Presets vs LUTs: What’s The Difference?
Presets and LUTs are both tools used in photo and video editing to help achieve a desired look or aesthetic. While they may appear similar, there are some key differences between the two that are worth exploring.
Presets are essentially pre-made settings that can be applied to your images or videos to give them a certain look or feel. They are often included in photo and video editing software or can be purchased from third-party creators. Presets typically include adjustments to things like exposure, contrast, saturation, and white balance, among others. When applied, they can quickly transform an image or video, making it brighter, more colorful, or more dramatic, for example.
Presets are a great option for those who want to achieve a certain look but may not have the expertise or time to make precise adjustments manually. They can also be a great starting point for those who want to customize their own edits, allowing them to build off of pre-existing settings and tweak them to fit their specific needs.
LUTs, on the other hand, are more advanced and precise tools used for color grading and adjusting footage. LUTs (Lookup Tables) are essentially a mathematical formula that maps one set of colors to another. They can be used to convert footage shot in one color space to another or to apply a specific look or style to your images or videos.
LUTs are often used by professional colorists to achieve a specific aesthetic or to match the look of different cameras and footage. They are usually created in professional color grading software like DaVinci Resolve or Adobe Premiere Pro and can be imported into other software like Photoshop or Lightroom. While LUTs can be purchased from third-party creators, they are often more expensive than presets due to their advanced capabilities. (A post about what a LUT is)
One key difference between presets and LUTs is their level of customization. Presets are designed to be applied directly to an image or video and can be tweaked and adjusted to fit your specific needs. LUTs, on the other hand, are typically created for a specific purpose and may not be as customizable as presets.
Another difference between presets and LUTs is their versatility. Presets can be used on a wide variety of images and videos, while LUTs are often specific to a certain type of footage or color space. For example, a LUT designed for footage shot in S-Log3 may not be suitable for footage shot in a different color space.
In terms of how they work, presets and LUTs are applied differently. Presets are usually applied directly in your photo or video editing software, while LUTs are imported into the software and applied as a layer. LUTs are also often used in conjunction with other color grading tools like curves, levels, and saturation adjustments.
In conclusion, presets and LUTs are both powerful tools used in photo and video editing to achieve a desired look or aesthetic. Presets are pre-made settings that can be applied directly to an image or video and can be tweaked and adjusted to fit your specific needs. LUTs are advanced mathematical formulas that map one set of colors to another and are typically used by professional colorists to achieve a specific look or to match the look of different cameras and footage. While both presets and LUTs have their advantages, choosing the right tool for the job will depend on your specific needs and skill level.
