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| Loading a LUT file |
Add a LUT to an Image
To add a LUT
layer click on the checkered icon in the “Adjustments” panel to bring up the
“Properties” panel, then click on the “Load 3D LUT” button for a drop down list
of LUTS. After selecting a particular
LUT, the layer will show a LUT icon and its mask. Right click on the LUT icon and select either
“Blending Options…” for addition effects or “Edit Options…” to change to and
some other LUT selection. After that, add
another LUT layer and find out how it could further enhance your image!
Find More LUT Files
LUTs for
Photoshop are located in the directory:
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC
2019\Presets\3DLUTs.
LUTs copied
from other programs or sources may be pasted there so they may show up in the
drop down list. There is a limit to how many LUTs can be active at a time in Photoshop. However, another method
is to create your own directory to store those LUTS. To open them, click on “Load 3D LUT…” in the
drop down list. It will bring up the
file dialog for to locate your LUT files.
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Click “Load 3D
LUT...” to locate your LUT directory
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LUTs can be
located in several places on the internet such as:
Try
searching with the key words “free luts” or “color lookup tables’
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| Bouquet before change |
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| "Candle Light Look" LUT applied |
When
finished editing the image with a few LUT layers and other adjustments, save
those adjustment layers as a LUT. This
is much faster than going through the tedious task of creating “Action” files.
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| Joliet Prison - Original |
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| Joliet Prison with Several adjustment layers |
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| Adjustment panel icon descriptions |
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| Highlighted layers ready for export |
Select all the layers except the “Background” layer then click on “File”, then “Export”, then “Color lookup tables.
In the dialog that pops up, choose Quality: Poor, Low, Medium, High, or Maximum.
Chose Format: 3DL CUBE, CSP, or ICC Profile.
For the image above, I chose Medium Quality and “CUBE”
See setting explanations below.
Click OK.
Choose a directory and filename. I saved the “Prison” image as “Dark Mystery” to another location on a drive.
Test the New LUT
Select all layers except the Background layer. Ctrl-G to create a new group.
Deselect the group. Be sure the Background layer is selected. Then click on the “Lookup Table” icon in the adjustment panel. Click on Load 3D LUT button. At the top of the drop down list, click ““Load 3D LUT…” as explained previously. Navigate to the directory the LUT file was saved and load it. It should look just the same as the original creation.
Export Color Lookup Dialog Settings
Put metadata text in the “Description” field, not the actual name for your LUT. Photoshop will automatically add “© Copyright <current year>” to the text entered in the “Copyright” field.
Grid points are selectable from 0 to 256 or a choice of indistinct settings: poor (8), low (16), medium (32), high (64), and max 256). From what I can tell, 3D LUT grid points indicate the bit depth of a 3D cube. For example: 32x32x32 cube would have 32 grid points? See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_lookup_table. What is known is the more grid points the larger the file. I haven’t seen any noticeable differences yet so I use medium or 32 grid points. I suppose you could also put the number of grid points in the “Description” field.
Deselect the group. Be sure the Background layer is selected. Then click on the “Lookup Table” icon in the adjustment panel. Click on Load 3D LUT button. At the top of the drop down list, click ““Load 3D LUT…” as explained previously. Navigate to the directory the LUT file was saved and load it. It should look just the same as the original creation.
Export Color Lookup Dialog Settings
Put metadata text in the “Description” field, not the actual name for your LUT. Photoshop will automatically add “© Copyright <current year>” to the text entered in the “Copyright” field.
Grid points are selectable from 0 to 256 or a choice of indistinct settings: poor (8), low (16), medium (32), high (64), and max 256). From what I can tell, 3D LUT grid points indicate the bit depth of a 3D cube. For example: 32x32x32 cube would have 32 grid points? See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_lookup_table. What is known is the more grid points the larger the file. I haven’t seen any noticeable differences yet so I use medium or 32 grid points. I suppose you could also put the number of grid points in the “Description” field.
There are four formats to choose
from: 3DL, CUBE, CSP, and ICC profile. They all do the same thing but can be
used for other software packages. The
most portable and common format is CUBE. The ICC profile is chosen only if
edited in CMYK color mode. CMYK will be converted to RGB automatically when
saving in the other three modes.
One final note, masked layers will not work because it is not an adjustment layer. If a masked layer is included in the selection when saving your LUT it will look weird when loaded. Masks must be applied before or after loading a LUT.
The best thing about using LUTS whether your own or purchased is you can create your own personal style.
