How do I export color presets from Premiere Pro?

March 10, 2026 · caitlin

Exporting color presets from Premiere Pro is a straightforward process that allows you to save and share your custom looks. This feature is incredibly useful for maintaining brand consistency across projects or for quickly applying a specific aesthetic to new footage. By exporting your Lumetri Color presets, you ensure that your carefully crafted color grades are readily available for future use.

Why Export Your Premiere Pro Color Presets?

Saving your color presets, often referred to as Lumetri presets, offers several significant advantages for video editors. It’s not just about convenience; it’s about efficiency and professional workflow.

Maintaining Brand Consistency

For businesses or individuals working with a specific brand identity, consistent color grading is crucial. Exporting your presets ensures that every video project adheres to the established brand colors and overall aesthetic. This builds immediate recognition and professionalism.

Saving Time and Effort

Recreating complex color grades from scratch can be time-consuming. Once you’ve perfected a look, exporting it as a preset means you can apply it to new clips or entire projects with just a few clicks. This significantly speeds up your post-production workflow.

Sharing and Collaboration

If you work in a team or collaborate with other editors, sharing your custom presets is an excellent way to ensure everyone is on the same page visually. It streamlines the collaboration process and reduces the need for lengthy explanations of desired looks.

How to Export Lumetri Color Presets in Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro makes exporting your color presets a simple, intuitive process. You can export individual presets or create a collection of your favorite looks to easily manage and share.

Step-by-Step Guide to Exporting

Follow these steps to export your Lumetri Color presets:

Open the Lumetri Color Panel: Navigate to Window > Lumetri Color in Premiere Pro.
Locate Your Preset: In the Lumetri Color panel, find the Creative or Look section where your applied preset is listed. If you haven’t saved it as a preset yet, you’ll need to do that first.
Save the Preset (If Not Already Saved):
- Click the three-line menu (hamburger icon) in the top-right corner of the Lumetri Color panel.
- Select Save Preset.
- Give your preset a descriptive name and choose a Group to organize it. Click OK.
Export the Preset:
- Again, click the three-line menu in the Lumetri Color panel.
- Select Export.look/Presets.
- A file browser window will open. Navigate to the location where you want to save your preset file (it will have a .look extension).
- Give your preset file a name and click Save.

This process exports the current settings within the Lumetri Color panel as a .look file. This file contains all the adjustments you’ve made, from exposure and contrast to color wheels and LUTs.

Exporting Multiple Presets

While Premiere Pro doesn’t have a direct "export all" button for Lumetri presets, you can export them individually and then organize them into folders for easier management. If you have a group of presets you created, you can export each one by applying it to a clip, then following the export steps above.

Importing and Managing Your Exported Presets

Once you’ve exported your presets, you’ll likely want to import them into other projects or share them with colleagues. Importing is just as easy as exporting.

Importing Presets into Premiere Pro

To import a .look file:

Open the Lumetri Color panel.
Click the three-line menu.
Select Import.look/Presets.
Navigate to the location of your saved .look file and click Open.

Your imported preset will appear in the Lumetri Color panel, usually under the Creative tab or in a new group if you specified one during export.

Organizing Your Preset Library

As your collection of custom presets grows, consider creating a well-organized folder structure on your computer. This will make it much easier to find the specific look you need for any given project. You might categorize them by:

Project type (e.g., "Vlog Looks," "Cinematic Grades")
Client name
Mood or aesthetic (e.g., "Warm & Sunny," "Moody Blues")

Troubleshooting Common Issues with Color Presets

Occasionally, you might encounter minor hiccups when working with color presets. Understanding these common issues can help you resolve them quickly.

Preset Not Appearing After Import

If a preset doesn’t show up after importing, double-check that you’ve selected the correct .look file. Sometimes, a corrupted file can cause import issues. Try re-exporting the preset from its original project.

Preset Looks Different on Another System

Color grading can be influenced by monitor calibration and system settings. If a preset looks drastically different on another computer, ensure both systems have their monitors properly calibrated. Also, verify that any LUTs used within the preset are accessible on the second system.

Losing Custom Presets

To prevent data loss, always back up your exported .look files in a safe, accessible location. Cloud storage services or external hard drives are excellent options for safeguarding your valuable presets.