Guide · Resolve 19, 20 and 21 · free and Studio

How to add a LUT in DaVinci Resolve

Resolve only lists LUTs that sit in its own LUT folder. Put the .cube files there once and they show up in every project.

1. Put the files in the LUT folder

Open Project Settings with the gear icon in the bottom-right corner (or press Shift+9). Go to Color Management, find Lookup Tables and click Open LUT Folder. Make a folder called Lutshelf inside it and copy the .cube files in.

If you'd rather go there yourself, these are the folders:

ProgramData is a hidden folder on Windows. The Mac App Store version of Resolve keeps LUTs somewhere else, so on that version use the Open LUT Folder button.

Back in Project Settings, click Update Lists and then Save.

2. Apply it on the Color page

Select the clip and add a new node with Alt+S (Option+S on a Mac), so the look stays separate from your corrections. Right-click the new node, choose LUT, open the Lutshelf folder and pick the file. You can also open the LUTs browser at the top left of the Color page and drag a LUT onto a node.

Do your exposure and white balance in the node before it. A LUT reshapes the colors it receives, so a dark or blue clip stays dark or blue with the look on top.

3. If you shot in log

Use the file made for your camera, for example the _slog3 file for Sony S-Log3. It converts the footage and adds the look in one step. Leave Resolve's color management on the default (DaVinci YRGB) when you use these files, otherwise the footage gets converted twice.

4. Make it weaker

Select the LUT node, open the Key palette and lower Key Output Gain. Around 0.6 keeps the mood with a lighter hand. Do this only with creative looks, not with a plain log conversion.

When the LUT doesn't show up

• You copied it while Resolve was open: click Update Lists again or restart Resolve.
• The file ends in .cube.txt: Windows was hiding the real extension. Rename it so it ends in .cube.
• It is still inside the zip: unpack it first. Resolve can't read zipped LUTs.

Need a LUT to try it with? Golden Hour Portrait is a free .cube.

Last checked October 2026. Menus move between versions; if a step no longer matches, the general idea usually still does.