How do I use LUTs in conjunction with Lumetri Color for saturation changes?

March 11, 2026 · caitlin

LUTs, or Look-Up Tables, are powerful tools that can be used with Adobe Premiere Pro’s Lumetri Color panel to dramatically alter the saturation of your footage. By understanding how to apply and adjust LUTs, you can achieve stunning color grading effects quickly and efficiently.

Understanding LUTs and Lumetri Color

Before diving into saturation changes, it’s crucial to grasp what LUTs and Lumetri Color are. A LUT is essentially a file that contains instructions for remapping color values. Think of it as a digital filter that tells your software how to change the brightness, contrast, and saturation of your video.

Lumetri Color is Adobe Premiere Pro’s comprehensive color correction and grading tool. It offers a wide array of controls, including basic correction, creative looks, curves, color wheels, and HSL secondary adjustments. When used together, LUTs and Lumetri Color provide a flexible and potent workflow for achieving professional-looking results.

What Exactly is a LUT?

LUTs can be broadly categorized into two main types: technical and creative.

Technical LUTs: These are often used to convert footage from one color space or gamma setting to another. For example, you might use a technical LUT to convert Log footage (which has a wide dynamic range but appears flat) to a standard Rec.709 color space for broadcast or web delivery.
Creative LUTs: These are designed to impart a specific aesthetic or "look" to your footage. They can mimic the look of film stock, create a vintage feel, or enhance specific color palettes. Many creative LUTs will inherently affect saturation as part of their overall color transformation.

The Power of Lumetri Color

The Lumetri Color panel in Premiere Pro is your central hub for all things color. It’s organized into several sections, each addressing a different aspect of color grading.

Basic Correction: This is where you’ll find essential tools like white balance, exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, and blacks.
Creative: This section allows you to apply creative LUTs and adjust their intensity. It also offers tools like Faded Film and vibrance.
Curves: Provides precise control over tone and color with RGB curves and Hue/Saturation curves.
Color Wheels & Match: Offers advanced control over shadows, midtones, and highlights for color and exposure.
HSL Secondary: Allows you to isolate and adjust specific color ranges.
Vignette: Adds a darkening or lightening effect to the edges of your frame.

Applying LUTs for Saturation Enhancement

Using LUTs to adjust saturation is a common and effective technique. Many creative LUTs will increase or decrease saturation as part of their intended look. However, you can also use Lumetri Color’s controls in conjunction with a LUT to fine-tune saturation.

How to Apply a LUT in Premiere Pro

Select the clip you want to color grade in your timeline.
Open the Lumetri Color panel (Window > Lumetri Color).
Navigate to the Creative section.
Under the "Look" dropdown, click "Browse" to locate and select your desired LUT file.
The LUT will be applied to your clip.

Adjusting Saturation with LUTs and Lumetri

Once a LUT is applied, you can further refine the saturation.

LUT Intensity: The "Intensity" slider in the Creative section allows you to dial back the effect of the LUT. Lowering the intensity will reduce its overall impact, including saturation changes. This is a crucial step for preventing over-saturation.
Basic Correction Saturation: You can use the Saturation slider in the Basic Correction section to increase or decrease the overall saturation after applying a LUT. If a LUT made your footage too muted, you can boost saturation here. Conversely, if it made it too intense, you might lower it.
Vibrance: The Vibrance slider in the Basic Correction section is a smarter way to boost saturation. It selectively increases saturation for less-saturated colors while leaving already saturated colors relatively untouched. This helps prevent skin tones from becoming overly harsh.

Advanced Saturation Control with Lumetri Color

While LUTs provide a quick way to alter saturation, Lumetri Color offers more granular control for precise adjustments.

Using the HSL Secondary for Targeted Saturation

The HSL Secondary section is incredibly powerful for fine-tuning saturation within specific color ranges.

In the Lumetri Color panel, go to the HSL Secondary section.
Use the eyedropper tools to select a specific color range you want to adjust (e.g., blues in the sky, greens in foliage).
The "Hue," "Saturation," and "Luminance" sliders will now affect only the selected color range.
You can then adjust the Saturation slider for that specific color to increase or decrease its intensity without affecting other colors in the frame. This is perfect for making skies pop or taming overly saturated reds.

Hue/Saturation Curves for Precision

The Curves section, specifically the Hue/Saturation curves, offers even more advanced control.

Hue vs. Saturation: This curve allows you to adjust the saturation of specific hues. For instance, you could pull down the saturation of reds without affecting blues.
Hue vs. Hue: This lets you shift one hue to another, which can indirectly impact saturation perception.
Saturation vs. Saturation: This curve allows you to control how saturation changes based on the existing saturation levels.

Practical Examples and Tips

Let’s consider a scenario where you’ve applied a cinematic LUT that makes your footage look a bit desaturated for a moody effect.

Scenario: You apply a "Cinematic Teal and Orange" LUT. The overall look is good, but the blues in the sky and the greens in the background feel a little too muted.
Solution:
1. Apply the LUT in the Creative section.
2. In the Basic Correction section, slightly increase the Vibrance to bring back some life into the less saturated colors.
3. If the sky is still too dull, go to the HSL Secondary, select the blue range, and increase its saturation.
4. If a specific green is too strong, select that green range in HSL Secondary and decrease its saturation.

When to Use LUTs vs. Manual Adjustments

Use LUTs when: You want a quick, consistent look across multiple clips, or you’re aiming for a specific aesthetic that a pre-made LUT provides. They are excellent starting points.
Use Manual Adjustments (Lumetri) when: You need precise control, want to correct specific color issues, or are fine-tuning a look after applying a LUT. They are essential for nuanced grading.