LuttieHow to Create Your Own LUT File (and Export It as .cube)
Build a custom color grade in your browser and export it as a .cube LUT file you can use in Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, and more.
Most people think creating a LUT requires Resolve, a paid plugin, or years of color grading experience. It doesn't. If you can describe the look you want — warmer, more contrast, teal shadows — you can build and export a LUT in under five minutes using Luttie.
This guide walks through the full process: building a grade, refining it, and exporting a .cube file you can drop into any editing software.
What Is a .cube LUT File?
A .cube file is the most widely supported LUT format. It stores a 3D color lookup table — a map that tells your editor "when you see this color, output this color instead." Every major NLE supports it: Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, CapCut, and hundreds of others.
When you create a .cube file in Luttie, it bakes your entire grade — curves, color wheels, HSL corrections, temperature, everything — into a single portable file.
What You Need
- A Luttie Pro account
- A reference image (any photo or frame you want to grade)
- A browser — no installs required
Step 1 — Open the Editor
Go to luttie.app/editor and sign in. Upload your image by dragging it onto the canvas or clicking to browse. Luttie supports JPG, PNG, WebP, TIFF, and RAW formats.
Step 2 — Build Your Grade
This is where your LUT gets its character. Work through the panel sections in order:
Basic Correction First
Start with Basic Correction before adding any creative look. Set your exposure, white balance, contrast, whites, and blacks. This is the foundation — a LUT applied to poorly exposed footage will look inconsistent across shots.
- Temperature — pull left for cooler, right for warmer
- Exposure — get the overall brightness where you want it
- Whites / Blacks — set your highlight ceiling and shadow floor
- Contrast — adds punch, but use sparingly
Shape the Tone with Curves
The Curves editor gives you the most precise control. The master curve controls overall luminance; the R, G, B channels let you shift specific tonal ranges.
A classic film curve: lift the shadows slightly (raise the bottom-left point), and roll off the highlights (pull the top-right point down slightly). This creates that soft, organic feel that straight LUTs rarely capture.
Color with Wheels
The Color Wheels section controls shadows, midtones, and highlights independently. This is where most cinematic looks come from:
- Push shadows toward teal or blue
- Pull midtones warm or neutral
- Keep highlights clean or slightly warm
Click the value number next to any wheel to type an exact value.
HSL Secondary (Optional)
If you want to shift a specific color range — desaturate greens, boost skin tone warmth, or punch up blues — use HSL Secondary. Use the eyedropper to sample directly from your image.
Presets
Already happy with a look? Save it as a user preset using the + Save current as preset button in the Creative section. This lets you apply the same grade to other images before exporting.
Step 3 — Compare Before and After
Toggle the Before / After switch at the bottom of the panel to check your work. You're looking for a grade that:
- Holds detail in highlights and shadows
- Looks consistent with different skin tones and neutrals
- Doesn't clip (check the histogram — it appears above Basic Correction)
The histogram updates live. If either end is clipped hard, pull back your whites or blacks.
Step 4 — Export the .cube File
Once you're satisfied with the grade, click Export LUT (.cube) at the bottom of the panel.
Luttie generates a 33×33×33 .cube file — the standard size used by professional colorists. The file bakes everything: basic correction, curves, color wheels, HSL adjustments, and any applied LUT.
The file downloads instantly to your computer.
Step 5 — Use Your LUT Anywhere
Your .cube file works in any software that supports LUTs:
DaVinci Resolve — Color page → LUTs panel → right-click → Import → drop it into a node
Premiere Pro — Lumetri Color → Creative → Look → Browse for your file
Final Cut Pro — Effects → Color → Custom LUT → choose your file
CapCut — Effects → LUT → Import
You can also drag your .cube file back into Luttie's editor at any time using the Custom LUT drop zone in the Creative section.
Tips for Better LUTs
Grade on a neutral image. Apply your LUT to different photos before exporting to check how it behaves across varying exposures and skin tones. A LUT that looks great on one image but blows out another needs more restraint in the highlights.
Save your settings as a project. Before exporting, hit Save project in the amber banner at the top. This lets you come back and tweak the grade later — the .cube export is non-destructive, your settings are preserved separately.
Build a library. Make LUTs for different scenarios: golden hour, overcast, indoor tungsten, blue hour. Each one becomes a one-click starting point in your NLE.
What's the Difference Between a LUT and a Preset?
A preset lives inside Luttie — it stores your settings so you can re-apply them in the editor. A LUT (.cube) is a portable file that works in any software. Build your look in Luttie as a preset, then export it as a LUT when you want to take it elsewhere.
Open the editor and build your first LUT →
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