Testing a New 'Quick & Easy' Film Scan Conversion Software

[@brendonwilson1318]

I started using this last time I got a bunch of c-41 developed and it has been a game changer. I wanted NLP for years but couldn't bite the bullet for the price since it also required an Adobe subscription, which I have but the option with LR classic was too expensive, but smart convert being a standalone software got me to to pull the trigger. My results so far have been amazing and the time savings are worth it alone. Wish I would've known about it a long time ago. My work flow is import a roll of scans into smart convert, adjust to taste for a neutral low-contrast scan, export to original folder, import to LR cc, and do further editing. If filmomat is reading the comments one thing I wish it had was custom file naming on export.

[@KyleMcDougall]

Glad to hear you've been happy with it.

[@MrKermitt71]

You said you couldn't "bite the bullet for the price since it also required an Adobe subscription" but you use smartconvert and after import into Lightroom ?!

[@brendonwilson1318]

@@MrKermitt71 I don't pay for the package with lightroom Classic, only CC.

[@BABiFun]

@@MrKermitt71 lightroom classic, which he already has,

[@eliasdi]

something simple like is is what I've been dreaming about ever since i started using negative lab pro. so many of my conversions take a ton of work to get looking normal.

[@goldenhourkodak]

Same. I wish I did not already spend 100 bucks on NLP.

[@javixo1997]

I liked this tool's color much more than NLP. It's totally true that NLP has some issues with blue tones leaning to teal/cyan, skies always look weird

[@edwardbrown2142]

The "natural" LUT in NLP produces blues a lot closer to Filmomat. If you have tried the natural LUT and still find the skies to be too teal, you can actually vary the amount to which that LUT is applied. Default is 100% but you can push it to 200%. You can do this by exiting NLP and adjusting the profile slider in the develop module. Also, NLP can make some weird results if the scan itself is underexposed. It can be difficult to judge exposure when looking only at a low contrast negative, but "exposing to the right", as in placing the image in the brighter part of the histogram, usually produces better results. This is because of how NLP uses per-channel curves adjustments to convert the image, but Lightroom only allows adjustments on a 256x256 grid, so the more spread out over the histogram the image is, the finer control NLP can have to place its curve points. Lastly, its always worth checking that you are white balancing your raw files from the film border before converting. NLP tells you to do this but you'd be surprised how many people post on the forums about colour issues and aren't doing this! I've even seen reviews on youtube where the reviewer is doing this part incorrectly and then complaining about weird colours!

[@Francois_L_7933]

I always liked a small piece of software that does just one thing and does it really well than a big program that tries to do everything. It's easier on the computer and always much faster. This is the first version, the second one is bound to be much better.

[@KyleMcDougall]

I am looking forward to seeing where this goes from here.

[@oocaj]

Thanks to make me aware of this software. I use affinity photo and there is no plugin for NLP. I just downloaded the demoversion and really gives good first results, where before in AP I had to tweak a lot to get results like this.

[@KyleMcDougall]

You're welcome. Cheers.

[@sgtLPH]

Love this so much. Always wanted negative lab pro, but would never consider buying lightroom or something like that. Nothing is better than lean software that just does the thing. I can't be bothered to deal with subscriptions, endless add-ons and that stuff...

[@mjmdiver1137]

Kyle, This looks interesting, and I agree about the interface of NLP in LR being a bit "problematic" to put it nicely. Because it in part messes with the color profiles in LR, I feel it makes the conversion unnecessarily complicated and difficult once you are out of NLP and I'm not sure I'm going to use it because of that. I have a bunch of archetctural photographs and one thing that it important for images like those is accurate color rendering and I find that I struggle with NLP on getting good color balance and I suspect it has to do with some of the "black box" aspects of it (how NLP sets white point and black point for the image, and what the channel response curves are, how long the toes are on each curve, for example). In my trials with NLP, I also have scans of the same scene from chrome film (4x5 Astia mostly) and I know the lighting conditions, etc. so bieng able to get a somewhat similar color match to the chromes is my goal but on some scans, it's nearly impossible and I suspect it is because NLP is forcing a poor BP or WP and this is somethign that I don't think you have much control over. The comparison images of the fishermangive me exactly the same kind of feeling... I think NLP is blowing the WP value for one of the channels and is causing the image to go way too cyan, in particular into the highlights, but it generally shows up as a bias in the blues/neutrals because it isn't necessarily a huge error, and the response curves may close the gap into the midtones and shadows.

[@KyleMcDougall]

Yeah, I can't comment on what's going on behind the scenes with either program. All I know, is that they definitely provide a different initial look from one another, but I'd also be happy using either, as I'm almost always tweaking after to get the final image where I want it to be.

[@AdamAhmedPihlgren]

Looks really nice, I've been planning to start scanning my photos but a couple of concerns I've had is how Lightroom will work with my Fujifilm camera, and like how you pointed out I feel like the colors look a bit cartoony so this being more neutral and subdued is exactly what I would look for. I'm using Capture One as well so it looks like the output is perfect for further edits. I found a film lab that I'm really happy with so I was hesitant to invest in NLP because of that but seeing these results gives me more confidence to make the jump and scan my own film.

[@telepoiss]

Heya! Just downloaded and playing with the demo. I found the background option in the mac top bar Presets > Advanced settings. Theres a toggle to set the background to gray (brings back memories from nikon film scan software) and also you can set your increments for the shortcut adjustments. Agree that it would benefit from having fixed crop ratios for formats. Ideally with an option for a custom ratio for ppl shooting panoramic formats etc. And oddly missing some key shortcuts. Grayscale toggle etc. It would be great if everything is accessible from the keyboard - gets you into a flow like scanning on a frontier. Just mashing buttons as the images fly past.

[@KyleMcDougall]

Yep, was informed that some of the suggestions were added shortly after I made the video. Great to see.

[@FordZilla]

I tried NLP, but ultimately decided to just use RAW+Photoshop with just 2 curve adjustment layers. Gives me by far the best and most flexible files. Don’t think I’ll ever switch for anything else.

[@javixo1997]

Saaaame! My rolls are usually very evenly exposed, so I scan the whole roll with the same settings, pick a frame with preferably a wide range of colors, manually convert in photoshop and then copy and paste settings

[@MusicAndPhotosbyPablo]

The demo convinced me a lot, I'm done fighting the weird color quirks of Silverfast.

[@GirdHerd]

An excellent review, Kyle. Nice to know there is another conversion software package available that is simple to use at a reasonable price.

[@KyleMcDougall]

None. It's native GF mount.

[@kodithebear]

I love the simplicity. I will try it and use the same process - covert and tweak then into Lightroom.

[@rhett1734]

I tried the software a bit before as well and I also liked it, but also I'd strongly agree with your "negative" points. Let's hope they keep updating it and keep improving and adding features like those you talked about

[@KyleMcDougall]

Looks like they've already implemented a few of the things since this video was launched.

[@Kiosk169]

I've been using this for a few weeks and love it!! If Lightroom was part of my normal workflow, I'd stick to NLP. I prefer Capture One. Excited to see future improvements of this software. Filmstrip and histogram would be awesome. I've also seen another standalone program that has vignette correction if you upload a blank frame.

[@KyleMcDougall]

Glad to hear you've been happy. I'll probably stick with NLP, just because I'm invested in it and currently using it, but this really did work well.

[@NorbiWhitney]

Been bombarded with ads for this on instagram, so it was nice to watch a proper review of it. Seems like a great tool, especially after a couple updates.

[@KyleMcDougall]

🙌

[@calebchurchill3642]

So, this is basically the same as the color-perfect photoshop plugin. Just updated with a slick interface. Nice.

[@davidgoold6646]

This seems very compelling. Very good review. I would save a lot by ending my Adobe subscription as I do all post-processing in PS Elements anyway. It seems to make a first class job of auto-conversion with a no-frills interface. I actually prefer the blues to those from NLP in your examples. However, I would *definitely* recommend moving to traditional sliders with paired value input boxes instead of the rather clumsy +/- controls and the pop-up dialogs for fine tuning. And simple shadow/highlight sliders would seem an important addition rather than having to use contrast to bring up shadow detail.

[@chrisfetto9400]

Played around with the full version this weekend and was much happier with its conversions; better than VueScan's and even some professional lab ones. I love the simplicity! And you can change the background now for the screen, so maybe it's evolving even as we chat!

[@KyleMcDougall]

Glad you're happy with it. And yes, some of the changes have since be added.

[@shassan5287]

Loving the simplicity and the neutral results. Would be perfect with your suggested changes :)

[@DylanSpitz]

Cool demo, Kyle! Wasn’t even aware of this - pretty happy with negative lab pro but the limitless options do just send me down rabbit holes fairly often. Fun, but unproductive, haha.

[@christophadams8525]

Thanks for this great review :) I also discovered this software recently after looking for a simple standalone solution without Adobe dependencies. Concerning the adjustment steps, you can set the default steps in the menu "Preset - Advanced Settings" (version 1.35)

[@jealius4340]

This honeslty looks like a game changer if it works. The silverfast i use is janky as hell and the plug in’s are addons with counterintuitive problems like the invers sliders.

[@nickeanderssonphoto3936]

Nice video Kyle, thanks for that :) No exposure setting in Smartconvert? I usually bump that in NLP to get the look and colors as right as possible in the conversion.

[@KyleMcDougall]

It seems the density control acts similar to exposure.

[@joeschlicht]

Just seeing this, I prefer the default conversion of smart convert to NLP (look at the blues) but I agree, it needs a way to monitor and adjust black and white points, the clipping without knowing is unacceptable. And yeah the film strip idea is must too. I have NLP, and I like it well enough, but I'd consider this if they added the features recommended. Without them, nah.

[@KyleMcDougall]

I'll be curious to see how this software evolves over time.

[@Raccoon_Prods]

very interesting alternative to NLP for cheaper and you have the hability to edit on any software after (Capture One user), not just stick to Lightroom Classic like NLP

[@DanielKane1]

Thanks for sharing. I've been looking for a standalone solution as I do all of my editing in Capture One and don't pay for Lightroom. A couple of the issues you mentioned (changing the background colour and the increment value) can be changed under the Presets > Advanced Features menu.

[@KyleMcDougall]

Yep, right after this was released there were some tweaks made to the software taking into account some of the comments in the video. Nice to see that's already in action.

[@LoFiAxolotl]

looks nice if you want to quickly do some edits and export them... but same as Negative Lab... for a scanner it's just such a weird workflow... silverfast just works too nice and gives "good enough" images to then edit in LR

[@StuartWeir]

Kyle, this was awesome! One thing I’d love to request is if you could do a video like this, but where you convert negatives in C1 _without_ the Mac-specific software, to teach people how to do this “on their own”, if they’re sick of NLP (I am. I literally only have a subscription to Adobe for it).

[@KyleMcDougall]

Cheers, Stuart. I don't use C1, or do manual conversions. But maybe something I can explore in the future.

[@StuartWeir]

@@KyleMcDougallthank you!! It would be fun, just to see. I think the reason is because C1 is a major gap in the film photography community’s tool box. To me, it’s a far better experience than Lightroom, and a lot of people agree. It also handles RAF files well, which no one can convince me Adobe still hasn’t fixed the worms issue, so if you scan on a Fuji camera… you get sharper scans from C1. Also, C1 does wireless tethering with Fuji cameras, and so it makes it a _very seamless _ workflow to get your scans into the app.

[@JohnnyMcMillan]

Tried it with the demo on the website. I do applaud someone else entering the ring but it's nothing compared to the control you get with NLP for the same price. Maybe I a few years with new versions but right now it's subpar

[@jpiersma]

I totally understand the frustration of when NLP brings the file into LR. I feel like I’m always making sure I’m working with the correct files and that exposure and white balance aren’t backwards. I feel like I need to relearn that part of the workflow every time I develop and scan because it still doesn’t make much sense to me. And it seems as though I’m saving my raw scan, my NLP converted scan, and my NLP converted and corrected scan. I’m kind of a LR newb though.

[@edwardbrown2142]

You can set the "make copy" setting in NLP to output the tiff files into a new subfolder, to keep them organised away from the raws in the top level folder. After that, since you are editing non-destructively from the TIFF onwards, you shouldn't need to make any more copies beyond that, unless you mean exporting to JPEG for publishing.

[@frstesiste7670]

I like NLP, but often travel with a computer without LR and a standalone program is tempting.

[@edwardalexander9486]

A quick question - do you first edit in cmyk, or AdobeRGB 1997? I've always been confused whether to use rgb 1997 (the recommended raw space for it seems most cameras) and let the cmyk desktop Printer (Epson, Canon) do the conversion, or convert to cmyk as the first step. On the printer issue, obvs there are light greys, light cyans etc., it would be interesting to allow control of the additional inks within software like this.

[@KyleMcDougall]

Definitely RGB. CMYK is for printing.

[@chrisfetto9400]

But if you use something like Vuescan then the conversion has already been made. So I'm not sure where this software fits in. Is the idea that it improves the scans already made with some sort of conversion by your scanning software?

[@edwardbrown2142]

Many people use digital cameras to scan their negatives, and need an additional step to convert to a positive. Additionally, I have found that un-converted files from scanners later converted with NLP look vastly superior to conversions done by the scanner software. By capturing the whole information of the negative, you have a lot more flexibility to make changes later. I would compare it to shooting JPEG vs RAW in a digital workflow. If you already have a scanner, try scanning some colour film as if it were a positive (leaving it un-converted) and try converting it with the trial version of NLP.

[@monkeysausageclub]

No subscription is a massive bonus these days when it seems everyone and their dog is going the subscription route.

[@lostinspacestudio]

what scanning software do you recommend for flatbed scanners?/ the current top 3 are just bain dead interfaces.. totally frustrating..

[@GonzoTheRosarian]

Great video. This looks very promising.

[@lensman5762]

The irony is that NLP with all those controls that are nearly duplicated in LR should have been offered as a stand alone software and this one with its highly simplistic controls should have been a plug in. My concern with any of these pieces of software is the degree to which they preserve the charactristics of the film, like Gold 200 being a little yellow, Fuji 400 H being cool or Portra 160 being neutral and rather desaturated, and not add any of its own to the final result?

[@athmaid]

What's the logic behind adding yellow instead of dialling down blue if the image looks too blue? Is it because you don't want to remove saturation from the image in this step, only add?

[@KyleMcDougall]

It's basically + or - C, M, or Y. I just worded it weird. You're not dialling down blue, you're dialling down yellow.

[@luisleindecker7317]

What software did you use to get the RAW scanned files? Cheers!

[@GuernB2]

I have found NLP colors to look a bit strange and overly vibrant and require desaturation / darkening to look right. Smart Convert looks a bit more like what I would expect from a good lab scan.

[@innstikk]

Can you save your choices so you don't need to change contrast, saturation etc for each image? Can it batch convert a film? Like that it is a standalone without subscriptions.

[@KyleMcDougall]

It will batch convert in the sense that if you load 10 images in it will convert them all at once. As for matching settings, I'm not too sure.

[@nineteenseventy4588]

Do you know if the Software can handle SilverFast‘s scratch and dust removal information - unlike NLP which only seems to do that with vuescan output?

[@KyleMcDougall]

I'm not sure.

[@c.f.7493]

Could/would you make a comparison video with SmartConvert against Negmaster? Negmaster follows a similar approach. Would be great, thank you!

[@KyleMcDougall]

I don't own Negmaster, but maybe something I'll explore in the future.

[@c.f.7493]

@@KyleMcDougall I think it would be worth it. It has a similar approach as SmartConvert. And the guy behind it, is a real film nerd, especially when it comes to vintage high end scanners

[@philippegervaise4857]

@@KyleMcDougallIf you ever do a comparison, I think "Negmaster BR" is the version closest to the simple approach adopted by SmartConvert.

[@sabergo1]

Informative and interesting.

[@blainehale]

It just crashes every time I try to load an image. Great first impression.

[@PhotographerRoman]

I had the same issue. Problem was with the name of the folder. It was named with cyrillic letters. Btw they released couple of updates so maybe it is already fixed.

[@woozyjoe4703]

Whats wrong with just using PS one click Invert then adjust as desired in LR/PS? All these companies offer us duplicate methods at great cost. They just want to find new ways to get our cash in a saturated market. "My time's worth more" Yeah well great but how much time does it really take?

[@devroombagchus7460]

I think you ask for too much. My idea is that it is meant to be a stand alone for the basics. Fine for me. For other things, I can use an editor.

[@KyleMcDougall]

We all have different preferences. Personally, I think a few small additions would be great (a few which have since this was released been added).

[@erichstocker8358]

Not sure I see the purpose for this. Costs as much as my negative lab pro did but doesn't give the refinement. Interface too simple for what I need. So, I guess the audience must be people beginning scanning. I can get my photos to where I like them quicker with negative lab pro. I guess everyone has a different process style.

[@KyleMcDougall]

It'll be different for everyone, for sure. This is also targeting people who don't have a LR subscription.

[@LifeOnHoth]

"choose export format"

[@petrub27]

Nah, it sucks.

[@AllergicToMyself]

You're opinion I guess, even if opinions can be wrong

[@kevinbrowne3089]

Extremely intelligent and helpful analysis. Thank you.