How to apply a LUT to a photo: every Mac app, step by step

LUTs are usually sold as a video thing, but a .cube file works on a still just as well. A photo is one frame, and the LUT maps each of its colours to a new one exactly as it would on a clip. The steps depend on the app. The part people get wrong is the input: a LUT built for one kind of image gives a muddy or garish result on another.

What does a LUT do to a photo?

A LUT (lookup table) is a list that says "this input colour becomes that output colour". Apply it and every pixel is remapped in one pass. On a photo it can do two different jobs:

• A creative look: a film style, teal and orange, a warm fade. Built for normal, already-developed images.
• A conversion: from a log or flat profile to normal contrast. Built for one camera profile, and wrong on anything else.

Most LUTs you find for photos are creative looks. What is a LUT? covers the idea in general, and what a .cube file is covers the format.

Which apps can apply a LUT to a photo?

Check your own version: apps add and move these options between releases.

How do you apply a LUT to a photo in Photoshop?

1. Open the photo.
2. Choose Layer → New Adjustment Layer → Color Lookup, or click the adjustment icon at the bottom of the Layers panel.
3. In the Properties panel, open the 3DLUT File menu and choose Load 3D LUT.
4. Pick the .cube file. The look appears on the photo straight away.
5. Lower the adjustment layer's Opacity if the look is too strong.
6. Export with File → Export → Export As, or save a PSD to keep the layer editable.

Because the LUT sits on its own layer, you can mask it off a face or a sky, or stack a curves layer above it. For a folder of photos, Photoshop needs a recorded action and File → Automate → Batch. Photoshop batch edit with a LUT shows that route and where it gets fiddly.

How do you apply a LUT to a photo in Lightroom?

Lightroom can't load a .cube directly, so you turn the LUT into a profile once:

1. Open any photo in Camera Raw (from Photoshop or Bridge).
2. Option-click the Create Preset button to get Create Profile.
3. Tick Color Lookup Table and load the .cube.
4. Name the profile and save it.

The profile then shows in Lightroom's Profile browser, with an Amount slider for strength. How to use LUTs in Lightroom walks through each screen. If you already have a Lightroom preset you want as a LUT, Lightroom preset to LUT goes the other way.

How do you apply a LUT in Affinity Photo or Pixelmator Pro?

Affinity Photo: add a LUT adjustment layer from the Adjustments menu, load the .cube, and set the layer opacity for strength. LUTs in Affinity Photo also covers its batch job.

Pixelmator Pro: select the layer, open Color Adjustments, turn on LUT and choose your file from the menu beside its pop-up. The intensity slider sets the strength. Pixelmator Pro LUTs has the details, including exporting your own adjustments as a .cube.

Why does a LUT look wrong on my photo?

The LUT is almost always reading an image it wasn't built for. The common cases:

• A conversion LUT on a normal photo. A log-to-Rec.709 LUT adds a lot of contrast and saturation. On a JPEG that already has contrast, shadows crush and colours go neon.
• A creative LUT on a flat image. A look built for normal contrast sits on top of a grey, flat file and looks washed out. Develop the photo first.
• A RAW file's default rendering. Many raw editors show a flat starting point. Set exposure and white balance before the LUT, not after.
• Full strength. Most looks are made strong so they read on a sample image. Turned down part of the way, they usually suit a real photo better. LUT intensity explains the blend.

Correct first, then apply the look. Colour grading photos has the order for a whole set.

How do you apply a LUT to a whole folder of photos?

One photo is a minute of work in any of the apps above. Forty portraits, four hundred event frames or a product shoot is where the per-photo steps add up, and where a strength that suits one frame is wrong on the next.

BatchTone is a Mac app built for that job. You drop in a folder and choose one .cube. Every photo gets a preview with the LUT applied and its own strength slider, because a look that suits a bright frame is usually too heavy on a dark one. The frames that need less sit lower than the rest, and one export writes the whole set. It reads JPEG, PNG, HEIC and TIFF, exports JPEG at the quality you choose or PNG, and carries capture date, camera and GPS across from your JPEGs. It doesn't develop RAW files; if your camera writes RAW+JPEG, use the JPEGs, or export from your raw editor first. Originals are never modified and nothing is uploaded.

It runs on macOS 12 or later on Apple Silicon, and the seven-day trial has everything unlocked; after that it is one in-app purchase, not a subscription. The same batch can hold video clips too.

Download BatchTone free on the Mac App Store

Common questions

Can you apply a LUT to a photo on iPhone?

Apple's Photos app has no LUT import. You need a third-party editor that reads .cube files, or apply the look on a computer and send the photo back.

Can you apply a LUT to a RAW photo?

Not directly in most tools. Develop the RAW file first (exposure, white balance), then apply the LUT to the developed image or as a profile in Camera Raw.

Are video LUTs and photo LUTs different?

The file format is the same. What differs is the input a LUT expects: a creative LUT built for Rec.709 works on a normal photo, while a camera conversion LUT only suits footage in that camera's log profile.

How do you make a LUT from a photo edit?

Edit one photo, then export the edit as a .cube: Pixelmator Pro can do this directly, and how to create a LUT covers the other ways.

Does a LUT reduce photo quality?

A LUT interpolates between its grid points and can clip colours outside its range, so a very strong look can band in smooth skies. On an 8-bit JPEG, keep the strength moderate and check gradients before you export the set.