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If you just downloaded a LUT pack (ours or anyone else’s) and Premiere isn’t doing what you expected, you’re not alone. Premiere has at least four different ways to apply LUTs, and they don’t behave the same. Here’s the correct workflow, and the gotchas that trip up most people the first time.

Step 1: Find your downloaded LUTs

LUT files end in .cube. After unzipping your pack, you should see files like CINEMA_warm.cube, DARK-DREAMS_moody-blue.cube, etc. If your zip contains .xmp or .dng files, those are Lightroom presets — they won’t work in Premiere. Make sure you’re pointing Premiere at the .cube files specifically.

Put the LUT folder somewhere stable. Don’t leave it in your Downloads folder where it’ll get cleared. Most editors keep a dedicated /LUTs/ directory on their working drive.

Step 2: Open Lumetri Color

In Premiere, drop the clip you want to grade on the timeline. Then:

1. Window menu → Lumetri Color (if it’s not already visible)
2. Click the clip in the timeline so Lumetri targets it

You should see five tabs in Lumetri: Basic Correction, Creative, Curves, Color Wheels, HSL Secondary.

Step 3: Apply your LUT — the right tab matters

This is where most tutorials get sloppy. Premiere has two LUT slots, and they’re meant for different things.

Basic Correction → Input LUT is for technical conversion LUTs only. Use this slot when you’re converting Log footage (Sony S-Log, Canon C-Log, Apple Log, DJI D-Log) to Rec.709. Drop your camera-specific conversion LUT here.

Creative → Look is for creative LUTs — the actual cinematic looks you bought. Click the Look dropdown → Browse → navigate to your .cube file. Don’t expect the file picker to show .cube files by default. You may need to change the file type filter to “All Files” or “LUT Files” depending on your Premiere version.

If you’re grading Log footage with a creative LUT pack like our CINEMA pack or DARK DREAMS pack, do both: Input LUT for the camera conversion, Look for the creative grade. The Look LUT was designed for Rec.709 footage, so converting first is essential.

Step 4: Tune the intensity if needed

Below the Look dropdown is an Intensity slider. Default is 100%. For most well-exposed footage, leave it. For shots that look overcooked after the LUT, dial it back to 70-80% instead of fighting the LUT with other corrections.

The Saturation, Faded Film, Sharpen, Vibrance, and Tint sliders in the Creative tab are also useful for per-shot tweaks after the LUT lands. Don’t try to redo the LUT’s color work with these — they’re for fine-tuning only.

Step 5: Copy the grade to other clips

Once one clip looks the way you want:

1. Right-click the clip in the timeline → Copy
2. Select all the other clips that need the same grade (shift-click or marquee)
3. Right-click → Paste Attributes
4. In the dialog, check only “Lumetri Color” so you don’t overwrite their audio or transform

If your shots vary in exposure (which they will, slightly), you’ll still need to nudge the Basic Correction → Exposure on each clip individually. The LUT carries forward, the exposure correction has to be per-shot.

Common problems and fixes

“My LUT looks washed out / not the same as the preview” — You’re probably applying it to Log footage without converting first. Add the conversion LUT in the Input LUT slot, then your creative LUT in the Look slot.

“Premiere can’t find my .cube file” — Make sure the file isn’t inside another folder Premiere doesn’t have read access to. Move it to your Documents folder if you’re not sure.

“The LUT applies but looks crushed in the shadows” — Your footage was probably underexposed. LUTs don’t add information that wasn’t captured. Adjust the Shadows slider in Basic Correction before the LUT, not after.

“The colors flicker between shots” — Slight exposure or white-balance variation between takes shows up more after a LUT. Match the underlying footage first with Lumetri’s Match function (Color Wheels tab → Comparison View → Match), then layer the creative LUT.

“My exported video looks different from the preview” — Check your export color space. For YouTube and most online delivery, export Rec.709 (sRGB). If you’re exporting Rec.2020 HDR by accident, the LUT’s color decisions get remapped and your grade looks off.

Permanent install: making LUTs appear in Premiere’s built-in list

If you want your LUTs to show up in Premiere’s Look dropdown automatically without browsing every time, drop them into Premiere’s Lumetri Looks folder.

On Mac: /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/LUTs/Creative/

On Windows: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Common\LUTs\Creative\

Restart Premiere after dropping them in. They’ll now appear in the Look dropdown by filename, ready to apply with one click.

The takeaway

Input LUT slot = camera conversion. Look slot = creative LUT. Apply in that order, tune intensity if needed, copy attributes to spread the grade across the timeline, fix any per-clip exposure issues.

If you don’t have a LUT pack yet or want to test the workflow on something free, our SAMPLER pack includes three .cube LUTs from our paid collection. Drop them into your Premiere project and you’ll have everything you need to follow this guide end-to-end.