Export Your Color Grade as a LUT

One of Spectral’s distinctive features is the ability to export your current color grade as a .cube 3D LUT file. This might sound technical, but it opens up some genuinely useful workflows.

What does “export as LUT” mean?

When you’ve dialed in a look in Spectral (applying a film LUT, adjusting curves, tweaking HSL, setting color wheels), the entire chain of color transformations can be captured as a single .cube file.

This file is a 3D Look-Up Table that maps every possible input color to its graded output. Any software that supports .cube LUTs can apply your exact look.

Why would you want this?

Cross-platform consistency

You graded photos in Spectral but also edit video in DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, or Final Cut. Export your look as a LUT and apply the same grade to your video footage.

Sharing looks

Built a color grade you’re proud of? Export it as a .cube file and share it with other photographers. They can import it into Spectral (or any LUT-compatible tool) and apply your exact look.

Building a personal LUT library

Over time, you develop a visual style. Maybe you have a “golden hour” look, a “moody street” look, and a “clean portrait” look. Export each one as a LUT and build your personal library.

Batch application

Apply the same color grade across a large set of images by importing your LUT. Instead of manually matching settings, the LUT ensures perfect consistency.

How it works technically

When you click “Export LUT” in Spectral, the app:

1. Generates a neutral color grid (33×33×33 = 35,937 individual colors)
2. Runs each color through your current WebGL pipeline (all your adjustments applied)
3. Records the output color for each input
4. Writes the result as a standard .cube file

The result is a complete snapshot of your color transformation. Film LUT, curves, HSL, color wheels, temperature, saturation: everything gets baked into one file.

Choosing the right grid size

Spectral lets you export in two sizes:

Size	Colors	File size	Use case
33×33×33	35,937	~1.5 MB	Standard quality, compatible everywhere
64×64×64	262,144	~11 MB	Higher precision, subtle gradient preservation

For most purposes, 33×33×33 is perfectly sufficient. Use 64×64×64 if you have very subtle color transitions that you want to preserve accurately.

Limitations

A LUT captures the color transformation, but not everything:

• Geometry: crop, straighten, and flip are not included
• Local adjustments: gradient masks are spatial, not color-based
• Detail: sharpening, noise reduction, and clarity operate on pixel structure, not color
• Effects: grain and vignette are not pure color operations

Think of the LUT export as capturing your “color recipe” specifically. The spatial and texture adjustments are separate.

A practical example

1. Import a photo into Spectral
2. Apply the Classic Film LUT at 60% intensity
3. Open curves and lift the blue shadows
4. Shift the HSL green hue toward teal
5. Reduce saturation slightly
6. Click Export LUT → 33×33×33
7. Save the .cube file

Now you have a reusable file that captures steps 2-6 in a single operation. Import it into Spectral (or Resolve, Premiere, etc.) and apply it to any image. 🎬

Create and export your first LUT →