Colour grade a photo or apply a LUT
Ten cinematic looks, or your own .cube LUT file. Save any look as a .cube.
Drop an image here, or .
Runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
Colour Grading & LUTs: how to use it
- Drop in a photo.
- Choose a built-in look, or choose My own .cube LUT file and pick your file.
- Set the Strength and download. Under the result, you can save a built-in look as a .cube file.
Tips
- Grade after fixing exposure and white balance; a LUT exaggerates what is already wrong.
- Strength around 60 to 80 keeps skin tones believable with strong looks such as teal and orange.
Colour Grading & LUTs: what it does and when to use it
Colour Grading & LUTs gives a photo the colour of a film: teal and orange, warm or cool film, golden hour, faded matte, bleach bypass, cross process, cinematic green, day for night and a high-contrast black and white. You can also load your own LUT, a .cube file of the kind photographers and video editors buy, share and export from DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro or Lightroom.
A LUT, short for lookup table, maps every input colour to an output colour. A 3D LUT does this for whole colours rather than single channels, so it can change skin tones without touching the sky. This tool reads 3D .cube LUTs of any size and interpolates between their points for smooth gradients, and Strength blends the grade with the original. Every built-in look can be downloaded as a free .cube file to use in your own editor.
A LUT expects a certain starting point. Creative LUTs are made for normally exposed photos, and a LUT made for a camera log profile will look flat and strange on a phone picture. Fix exposure and white balance first with Image Adjustments, then grade. For one-tap social media looks rather than film grades, try Aesthetic Filters.
Colour Grading & LUTs: frequently asked questions
How do I apply a LUT to a photo online?
Choose "My own .cube LUT file", pick your .cube file and the grade is applied straight away. Use Strength to blend it with the original. It reads 3D LUTs of any size. Related tool: Aesthetic Filters.
Can I use these looks in Premiere, Resolve or Lightroom?
Yes. Under the result there is a link to download the built-in look you chose as a 33-point .cube LUT, which Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, Photoshop and Lightroom (as a profile) can load. Related tool: Image Adjustments.
Why does my LUT look wrong?
It was probably made for footage in a camera log profile, which is flat and grey before grading. On a normal phone photo such a LUT adds far too much contrast and colour. Use a creative LUT made for normal footage, or lower the Strength.
Where can I get free LUTs?
Every built-in look here can be downloaded as a free .cube LUT. Camera makers also publish free LUTs for their log profiles, and many colourists share creative LUTs; check the licence before using them commercially. Related tool: Aesthetic Filters.