Introduction to SilkyPix Film Tastes

Being an avid user of SilkyPix for a number of years, I decided to develop a set of Film Tastes to provide palettes which emulate colour slide, colour negative and B&W films.

The Film Taste collection is available for purchase and subsequent download from my eShop.

Ok, so you’ve just bought the Film Taste collection and now you want to start using them. Well here’s some pointers to get those retro images rolling off the digital press mill.

Getting Tastes into SilkyPix

First thing to do is unzip the “SilkyPix Taste.zip” file into a directory of your choice and then fire up SilkyPix. I have provided two sets of Tastes, one set for JPG and TIFF file development (denoted by the filename xxxxx JT.STF) and one set for RAW file development.

Next thing to do is to select an image and click the + icon next to the taste drop down list in the Development tab.

A Taste dialogue window pops up and then one selects the import button. A second open dialogue window pops up and one can then navigate to the folder where the zip file was previously uncompressed and choose a Taste. The Taste then appears in the drop down list for subsequent use.

Tip: To save time one can continue to import all Tastes before closing the Taste dialogue window.

Please note that if the image selected is a JPG or TIFF then only choose a Taste file named xxxxx JT.STF.

This process must be repeated for Tastes related to RAW file selection, although these Tastes do not have a modified filename.

All tastes are partial presets, which means they overwrite parameters for all functions except those associated with Sharpness / Noise Reduction, Lens Aberration, Rotation/Digital Shift and Development. Hence, any adjustmenst made to Exposure, Saturation, Tone Curve, Fine Color Controller and White Balance functions.

About Creative Tastes

All Tastes are optimised for use on evenly exposed images and were developed using GretagMacbeth / IT8 colour charts and countless RAW, TIFF and JPG files.

These Film Tastes make extensive use of parameters asscociated with the Tone Curve, Fine Color Controller, Saturation and White Balance functions. If subsequent adjustments are made to these functions then their effect will change.

Depending upon image application it may be necessary to adjust exposure and contrast levels after applying the taste. Therefore the best approach is to consider these Tastes as a baseline and then creatively add adjustments to suit individual image requirements.

Taste Details

Colour Slide Film Tastes:

Ektrachrome 100 is a preset which emulates the vibrant tones of Kodak’s Ektachrome. Reds and greens are richer, contrast is higher and a slight Magenta colour cast is visible.

Kodachrome 25 is a preset which emulates the natural tones of Kodak’s Kodachrome 25. Reds are warmer, blues have a touch of magenta and overall saturation is lower. Contrast and brightness is higher together with a marginal increase in black point.

Kodachrome 64 is a preset which emulates the richer tones of Kodak’s Kodachrome 64. Overall saturation is higher, reds are warmer, blues have a touch of magenta and purples are less saturated. Contrast and brightness is up together with a marginal increase in black point.

Kodachrome 200 is a preset which emulates the neutral, yet punchy tones of Kodak’s Kodachrome 200. Overall saturation is lower than Kodachrome 64, reds are cooler, blues have a touch of magenta and purples are more saturated. Contrast and brightness is up together with a marginal increase in black point.

Fuji Astia 100F is a preset which emulates the rich tones of Fuji Astia 100F. Overall saturation is higher, reds have a slight pinkish tone and greens are warmer. A slight magenta/red colour cast is visible.

Fuji Provia 100F is a preset which emulates the deep saturated rich tones of Fuji Provia 100F. Overall saturation is much higher, blues are neutral and darker, reds have a slight orange tone and greens are more neutral.

Fuji Velvia 50 is a preset which emulates the highly saturated tones of Fuji Velvia 50. Overall saturation and contrast is much higher than Astia and Provia 100F, reds have a slight pinkish tone and greens are warm and rich. A slight magenta colour cast is added together with noticebale increase in black point.

Colour Negative Film Tastes:

Kodak Porta 160 is a preset which emulates the natural tones of Kodak’s Porta 160 colour negative film. Contrast is average with a slight upper-mid tone lift. Blues are neutral, reds and greens are slightly warm and shadow detail is average.

Fuji Superia Reala 100 is a preset which emulates the natural skin tones of Fuji’s Superia Reala 100 colour negative film. Contrast is average with a brighter mid tones. Blues have a magenta cast, reds have a pink cast, greens are warmer and shadow detail is average.

Fuji Superia Xtra 800 is a preset which emulates the high contrast and broad dynamic range of Fuji’s Superia Xtra 800 colour negative film. Similar to Reala 100 in colour rendering, yet overall brightness and saturation levels are lower.

Fuji Superia HG 1600 is a preset which emulates Fuji’s Superia HG 1600 colour negative film. Overall contrast, saturation and brightness levels are lower. Blues are cooler, reds have a slight pink cast, greens are warmer and shadow detail is lower.

Black & White Film Tastes:

Ilford HP5 is a preset which emulates the medium contrast of Ilford’s HP5 negative B&W film. Blues are rendered slightly darker than greens and reds are darker. Overall contrast is lower than other B&W presets, while highlight and shadow details are better retained.

Ilford XP2 is a preset which emulates the high contrast of Ilford’s XP2 negative B&W film. Blues are rendered slightly lighter than greens, while reds are darker. Contrast is high and shadow detail is lower.

Kodak Tri-X is a preset which emulates the high contrast of Kodak’s Tri-X negative B&W film. Blues and greens are rendered at similar levels and slightly brighter than reds. Contrast is higher, overall mid-tones are brighter and shadow detail is lower.

Fuji Neopan is a preset which emulates the medium contrast and improved highlight and shadow detail of Fuji’s Neopan Acros negative B&W film. Blues and reds are rendered at similar levels, although both are slightly darker than greens.

Cross Processed Tastes:

CP Agfa is a SilkyPix preset that emulates Agfa slide film being processed in C-41 chemicals. The nature of this preset is solely dependent on how saturated specific colours are within the target image. Users may prefer to desaturate the image (after applying the Taste), if the subject matter already comprises highly saturated blues, since this Taste emphasises cool tones.

CP Kodak Elite is a SilkyPix preset that emulates Kodak slide film being processed in C-41 chemicals. The nature of this preset is solely dependent on how saturated specific colours are within the target image. Users may prefer to desaturate the image (after applying the Taste), if the subject matter already comprises highly saturated colour.

CP Fuji is a SilkyPix preset that emulates Fuji slide film being processed in C-41 chemicals. The nature of this preset is solely dependent on how saturated specific colours are within the target image. Users may prefer to desaturate the image (after applying the Taste), if the subject matter already comprises highly saturated blues, greens and yellows, since this Taste emphasises these tones.