Product
A RAW, opened as it comes. Scene Match at strength 100, no other edit. Same .cube applied to the original: 0.5 of 255 from this result, on average.
Luma Owl: A photo editor for film colour and LUTs
Match the colour of a reference photo, grade with real film stocks, halation and grain, and take the look to the editor you already use as a LUT. It runs in your browser, and your photos never leave your device.
- Ask for a key. We open in rounds.
- Five days free, with the whole editor. Exported images carry a watermark.
- LUT and preset export arrive with Pro. Price on launch.
Scene Match
Take the colour of a reference photo
Choose a reference and your photo adopts its palette and white balance. The look then leaves as a .cube for the editor you already use. Three real examples, three references.
Portrait
Scene Match at strength 100 and Tone 30, no other edit. Same .cube applied to the original: 0.2 of 255 from this result, on average.
Exterior
Scene Match at strength 100 and Tone 60, no other edit. Same .cube applied to the original: 0.3 of 255 from this result, on average.
Each .cube was exported from Luma Owl and applied to the full-size original with a separate tool: no single value was off by more than 6 of 255. Tone sets how much the match follows the reference's brightness, and it is lowered where the reference is much darker than the photo. A .cube carries colour only, and Scene Match is fitted to the photo it was matched on. LUT export arrives with Pro.
What makes it different
Three things film does to light
Bloom, halation and grain are worked out from the light in the scene, each one at the point where it happens on real film. Drag across a photo to turn the effect on and off.
What travels in a LUT. The colour. Bloom, halation and grain are spatial effects, so they need the plugin, the DCTL pack for DaVinci Resolve (coming soon).
Lens
Bloom
The glow a lens throws around its brightest points, the way a mist filter or an old lens does. It grows from the real highlights of the scene, with a threshold, a size and a tint you can set.
Same photo, same edit. Bloom is off to the left of the line and on to the right, with the app's Heavy preset.
Film base
Halation
The halation effect is the red-orange fringe film shows around bright highlights, when light crosses the emulsion, bounces off the base and comes back. Here it is set on the real brightness of the scene and keeps its energy in check, so highlights glow and the picture does not wash out.
Same photo, same edit. Halation is off to the left of the line and on to the right, with the app's Heavy preset.
Emulsion
Grain
Silver grain is written into the negative, before the tone curve, the print and the LUT. It is measured in micrometres of film, so the format you pick, from Super 8 to 8x10, changes how it reads.
Same photo, same edit. Grain is off to the left of the line and on to the right, with the app's 400 preset: colour negative on 35 mm.
What it is
Professional colour within everyone's reach
Luma Owl is a developing and colour app with a LUT engine. It develops your RAW in linear scene-referred light, matches any photo to a reference, and prints film on top.
It is for photographers and filmmakers who want a pro result on day one, and for anyone who wants to take that look away as a LUT.
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Nothing is uploaded
Your browser decodes and grades each file on your own machine. Nothing goes to a server, and once the editor is open it keeps working offline.
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Real film
Each stock is modelled from the curves its maker publishes, with a print stage, push and pull.
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LUTs out
The colour of your grade leaves as a LUT or a preset, so it goes wherever you edit.
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Video too
Clips take the same grade and render on your own device, sound included.
What it does
Develop, match, print
Every dial moves real light, in the same order as a darkroom.
Develop
RAW developed in linear light
A 16-bit pipeline decodes the sensor data and works in linear scene-referred light, not in display pixels. Recover highlights re-reads the RAW with room above white, so skies, lamps and strong reds keep their tone. Log footage and standard formats come in the same door.
Match
Scene Match by reference
Point at a reference image and your photo adopts its palette and white balance. References are saved and keep responding to the dials, so a look can follow a whole shoot. Strength goes up to 150, and there is a single-colour mode when you only want one hue moved.
Print · parametric
Film you can steer
Each stock carries its own Contrast, Fade, Saturation, Warmth and Crosstalk. Fast, predictable, and the right choice for everyday files.
Print · spectral
Film simulated by its spectrum
Each stock is modelled from the curves its maker publishes, then simulated spectrally, with Scan and Print modes and Push/Pull. Recommended for log profiles and RAW.
Texture
Bloom, halation, grain, emulsion
Lens & Film is split into Bloom, Halation, Grain, Emulsion and Vignette, each with its own section, its own reset and its own summary. Light spills, highlights halate, the emulsion breathes.
Shape
Warper and local work
A sharp, touch-friendly warper for the geometry, plus the usual local tools. Everything renders live at screen resolution and exports at full size.
What it opens
Open what you shoot
RAW from more than 1,000 cameras, the photo formats you already use, and video straight from the card.
More than 1,000 cameras
Decoded on your own machine, in 16 bits, and developed in linear scene light.
RAW formats: ARW, CR2, CR3, NEF, RAF, RW2, ORF, DNG and more.
Nikon High Efficiency RAW is not supported yet: shoot Lossless or convert to DNG.
Photos and clips
Everyday files open as they are. A clip is graded like a photo and rendered on your own device.
Photo and video formats: JPG, PNG, TIFF and HEIC. MP4 and MOV.
Read exactly
These profiles open with their own curve and colour space, so the grade starts from the right place.
Log and HDR profiles: S-Log3, S-Log2, V-Log, F-Log, F-Log2, N-Log, Apple Log, HLG and PQ.
Export
Four destinations, one grade
You grade once and choose where it goes. LUTs and presets drop straight into the classic editors, so the colour of the look survives outside Luma Owl.
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Image
The graded photo, at full resolution.
JPEG or PNG
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Video
The graded clip itself, rendered on your own device. Nothing leaves your machine.
MP4 or MOV, with size, bitrate and fps. Audio kept.
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LUT
A standard LUT that any app reading .cube will load, for photos or for a Rec.709 video timeline.
.cube at 17, 33 or 65. Rec.709 for timelines. HALD image.
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Preset
For the classic editors: a preset and a colour profile that show up in the profile browser with an Amount slider.
.xmp preset and colour profile
What you see is what you export. The preview and a PNG export come from the same render and match bit for bit at the same size. A .cube is the table the preview itself applies, so it carries the colour you see. Bloom, halation and grain are spatial and stay out of it: they need the plugin.
Every exported LUT, preset and profile carries a short attribution line inside the file. It is a line of provenance only: what you make is yours, to use and to sell. The detail is in the Terms.
Everywhere
Same editor on every screen
Open lumaowl.app on a laptop, a tablet or a phone and the grading engine, the panels and the photo are exactly the same.
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Open now, with a key
In your browser
Open the app with your key and drop a file in. No install and no upload: the RAW is decoded and graded on your own machine.
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Coming soon
Mac desktop app
The same app, native. Full-resolution export, the preset library and offline work, with your files staying on your disk.
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In development
Windows
A Windows build of the desktop app is in development. No date announced yet.
Licence
Try it for five days. Then decide.
No free plan and no surprises. Ask for a key, use the whole editor for five days, then take a Pro licence for a set period. One person, one licence, up to two devices, and the Mac app included when it ships.
Trial · 5 days
Free
The whole editor for five days. No card.
- Every tool, every film stock, Scene Match
- Image exports carry a watermark
- LUT and preset export arrive with Pro
Pro
Price on launch
A licence for a set period, not a lifetime promise.
- Clean exports, no watermark
- LUTs and presets for the classic editors, no limits
- Mac desktop app included when it ships
- One person, up to 2 devices
Beta testers
Make videos or photos about editing? Test Luma Owl, tell us what breaks, and get the online version free for a year.
The licence is personal and not transferable. Luma Owl is owned by Di Capitan Ltd and may be transferred to an associated company; your licence continues unchanged. Full text in the Terms, third-party credits in Licenses.
Coming soon
What is being built
Announced when it ships, not before. No dates here.
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In development
Luma Owl for Windows
The desktop app, native on Windows, with the same engine and the same licence as the Mac build.
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Coming soon
DCTL pack for DaVinci Resolve
Four spatial effects that a LUT physically cannot carry, as native nodes: Bloom, Halation, Film Grain and Density.
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Coming soon
Library for Luma Owl
Your photos, references, LUTs and presets in one place, with folders and search, inside the app.
Access
Ask for a key
Luma Owl is opening in rounds. Leave your email and tell us what you shoot, and we'll write back when your key is ready. Your first five days are free.