Conor Sweeney blasted 2-05 at Croke Park as Tipperary capped a thrilling 12 months with the Allianz football league Division 3 title.
All-Star Michael Quinlivan was named Man of the Match at Croke Park though Sweeney pushed him close with two second-half goals for the 2016 All-Ireland semi-finalists.
The nine-point win flattered Tipp whose third goal, Sweeney's second, didn't arrive until the 77th minute.
But they were deserved winners and will return to the Championship with high hopes of overcoming Cork in an anticipated June 10 Munster semi-final encounter.
Midfielder Liam Casey also netted for Liam Kearns' side while Quinlivan, who admitted afterwards he was a little baffled at beating Sweeney to the Man of the Match award, scored 0-03.
Louth were chasing back-to-back titles after winning the Division 4 crown last year and put up a strong fight against a strong Tipp side that will fancy its chances in Division 2 next year.
Tipperary's previous Croke Park outing was that All-Ireland semi-final loss to Mayo last August but they retained great memories from the venue after big recent wins over Galway and Clare.
That victory over Clare was in the Division 4 final of 2014 and few would rule the up-and-coming Munster side out of challenging for Division 2 honours in 2018.
They had a slow start here and fell three points down after four minutes.
Andy McDonnell, Declan Byrne and Pauric Smith all pointed for Louth, who beat Tipp in the group stage last month.
Louth were still hurting from their 2015 Championship hammering at the hands of Tipp which they admitted was 'embarrassing'.
They did their best to make the Premier pay again and maintained the upper hand for the first 25 minutes or so.
Ryan Burns, Tommy Durnin, Smith and Eoin O'Connor were all on the mark for the Wee men who led 0-07 to 0-04.
A Tipp burst of scoring that yielded 1-05 in the next five minutes changed the game and put them into a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Louth were swamped as Tipp opened up with the sort of attacking football that lit up last year's Championship.
Sweeney, Kevin O'Halloran and Jack Kennedy hit points before Sweeney picked out Casey with a fist pass and the midfielder crashed home from the right of goals.
Defender Alan Campbell strolled upfield and added a point and suddenly Tipp held a commanding 1-09 to 0-07 lead.
They retained that five-point lead at the interval and Louth were now the ones chasing the game and seeking inspiration.
Full-forward Quinlivan closed out Tipp's first-half scoring with his first point from play and the favourites led 1-11 to 0-09.
The second-half continued upon similar lines with both sides giving their best and Tipp remaining in pole position.
Kennedy, O'Halloran and Quinlivan scored three points in a row before Sweeney's first goal in the 47th minute.
Bevan Duffy was turned over close to his own goal and Sweeney made Louth pay before adding a second deep into injury-time when he rounded the 'keeper and curled past a defender who was left guarding the goal line.
Tipperary: E Comerford; A Campbell (0-01), P Codd, W Connors; B Maher, R Kiely, S O'Connell; L Casey (1-01), J Kennedy (0-02); J Keane (0-01), K O'Halloran (0-04, 0-03f), B Fox; C Sweeney (2-05, 0-03f), M Quinlivan (0-03, 0-02f), E Moloney.
Subs: G Hannigan for Moloney, L Boland (0-01) for O'Halloran, C O'Shaughnessy for Connors, A Moloney for Kennedy, L McGrath (0-01) for Keane, J Hennessy for Quinlivan.
Louth: C Lynch; P Rath, P Reilly, A Williams; D Maguire (0-01), J Bingham, J Stewart; T Durnin (0-03), A McDonnell (0-01); D Byrne (0-03, 0-01f), P Smith (0-02), B Duffy; A Reid, E O'Connor (0-01), R Burns (0-05, 0-04f).
Subs: K Murphy for Reilly, R Moore for Reid, J McEneaney (0-03, 0-03f) for O'Connor, G McSorley for Burns, C McKeever for Durnin, J Califf for Byrne.
Referee: A Nolan (Wicklow)
