User Guide - CREATE LUTS For Adobe Lightroom
Learn how to create custom LUTs for Adobe Lightroom in 3 simple steps
While Adobe Lightroom offers a robust platform for image management and organization, its color grading controls and film emulation tools may not meet the needs of all users. To work around Lightroom's color grading limitations, it's beneficial to use a tool dedicated to color grading and film color simulation like Color.io. Color.io comes with advanced color grading capabilities and can also export color adjustments directly into many desktop applications for photo and video editing. To export the color grading effects from Color.io into Lightroom, a few simple conversion steps are required which we'll explain below.
If you haven't done so already be sure to check out earlier sections of this user guide to learn how to create advanced color grades and film emulations with Color.io:
Creating Custom Lightroom Profiles from 3D LUTs
Before we begin, you'll need active installations of Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom, and one or more lookup tables (LUTs) in .cube format. With Color.io, you can create and export high-quality film emulation and color grading LUTs. In the Color.io app, simply select "Photoshop" under Export -> 3D LUTs. To make a LUT usable in Lightroom and Camera Raw, it must be embedded in a profile. This process is straightforward once you know the steps:
1. Open Adobe Photoshop and apply the Camera Raw Filter
2. Inside Camera Raw, locate the three little dots on the right side of the interface. Hold the ⎇ option (macOS) or Alt (Windows) key and click on these dots.
3. Click on "Create Profile..." in the context menu:
4. In the "Create Profile" window, assign a Name and Group to your profile. At the bottom of the window, tick the "Color Lookup Table" box and load a 3D LUT under "Table":
5. Click "Ok". Your LUT is now embedded in a new profile, ready to be applied in Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw.
Applying LUTs in Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw
To apply 3D Lookup Tables (LUTs) to your images in Lightroom or Camera Raw, open the Profile Browser and find the profile(s) you have created in the previous step.
1. To open the profile browser, click on the "tile" icon in the Profile section of Adobe Lightroom or Camera RAW:
2. Browse through your profiles and select the one you want to apply. The 3D LUTs in these profiles offer much more creative possibilities than Lightroom's built-in color tools alone:
Color.io App
With Color.io you can edit images and build 3D LUTs with a powerful online raw developer and analog film look designer for photographers and filmmakers. Craft stunning film color in record time that works for any camera, in any software and on any device, directly in your browser.
