultimately achieve the same underlying result, applying a .cube file's color transformation to your footage, helps clarify that your actual LUT files remain fully compatible even as Premiere's specific interface for accessing them continues to evolve across newer releases.
For footage shot in a log color profile, Sony's S-Log, Canon Log, or ARRI's Log-C among the most common examples, getting your LUT application order correct matters considerably for a predictable final result. The correct sequence applies your technical, log to Rec.709 conversion LUT first, through the Input LUT slot specifically, before any further creative grading happens on top of that now properly converted image. Skipping this conversion step and applying a creative LUT directly to unconverted log footage typically produces washed out, unpredictable results, since creative LUTs are generally built assuming they are being applied to already properly exposed, standard color space footage rather than flat, log encoded source material.
Rather than applying the same LUT individually to every single clip in a sequence, creating a dedicated adjustment layer, placed above your footage and spanning your intended duration, and applying your LUT to that single adjustment layer instead lets it affect every clip beneath it simultaneously. This approach keeps your timeline considerably cleaner and makes future adjustments significantly easier, changing your project's overall color direction later requires updating the LUT on just one adjustment layer rather than manually revisiting every individual clip where it was previously applied.
Once you have built a color grade you genuinely want to reuse across future projects, Premiere Pro supports exporting your current Lumetri settings as a standalone .cube file, accessible through the menu icon within the Lumetri Color panel while working in the Color workspace. This exported file can then be reimported into future Premiere projects, or used within any other application supporting the standard .cube format, letting you build a genuinely personal library of custom grades developed from your own actual project work rather than relying purely on third party LUT packs.
This export workflow can vary somewhat depending on your specific Premiere Pro version, and for versions where this direct panel export is not readily available, routing your sequence through Adobe Media Encoder offers an alternative path to capturing your grade as a reusable file. Building this kind of personal LUT library over time, cataloging grades you have developed for specific footage types or lighting conditions, gives you an increasingly valuable, genuinely custom starting point for future color work rather than starting from a completely blank slate on every new project.
A frequent mistake involves applying a creative LUT and then adding further corrective color effects directly on top of it to fix an undesirable result, rather than returning to Basic Correction specifically to adjust White Balance, Tint, and Exposure, which tends to produce more predictable, controllable results than stacking corrective effects blindly after the fact. Another common issue involves placing LUT files in the wrong system subfolder, a creative LUT dropped into the Technical folder, for instance, resulting in it appearing in the wrong dropdown entirely or not appearing where expected at all.
Stacking many individual Lumetri instances and additional effects across a heavily graded timeline without considering performance is another common oversight, since color processing is genuinely resource intensive, and a project cutting smoothly during rough assembly can become noticeably sluggish once extensive grading work has been layered on top, making proxies worth considering for particularly demanding, heavily graded projects.
Well applied LUTs pair naturally with the kind of considered, professional projects our own Premiere Pro templates library is built around. Our free LUT library is directly worth browsing alongside this guide for a genuine starting point to apply using the exact workflow covered here. For premium templates and additional creative assets, Motion Array and Envato are both worth exploring, and for music to pair with a finished, well graded project, Artlist and Epidemic Sound are both genuinely strong options.
An Input LUT handles technical color space conversion, most commonly converting log footage to standard Rec.709, applied before other corrections. A Look is a creative, stylized grading LUT applied afterward through the separate Creative tab.
On Mac, within Library, then Application Support, then Adobe, then Common, then LUTs, inside your user folder. On Windows, within AppData, then Roaming, then Adobe, then Common, then LUTs. Use Technical and Creative subfolders matching your intended LUT type.
Premiere Pro's newer Color Mode beta workflow uses a different Add Clip LUT process within a Color Controls panel rather than the traditional Lumetri dropdown menus. Both approaches apply the same underlying .cube files.
Apply your technical conversion LUT first through Input LUT to convert log footage to standard color space, then apply any creative Look LUT afterward, rather than applying a creative LUT directly to unconverted log footage.
An adjustment layer is generally the better approach, letting a single LUT affect every clip beneath it simultaneously and making future color adjustments considerably faster than updating many individual clips separately.
LUTs remain a genuinely fast way to establish consistent color direction across a project, and understanding both the traditional Lumetri workflow and the newer Color Mode approach ensures you can work confidently regardless of which specific Premiere Pro version or workflow you encounter. Getting the technical versus creative distinction right, applying LUTs in the correct order for log footage, and using an adjustment layer for broad, easily adjustable application rounds out the practical knowledge needed to use LUTs effectively across genuinely varied projects.
If you want to affect multiple clips, consider using an adjustment layer. Drag and drop it over your clips in the timeline and apply the LUT to this layer.
For a more direct route, you can search for 'Lumetri Color' in the Effects Panel and drag it onto your selected clip or adjustment layer.
If Premiere Pro doesn't let you add an adjustment layer in the first place, try this.
Mind you, the Lumetri Color panel offers a plethora of tools beyond LUTs, like basic corrections, curves, and color wheels.
If your LUT aims to convert between color spaces (like S-Log2 to Rec. 709), the 'Technical' LUT is your go-to.
Believe me, understanding how to modulate the strength of a LUT can greatly expand your creative range. You may want to start with a moderate setting, like 60%, and then adjust to taste.
Or, Drag and drop the .cube file directly into the Lumetri panel. This method bypasses the need to browse through folders but works best if the .cube file is readily accessible, say, on your desktop.
CUBE files essentially function as Look-Up Tables.
The core principle is surprisingly straightforward: each LUT contains a fixed grid of RGB color values (often 17x17x17 or 33x33x33), and this grid translates the original colors to different target colors. By the way, this is achieved through a process called interpolation, which fills in the gaps between known points in the grid to map any given color accurately.
The versatility of CUBE files is genuinely remarkable. For instance, you can apply these LUTs at various points in your post-production pipeline—be it on a single clip, a sequence, or even as an adjustment layer affecting multiple tracks. What's crucial to note is that LUTs can be "destructive" if applied incorrectly. In other words, once applied to the original footage, reverting to the pre-LUT stage could result in a loss of data if not managed carefully. No doubt, proper version control is a must.
Mind you, the utility of CUBE files extends beyond mere aesthetic adjustments. They're also employed for technical corrections, like calibrating your monitor or converting log footage to Rec. 709. Frankly, understanding these functionalities demands a thorough understanding of color spaces, transfer functions, and chromaticity—a whole universe of highly specialized knowledge.
Lot's of beginners ask whether .cube files can be used in Adobe Premiere Pro and the answer is yes. In fact, many LUTs are in .cube format.
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