Howdy! Sorry about the delay in getting the fresh content up and online, but I am still trying to get everything right and a lot of real life commitments have been hindering progress on the LIDF relaunch. I apologize to all of you for the delay, but I have a lot going on at the moment, but I am still trying to get these new articles up and out ASAP. The change is in progress, just slower than I had hoped for. Good stuff soon!

Onto other news, my first film emulation presets for Lightroom since the launch of Cold Storage 2 are getting ready to go live with the X-Equals+Digest tomorrow. As you all should know, my film presets will no longer be release here on LIDF (although everything that has been released already will remain here). From now on, all my presets will be distributed through X-Equals, where I am a major contributor.

Tomorrow when the X-Equals+Digest starts hitting mailboxes, it will have a download for my newest releases, Konica Super XG 100 and Konica Super XG 200 for Lightroom. The presets have a new design, a bit different than what I have been releasing here, but for those using Lightroom 3, these are the first presets to have proper Grain presets included with the download. The image above is the sample image from the digest, showing (from left to right) the untouched image, Konica Super XG 100 preset and the Konica Super XG 200 preset.

If you are a fan of my emulation presets, please be sure to sign up for the X-Equals+Digest, as that is the only way to ensure you get the newest film presets free! I have no idea if we will offer them for download elsewhere, so if you want to get these while they are fresh sign up!

As always, these new free presets are bound for the next installment of the Cold Storage Collection, so if you miss them now they will be available later. But you can’t beat free, so get them early.

Until Next Time (Which will be soon!)

Michael

And finally, a new preset. In fact there will be a couple of presets in the next few weeks. Primarily to save me time. A release of a preset I already have done take very little time, whereas the longer posts I have been writing take a considerable amount of time. Right now I got some pretty special projects I need to pay attention to, so I need to ease up a bit on writing to focus on these tasks at hand. Of which completing the guide to Cold Storage 2 is at the top of my list. Yep, I finally got another batch of Film Presets ready to sell, but I need to make sure the guidebook had all the tips needed to get the most out of the presets.

And then there are a few more thing coming up that I will fill you in on as time gets closer. Something big is coming, but I can’t say more than that except don’t switch to Aperture!

On the note of other projects, LifeInDigitalFilm has teamed up again with X-Equals; this time providing a collection of presets to give your creativity a kick in the pants. X-Equals and LifeInDigitalFilm are proud to release our newest product, Creative Production Presets Vol. 1. This collection brings together many of the creative presets that have been provided through X-Equals, designed both by Brandon and myself. With more than 75 presets you should have plenty to experiment with to help you unlock your creativity. At $14.99 this collection is a bargain compared to many similar creative preset collections with the added bonus to LIDF reader, a selection of film emulations including some unreleased. Hop over to X-Equals and check it out and consider supporting both X-Equals and LifeInDigitalFilm by making that purchase.

Now onto the matter at hand. We got a unique preset today that you would never see in the real world, due to technical difficulties. You never see Kodachrome treated with bleach bypass development. First, only Dwayne’s of Parsons, KS still develops the stuff so special processing is hard to come by. Second, the K-14 process is unique and I am unsure if it is even possible to perform a bleach bypass on the film. Finally, there is already some residual silver present in most Kodachrome slides, and if completely lef tin, the silver may make the image too dense.

However, I can emulate the probable appearance of a Bleach Bypassed Kodachrome. Obviously this is a stretch, but the world of digital allows us some liberties with reality, right? The Kodachrome Bleach Bypass preset has a tone curve and other setting reminiscent of my other bleach bypass endeavors while stealing the basic color from my Kodachrome 25 preset. I had to adjust the color on the Kodachrome 25 settings to allow for reasonable skin tones for the bleach bypass look, but aside from that it is still fairly faithful.

This is designed to be a fun, creative preset whilst staying in line with the film focus of LifeInDigitalFilm. The concept is firmly rooted in the traditional photographic world in theory if not in practice.

Have fun, and if you are interested in my more creative presets, not limited by the confines of traditional photography, check out my preset work over at X-Equals.

Until Later,

Michael

Today I am releasing the first iteration of a special request. Months ago, a fellow by the name of Maxim Muir asked me if I would be able to emulate Kodak Kodachrome ASA 10. This particular flavor of Kodachrome went extinct years ago, in the mid 1960′s. Needless to say, I would not be able to shoot it myself, and run it through my normal emulation workflow. I had to design the preset blind, relying upon scans other had made of their old Kodachrome slides.

Thankfully, Maxim had made his expertise available to me, and between the two of us we created a preset that captures the flavor and feel of this classic Kodachrome. We spent weeks refining and testing the preset, until we came to the one we are releasing today. Buy no means do I claim this is 100% accurate, it does however reproduce the effect we observed in freely available scans. Unfortunately those scans were retouched.

After a week of forensic emulation refining my first attempt, with a little help from a few members of the Photo.net community, we reached a point where the preset functions reasonably well considering the tools available to me to analyse the film … namely not much.

So feel free to take this final version and give it a spin. We are looking to make this as accurate as possible, so feel free to leave constructive comments to help further improve this preset.

I will be releasing in the coming days another iteration of this preset. Later this week I will bring you my Release Candidate version of the preset to allow for more extensive community testing. The RC has a different look to it and is completely worthy as a good preset on its own, it just does not feel as accurate as the current release.

If you are interested in helping me further refine this, or other presets simulating film long since gone, contact me at michael at lifeindigitalfilm dot com. If you have any slides or negatives for film no longer available I can utilize them for emulation as long as most of the color spectrum is available to me across multiple frames, I get a good sample of skin tone and highlight and shadow clipping. I don’t want treasured family keepsakes for this endeavor, only the frmes from a roll that are not quality shots, compositionally speaking. If you dare not send your originals via the mail (I can’t blame you) contact me and see if you can provide a quality scan for my analysis … I will walk you through a scanning process to retain the most data possible.

In the interest of full disclosure, yes I do sell presets on LifeInDigitalFilm  to further finance my site. The money garnered from LIDF sales do not go toward me and my family, but to keep my site running, acquire film and finance the expenses incurred in the process of emulation.

However, whenever a donation of film, slides or whatnot from the community come to me to aide in the process of emulation, the presets created from that process will be released on the site completely free, under my normal Creative Commons BY-NC license. Non-commercial refers only to reusing the preset itself for further distribution as a preset, the presets can be freely used for commercial purposes from amateur to professional photographers and editors.

All presets on LIDF will be included in Cold Storage collections. The free presets will remain available, even after the collection goes up for sale. My interest here is to preserve classic and modern films for posterity, not to make money. However it takes money to do what I do here on LIDF, I cannot continue to produce presets without available funds to carry out the process. I cannot bear the expense from my normal salary, LIDF must pay for itself. Cold Storage collections help that.

By the way, Cold Storage 2 is almost ready to release, although I have said that before, I have about everything 95% ready for launch.

So enjoy the Kodachrome 10 preset, relive a little of the past through you current images. Comeback for the Release Candidate version of the preset later this week.

Many thanks again go to Maxim Muir for the idea and help in bring this preset to all of you.

Until Next Time,

Micahel

So, again

Hey all, it is Monday, which is usually the day I release a new preset. However today, I wanted to show you a product I devised for X-Equals that I feel would be of great interest to LifeInDigitalFilm readers. You may have already seen and used this collection of presets, but if you have not, I would like to ask you to give it a spin.

The X-Equals Monochrome Toolkit is a collection of 27 specialized presets that emulate generic film and filter effects as well as a selection of variable contrast paper simulation presets and a selection of basic toning presets. Combined, these presets allow for over 546 different image alterations, and when you find a combination that really appeals to you, you can save it as a new preset for your ongoing use. The X-Equals Monochrome Toolkit is part of the X-Equals & LIDF – Creative Production Presets collection, available at X-Equals.

Now that I have briefly covered what the X-Equals Monochrome Toolkit is, let me dig a bit deeper, so you can see how this toolkit can aide you in your black and white endeavors as well as how you can integrate parts of this toolkit with my LifeInDigitalFilm presets to create new spins on my emulations.

Step 1: Film Selection

The first step of action when using the X-Equals Monochrome Toolkit is to select the type of film you would like to emulate in your conversion. First is the selection of x=film presets, which emulate generic styles of black and white film.

• x=film+infra-red: Creates an image that simulates the response of Infra-Red films.
• x=film+ortho: Creates an image simulating Orthochromatic film which is sensitive to only green and blue light, also the first style of black and white film to be mass produced.
• x=film+pan: Creates an effect much like that of most modern B&W films.  Panchromatic films are sensitive to the entire visible light spectrum.
• x=film+ortho-pan: Simulates Orthopanchromatic film. Much like Pan film, but less sensitivity to the reds in an image.
• x=film+pan-super: Simulates Superpanchromatic films that have an extended red response.

Next is a selection of presets that simulate different colored filters on normal Panchromatic film stock. The x=filter presets unfortunately cannot be utilized in unison with the x=film or LIDF presets due to current limitations in the Lightroom preset system. To this extent, we have to treat filters as if they were films in and of themselves. The name of the preset indicates what color filter was used.

• x=filter+aqua
• x=filter+blue
• x=filter+green
• x=filter+magenta
• x=filter+orange
• x=filter+purple
• x=filter+red
• x=filter+yellow

The x=filter presets are basic emulations of the effect of colored filters on film. They are not scientific duplications of effect and are based on general observation of filter effects. In the future I will expand on this by researching in-depth the effect of different filters and their respective response to films. For now though, they are useful creative tools.

Click through the different presets available to you until you find the one that fits your image. A third option is to utilize an existing LIDF black and white film emulation. If you choose to go this route, I recommend that you utilize the Curve version of the preset of your choice, as it is the least intrusive of the differing versions of my film presets and will work best with the Toolkit.

You can utilize Existing LIDF black and white presets with the X-Equals Monochrome Toolkit, just be sure to use the “Curve” version of the preset you desire to use.

Once you find the film preset that best fits your image, you are ready to choose your paper simulation.

Step 2: Paper Selection

Now you will want to explore the paper simulation options the toolkit makes available to you. I simulated the characteristics of both Variable Contrast paper and Lithography paper in this toolkit. As before, these are basic emulations, and I have yet to do in-depth analysis of these papers for proper emulation. That will come in the future.

First is the single Lithography paper preset. This simulates the printing of a continuous tone monochrome image on Lith paper. It does not simulate the whole Lith process, only the look of images printed on said paper.

• x=print+lith:- Simulates look of continuous tone images on generic Lithography paper.

Next is a selection of 7 grades of Variable Contrast paper. VC paper is a single sheet of paper that can be filtered at time of exposure to create differing grades of contrast and in turn, sharpness. From low contrast VC grade-00 to high contrast VC grade-5, you have 7 graduations of contrast to play with.

• x=paper+VC-00: Creates a very low contrast image that is very soft
• x=paper+VC-0: Another very low contrast setting and is less soft than 00
• x=paper+VC-1: Low contrast and soft
• x=paper+VC-2: Creates a balanced image with medium contrast and tone
• x=paper+VC-3: Create a higher contrast image that is slightly sharp
• x=paper+VC-4: Creates a high contrast image that is sharp
• x=paper+VC-5:  Creates a very high-contrast image that is extremely sharp

These presets adjust the contrast and Clarity of your image to simulate the effect of the paper. Unfortunately we cannot simulate paper texture in Lightroom. The absence of texture is not a big deal if you are planning on printing your image to paper down the road as you will inherit what ever texture is present on your output paper.

Once you have chosen your paper you are ready to choose you toning in the next step, if you choose to do so.

Step 3: Toning Selection

The Toolkit also provides a few Toning presets, allowing you to add a splash of traditional color to your images. These presets are created through simple, balanced Split-Toning. Nothing fancy here, just classic finishes for traditionally styled images.

• x=toning+copper: Creates a rich orange toning
• x=toning+cyanotype: Creates a light blue toning
• x=toning+palladium: Creates a slight metallic toning trending toward brown
• x=toning+selenium: Creates a metallic toning trending toward blue
• x=toning+sepia: Creates a subtle brown toning, but you probably knew that
• x=toning+uranium: Creates a light reddish-brown toning

Using these preset in unison gives you a strong suite of tools to forge you monochrome images with a minimum of manual intervention. However, always tweak your images as needed, there are no one-click solutions for fantastic images. There is always some work to be done after the presets are applied.

Tips For Use:

As you experiment with the tools provided to you in the X-Equals Monochrome Toolkit, you can hop back and forth in the steps as needed. If you are sticking to the presets included in the Toolkit, there is no overlap in adjustments made and the presets are completely stackable. Theoretically the presets can be applied in any order, but the order presented to here seem to work best for my design flow.

If you do utilize LifeInDigitalFilm presets with the Toolkit, you may want to reapply your Paper and Toning selections after you change you film simulation choice. My LIDF presets were not originally designed with this process in mind, but the Curve presets should work well for your experimentation.

Why Am I Discussing This?

I decided to revisit this creation of mine for two reasons. First, you may have not seen the X-Equals Monochrome Toolkit before or was unaware that it was a LifeInDigitalFilm creation. Secondly, this represents a new direction I am taking in preset development. I no longer feel that my emulations allow enough flexibility when it comes to reproducing traditional photographic techniques in Lightroom or ACR. Sure they give you the look of the actual film, as if it were scanned in to print, but neglects some of the nuance that is introduced in the wet printing process. The Toolkit approach allows me to provide tuned, complimentary presets to my film emulations allowing you to create more creative applications of my emulations.

This is a new venture I am delving into, designed for dedicated preset toolkits that I will sell that will compliment my emulations. The X-Equals Toolkit takes a generic approach to my new development methods and was a working proof for me to test this new methodology. In the future I will be making available toolkits such as this, tailored to specific film emulations. I hope to provide a greater variety of alterations, from different developers and filters to papers and special processing tailored to each film stock. These efforts require a bigger investment of time and resources than my normal film emulations, therefore Ii will have to sell these toolkits individually. As I prepare to release these, I will update you with more specific information.

But don’t fear, I will still continue to produce my normal LIDF presets as I have been doing for the past year. Cold Storage Collection Vol. 2 is complete and I am finishing up the manual currently. I am hoping these specialized toolkits for my more popular emulations will add additional value to my presets and expand the scope of film emulation beyond just getting reasonably close to the look of film.

I’ll speak more on my theories regarding presets and the use and design thereof in my next post. I want to challenge both end-users and preset designers to think about presets from a different view. Less like Photoshop actions, where you click a preset looking for a final result and more like building blocks, where you combine and stack individual tools to create specialized effects. But I’ll pour gasoline on that fire later.

Until Next Time,

Michael

Well, I am trying to get back on a constant release schedule. I hope to have a new post up every Monday and Friday, with new presets coming on 2 or more Mondays a month. I cannot keep up the rlease schedule I was doing earlier this year if I want to avoid burning out and taking a whole summer off again, and with my duties elsewhere, 2 days a week may even be pushing it. We’ll see how it goes, but I am going to make sure to get at least one post up every week if I cannot get two up.

Speaking of duties elsewhere, you have signed up for the X-equals+Digest, right? If not please do so, you will not be disappointed!

Well onto the meat of today’s feast, another preset. Today I finally complete the triumvirate of my Forte Fortepan collection I start almost half a year ago. I previously released the 100 and 400 versions of Fortepan, however 200 has been lingering in my Lightroom presets folder for months and I am finally getting around to releasing it. I feel it waited long enough.

Hopefully you find this preset of use to you. I am currently working on completing the newest edition of the Cold Storage Collection, hopefully it will launch in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, if you haven’t already purchased the first Cold Storage Collection, you can get it now for 33% off, saving about $3.30 off the normal $10 price tag. Simply add it to your car with the button below and when checking out use the code “LIDFCS1” in the discount code box.

Yeah, I know $3.30 ain’t much, but it is a discount, so take advantage of it if you have not purchased the collection already! Discount code expires one week from today, at midnight 9/14/2009!

Anyways, that’s enough for this jaunt, see you all next time.

Michael