User manual DXO FILMPACK V2.0

[. . . ] If the computer on which the software is to be installed cannot be connected to the Internet, the appropriate activation procedure is described in detail in the installation guide. Otherwise, uninstall it via the operating system. Chapter 1 Discovering film renderings and grain Simple operation Each digital camera has its own way of rendering colors, density, and light in an image, and this behavior changes with adjustments. Also, photographic film (called silver-halide film because there is silver in its chemical makeup) is characterized by a certain rendering of the image, a term that sometimes hides subjective ideas (soft or hard aspect, light colors, saturated colors), and a certain texture as the film is composed of small light sensitive grains of silver (black & white) or pigments (color): one would say a film had a "coarse grain" or a "fine grain, " some grains are hard (one can see little dots) and other grains are soft (pastel feel). DxO FilmPack accurately reproduces the rendering and grain of many silver films and applies them to your digital file, to give you a transformed copy of your image. [. . . ] The toning technique is the application of chemical products that change the tonality of black & white prints on photographic paper. Naturally, these effects are primarily applied to images that have been processed in black & white, with or without a filter effect. 11 toc 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Metal toning a black and white print. L­R, top to bottom: iron sulfate, selenium, and sepia Chapter 2 The stand-alone application DxO FilmPack quick start guide 12 toc 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 To start the stand-alone DxO FilmPack application, click on its icon in the computer's program menu. As the application transforms one photo at a time, it can be useful to prepare your work by grouping all the images to be modified into one folder. The best quality can be obtained from a TIFF or high definition JPG file, but the software can apply film profiles to any JPG file, even one already sized for the web. TIP: If you are preparing your images for DxO FilmPack, apply minimal after-processing to give a fairly neutral style and balanced lighting (neither too light nor too dark) and ensure that photos taken at high speed do not have digital noise visible when enlarging them on the screen. The processing method is very simple: from top to bottom, are the zoom function for expanding the image, the dialog box, color rendering for the selection of film type with an intensity slider, the color mode dialog box with contrast, saturation, the special mode (black & white toning) and filters, and the grain dialog box with intensity and size sliders. The output format can be found in the file menu; 13 toc 0 1 If you have not saved your image, a dialog box will ask you if you want to do so when you attempt to open a new image or quit the program. 2 Further information A. Apply a rendering ­ by clicking on the image, you can see the before and after results. The intensity slider allows the mixing of the original style with the film rendering 3. Where needed apply a filter for black & white (filter box) and/or toning (special box) 4. Where needed adjust the contrast and/or saturation sliders with moderation 5. Use the zoom function to enlarge the image at least to 75% (in practice, 100% is a good choice) and apply the grain. By default the grain is linked to the color profile, except for generic films, where it must be selected from the list 6. Save a copy, as a JPG for immediate use or preferably as a TIFF if later retouching will be done. The command palette may be attached to the left-hand or right-hand edge of the window, be moved along this edge, or be moved anywhere within the image. All you have to do is click within the palette title bar and move it around. Alternatively, under Windows this positioning choice can also be accomplished using a right-click of the mouse in the palette title bar. 3 4 5 6 Floating palette B. Viewing the effects of corrections When you apply a film rendering, click on the image to make the "before-after" alternative views appear instantly. Changing the selection of colorimetric rendering has an immediate effect on the display and allows you to measure the effect of each profile. The specific rendering commands (black & white and color filters, special renderings with metallic toning) are also instantly displayed. On the other hand, to view the grain, you must always set the display to 75% (100% is more effective) to compare grain types, intensities, and sizes. [. . . ] Without it, the command and slider are inactive. 18 toc 0 Image processing DxO Optics Pro allows you to select several output types, for example, you can simultaneously select the very high resolution of a TIFF and JPGs of various sizes and resolutions. However, if you choose to process large format and web output at the same time, the grain selection will be a compromise and not always optimal. If you have a large number of images to process, optimizing the processing with presets will allow you to save various processes in memory according to the desired goal. See chapter 6 of the DxO Optics Pro manual. 1 2 3 Further information Image preparation The specific DxO FilmPack commands are installed within the color (film rendering) and detail (film grains) palettes, and these commands directly interact with all the other functions of DOP. [. . . ]