XeL 2.0 is ready!

And … all XeL Products have been updated!

Get your copy today!

Now … onto the details!

We made some structural changes to the configuration of XeL, corrected some outstanding issues from the prior releases, added in new Tone presets for all film emulations and prepared the XeL system for future needs. We are going to briefly run you through each of these changes and then help you migrate from the previous XeL installation to the new XeL.

First, the structural changes to XeL consist primarily of a new preset naming structure. Before, all the film emulations had an X-code of XBW for Black and White films, XCP for color print films and so forth. Then, each preset was simply assigned a number. This made further expansion of available emulations troublesome, as we were rapidly running out of available Ids to keep film brands together.

Now each film emulation has a new X-code. BK is black and white Kodak, NF is print Fuji, IP is Instant Polaroid. This is followed by a 3-digit number that completes each emulation’s X-code. While functionally, this makes little difference to you the user, it allows for organization of presets as Lightroom still lacks nested folders for Develop Presets. If Adobe ever sees fit to give us that accommodation, we will eliminate X-codes entirely.

This change allows us for future expansion via free presets and paid booster packs, without each release having its own folder structure. Everything will just integrate.

Next, XeL 2.0 corrects some lingering issues from the last XeL release. First, every emulation was recompiled to ensure that it calls on the Adobe Standard profile, to ensure color fidelity from camera to camera. While Adobe Standard is not the most accurate method of color control, it is much more accurate than any other option available without custom profiles.

Also, we addressed some issues with Tone Curves not applying correctly in Lightroom 4 and up. The Black and White emulations in particular had a habit of not showing the proper Tone Curve, even though the adjustments were applied. This is an effect of the PV 2010 to PV 2012 change in Lightroom 4. We issued a work around before, but now each preset has been recompiled to eliminate the issue entirely.

Only the Film Emulations were corrected. Based on customer feedback, the additional curves provided in XeL are less used, so instead of wasting time further developing them, we left them the way they are. They still work just fine, but render some insane Tone Curve plots with many control points.

While correcting the prior issues, we also introduced new Tone presets for each film emulation. To bring the presets in line with the first booster pack and to meet customer request, we have replace the old Tone preset with both a Tone HC and Tone LC preset for each emulation. The Tone HC preset is a High Contrast tone curve and the Tone LC is a Low Contrast tone curve. Both curves have the same basic shape for similar response, but the LC is less aggressive than the HC and also features a lower Clarity setting as well.

Finally, we ensured each preset only adjusted exactly what is required to make the desired effect. Unlike other film emulation presets on the market, we do not try to take over all your processing to accommodate the film look. We treat our presets like film. The Mix applies the color rendition, the Tone also you to choose a high or low contrast rendition and the Grain approximated the amount of grain for a film stock. These are all choice a film photographer makes when choosing a film; they consider its palette and grain and choose their exposure for contrast needs.

XeL film emulations offer you just that, the primary attributes of a film stock based on our testing of said stock. We don’t make adjustments to your Basic Tone sliders. We don’t mess with noise reduction or sharpening or anything else. We simply adjust the Color Mix, Tone Curve, Clarity and Grain. We provide the palette, tonality and graininess; we leave the rest up to you. It would be presumptuous for us to assume we best know how to process you image, we just provide options.

So hopefully we have explained the need for this revision to XeL. Now, we need to address how to get it set up and ready for you.

First, we recommend that you remove all prior XeL presets from Lightroom. As these presets have different names they can sit side by side in Lightroom, which can lead to confusion. To eliminate that issue we feel its best to remove the legacy presets.

To do so, we need to get to your preset folder. To do this easily, start from within Lightroom.

• Open Preferences; File -> Preferences (Windows) Lightroom -> Preferences (Mac).
• Once in the Preferences dialog, select the Presets tab.
• Look for theLocation box and click the Show Lightroom Presets Folder… button.
• This will open up the presets folder in Explorer of Finder.

This will navigate you to the Lightroom folder.

Open it up and look for the Develop Presets folder. Open it.

Now, using Ctrl/Cmd + Click, select each of the existing folders marked XeL. Once they are all selected, delete or trash them. You may want to back them up in case you prefer the legacy presets, but they function mostly identical, so that is optional. Once you have deleted all the XeL folders, keep this Explorer/Finder window open.

Now, open your XeL 2.0 download archive file. Once it is unzipped, open the root folder and select all the X folders in the folder. Now copy those files over to the Lightroom Develop Presets Folder. Once they are all copied, close Lightroom. Open it back up and navigate to the Develop Module and ensure that the new presets are present. If they show up, then your upgrade is complete.

Hopefully you can use the new Tone presets we have added to increase your creativity and productivity. We hope that all the updates also ensure consistent and quick application of the new XeL presets.

If you have any issues feel free to drop a line in the comments.

Michael W. Gray

I’ve been shooting jazz concerts for a while now, and lately I’ve been thinking about what makes a concert shot iconic. In many cases, the viewer of  a particular concert photo will have no idea who the artist is, so one way to keep the viewer interested is to express a mood – an atmosphere that is quintessentially jazz.

One way to do that is to go back to the roots of jazz photography and learn from those iconic pictures. Because of the technical constraints of the times, most of these shots are black & white, and what we’d consider underexposed today: large parts of the picture are in the shadows.

With modern digital gear, it doesn’t have to be this way. For a long time I shot for the details and processed to enhance those details even further. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, sometimes this didn’t really convey the atmosphere and feel I was looking for.

… just because I can get a perfectly exposed, and detailed subject by shooting at 3200 ISO or more doesn’t mean I should.

What I’m going to talk about today is an approach that I’ve started to explore which I call ‘embracing the shadows’. Essentially it comes down to this: just because I can get a perfectly exposed – detailed subject by shooting at 3200 ISO or more doesn’t mean I should.

Shadows are part of what makes jazz concerts the experience what they are.

So what I try to do these days – at least for part of my shoot – is to expose so that part of my subject(s) will remain in the shadows. I tend to do this by trial and error and generally expose manually. I’ll open no lower than F/2.8 or F/4 depending on the lens, at ISO 400 or 800 depending on the lighting, and adjust the shutter speed to get the desired shadows.

All photos © Benoît Felten

Once I’ve selected a shot with potential, I’ll complete all of the adjustments required in Lightroom prior to switching to black & white (cropping, eliminating background clutter, etc.).

With that work complete,  I use the XeL Black & White presets to save a lot of time by quickly comparing multiple options. For the shot ‘Thomas in the Shadows’ shown here I created 5 virtual copies and tried 5 different emulations as shown on the screen capture:

• Fuji NP Acros 100,
• Agfa Scala 200,
• Rollei IR 400,
• Ilford Pan F 50+
• Tri-X 1600 Acufine.

I then compared them, looking in detail at how the shadows were falling on the face. That led me to eliminate the Scala and the Rollei which were too bright for what I was after, and the Ilford which was too contrasty.

I then debated a while between the Fuji and the Tri-X befofe finally going with the Fuji.

I often hear that “real” photographers don’t use presets, and I find that assertion baffling.

For this shot I really wanted the face to be in the shadows but still faintly visible. I also wanted the beautiful curve of the bass to stand out: it’s a strong graphical element of the shot.

So I lowered the overall exposure by 0.15 and darkened the shadows by -45. That gave me some really deep blacks without burning the face entirely.

All in all, I probably spent less than 10 minutes processing the shot.

All photos © Benoît Felten

For ‘Trumpeter in the Dark’, I had the same philosophy in mind. I liked the fact that the musician’s face was partially in the shadows and I wanted to keep it that way. The difference with the previous shot was that instead of having a dark area and a light area, the face was dark but speckled with light spots. I needed to retain enough highlights to keep it legible.

Before processing for B&W I had to get rid of a pesky microphone stand on the right, adjacent to the trumpet. So I exported the image to Photoshop, edited out the stand, and then imported the image back in Lightroom as a TIFF.

I then approached things in much the same way as I did for the previous shot:

I tested a number of emulations, some more contrasty than others to find the base I liked. I ended up choosing the Agfa APX 400 emulation.

I liked the tone and contrast levels, but it blew up the highlights so I had to do some fairly radical adjustments to compensate for the hand and hair.

I lowered the overall exposure by -0.5, boosted the highlights by +75 but brought the whites all the way down to -100.

I then brought the blacks down by -45 to maintain a really deep black in the background. I also boosted the eyes a little bit with the adjustment brush and XeL’s Enhance Eye preset, while burning the remaining highlights on the hand with the adjustment brush.

Some of the other interpretations were interesting too, with more detail on the face, but ultimately I decided I liked the sense of mystery and the mood on this version. I wanted to give it a slightly warmer feel though so I applied an XeL B&W Sepia 1 toning to convey that.

Choosing which film to use for one’s shoot is exactly the same mental process as using presets except we now have the flexibility to apply that choice to individual shots.

As I said at the beginning, my goal with these shots was to favor mood over detail, and the option to sample different black & white emulations was a great way to achieve that as it allows you to see beforehand which one best suits the mood that you’re after.

Since creating virtual copies in Lightroom is easy and doesn’t eat any disk space, it’s a really great way of focusing on the version I think will best express what I’m after, and then tweak it as necessary to really get a final shot that rocks.

I often hear that “real” photographers don’t use presets, and I find that assertion baffling. Choosing which film to use for one’s shoot is exactly the same mental process as using presets except we now have the flexibility to apply that choice to individual shots.

Film photographers would then tweak their shots during printing, and just because we use presets doesn’t mean we shouldn’t similarly adjust once we’ve chosen a preset to express exactly what we’re after!

With our current family of XeL Products, we have provided vast array of processing options to stimulate your creativity with a touch of traditional film, and today we are proud to announce another chance to squeeze more value out of the X-Equals XeL platform.

Photo by Dominic Thurgood @Scatterfold – using Polaroid 667

Whether you purchase as a standalone, or combine with XeL:Color or XeL:Black and White, The XeL: Film Booster Volume 2 provides you with 12 new film film emulations, adding to our already wide array of film styles for use in Adobe Lightroom 4.

Every preset now offers two Tone presets, a High Contrast and Low Contrast option for each emulation.

1 . Kodak Kodachrome II 25 – This emulation was derived from a collection of slides shot on Kodachrome II from May 1960. There was no color checker, but the photos were taken at a baseball game between the St Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs. I was able to identify the proper Red and Blue balances from cross referencing the images to samples of the uniforms from that time. Green came from estimating the grass. All other colors were balanced based on best guesses to particular shades in the images. We are also providing presets to recreate the aged effect of the old Kodachrome slides.

2. Kodak Ektachrome 400X – High speed staurated slide stock.

3. Kodak Elite Extra Color 100 – Kodak slide film. Technically advertised as a pro film at the time. A saturated film with relatively fine grain and fended off reciprocity failure up to 10 second exposures. Later deemed a mere consumer film, with extended expiration dates with no changes to chemical composition.

4. Lomography X-Pro Slide 200 – Lomography slide film. Actually based off the old Agfa RSXII 200 film, shot and emulated as a normal slide film. Also including the cross-processed effect of the film.

5. Polaroid Polachrome – Polaroid’s experiment into instant 35 mm slide film. A failed experiment. Muted colors and heavy grain.

6. Fuji Superia HG 1600 – Cheap, high speed consumer film. Many years old, found in my freezer, shot and emulated. Heavy grain.

7. Lomography Redscale 100 – A bone stock standard C-41 Negative film that is commercially loaded backwards in the film cartridge. Emulated the film as a standard color negative film, also providing presets for the Redscale effect.

8. Rollei IR Filtered – We have offered up this Infrared film before in the XeL: Black and White Toolkit, but now we have emulated it as it was shot through a standard IR filter, to get an authentic IR rendition.

9. Rollei 80s – A “newer” traditional cubic grained black and white film. Derived from classic Agfa aviation film, brough to market as a standard B&W stock.

10. Polaroid 667 – Classic pull apart black and white film.

11. Kodak Vision 3 5207 – Kodak Vision 3 250D/5207 is a medium speed daylight balanced cine film. Give your images that modern cinema look.

12. Kodak Vision 3 5213 – Kodak Vision 3 200T/5213 is a medium speed indoor film designed for tungsten lighting. Complete your cinema style with the interior cinema stock.

We hope that you find these emulations must haves for your Lightroom workflow. And what is better than fresh, quality presets?

A refreshing low price. XeL: Film Booster Volume 1 is over 50 presets that combine to make 12 film emulations for $4.99 USD. That is less than 50 cents per emulation, a super low price for the best film emulations you will find for Lightroom.

See XeL in action … with our Product Overview Video

Michael Gray walks you through how to use the XeL Tone, Mix, and Grain settings like a pro.

While what you see in this video for XeL:Color it represents the same approach you use across any of the XeL Products!

For the full HD experience, be sure to play the video at full screen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_fF4LPHyk8

Grab it Now!

Each of these emulations consist of 4 or more presets that help you nail the look of film. These presets represent the best emulation techniques that we have developed – all done completely within Lightroom. But we have not just sat on our laurels and done the same old thing, we have improved our XeL design. XeL: Film Booster Volume 1 introduces the world to our new XeL 2.0 preset platform.

Every preset now offers 2 Tone presets, a High Contrast and Low Contrast option for each emulation. Previously, we only offered 1 option as far as our Tone presets were concerned, usually a fairly high contrast interpretation. Now we provide two different starting points to help you find what feels best for your image faster.

We have also broadened our horizons and started utilizing more of Lightroom’s power to bring additional effects to our emulations. Be it an aged effect, color shift or redscale effect, we have provided additional presets for our emulations to capture these unique options. We provide more options for your image in a completely non-destructive workflow.

Sample Images

Photo by Donald Brown – using Rollei IR Filtered Tone HC

Photo by Zoe Oelling – using Polaroid Polachrome

Photo by Dominic Thurgood @Scatterfold – using Kodak Vision 3 5213

Photo by Annika Rixen – using Rollei IR

Some geeky details

In this booster we introduce a new folder structure for XeL as well. When installing the presets we highly recommend installing the presets in the folders as they are presented, do not try to integrate these presets with your existing XeL presets. We will be updating the existing XeL releases to the new 2.0 platform in the coming weeks, stay tuned for details.

We will be taking care of our loyal XeL customers, upgrading them to the new XeL free of charge.

If you don’t already have XeL: Black and White or XeL: Color, now would be a great time to do so. You are guaranteed our newest preset platform upgrade and lock in today’s price. It may go up after XeL 2.0 rolls out the gates.

Thank you for taking the journey with us.

All of us at X-Equals welcome your feedback and comments as we continue to focus on delivering no-nonsense advice and innovative products to keep you inspired!

X-Equals – Click. Download. Smile.

This fine shopping experience is brought to you by E-Junkie. They rock, and are the only group we trust to deliver you quality X-Equals goods!

Ohhhhhhhhhhh SNAP!

Yep, we did it. Time to go ALL IN on the XeL Platform … which is the best way to get the only COMPLETE digital darkroom and non-destructive toolkit for Lightroom.

If you bought the entire XeL Suite separately you’d drop $60 … don’t do that.

So … what’s included in the bundle?

Easy …

1. XeL:Color
2. XeL:Film Booster
3. XeL:Black and White

See XeL in action … with our Product Overview Video

Michael Gray walks you through how to use the XeL Tone, Mix, and Grain settings like a pro.

While what you see in this video for XeL:Color it represents the same approach you use across any of the XeL Products!

For the full HD experience, be sure to play the video at full screen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_fF4LPHyk8

Want more details on each product?

Here you go … starting with XeL:Color which  features 200+ presets with 50+ film emulations, and represents the largest compilation of color film emulations available for Lightroom 4.

XeL:Color

Michael Gray walks you through the XeL:Color Product along with some sample workflows to get you started!

XeL utilizes Lightroom’s native preset capability to rapidly process your images in the style of classic film stocks.

For the full HD experience, be sure to play the video at full screen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_fF4LPHyk8

Learn more …

The XeL:Film Booster

Whether you purchase as a standalone, or combine with XeL:Color or XeL:Black and White, The XeL: Film Booster Volume 1 provides you with 12 new film film emulations, adding to our already wide array of film styles for use in Adobe Lightroom 4.

Every preset now offers two Tone presets, a High Contrast and Low Contrast option for each emulation.

Each of these emulations consist of 4 or more presets that help you nail the look of film. These presets represent the best emulation techniques that we have developed – delivered completely within Lightroom.

Learn more …

XeL:Black and White

XeL:Black and White is the culmination of a year’s worth or research, analysis, development and testing – representing a major milestone release in support of the innovative X-Equals XeL platform.

XeL:Black and White breaks free from the traditional approach to Lightroom presets – utilizing a modular approach that allows users to quickly and efficiently create stunning black and white images in a completely non-destructive RAW-based workflow.

XeL was envisioned to shift the preset paradigm from disparate one click effects, to a set of well defined – targeted presets that can be combined strategically to make specific adjustments.

The soul of the XeL platform, and XeL:Black and White, comes from our passion for traditional film and dark room techniques to bring you a collection of presets that you to quickly create stunning black and white images directly from within Lightroom.

Learn more …

Thank You!

All of us at X-Equals welcome your feedback and comments as we continue to focus on delivering no-nonsense advice and innovative products to keep you inspired!

My personal thanks goes out to you for taking the journey with us.

|Brandon Oelling – Editor in Chief
X-Equals – Click. Download. Smile.

This fine shopping experience is brought to you by E-Junkie. They rock, and are the only group we trust to deliver you quality X-Equals goods!

Welcome to XeL: Color!

XeL: Color features 200+ presets with 50+ film emulations, and represents the largest compilation of color film emulations available for Lightroom 4 – including numerous auxiliary presets that allow you to further develop your images in the style of traditional film techniques.

We take great pride in our emulations, they’re the best out there, and we want you to love these as much as we do! XeL attempts to provide the most accurate emulations possible, utilizing only the tools made available in Lightroom.

No need for round trip editing in a plug-in or Photoshop. XeL utilizes Lightroom’s native preset capability to rapidly process your images in the style of classic film stocks. All edits are lossless and XeL never requires you to render your image into TIFF -  this is a completely RAW friendly workflow.

XeL: Color represents to largest compilation of color film emulations available for Lightroom 4

Each of our emulations are handmade by Michael Gray. Utilizing his film analysis and emulation methods, he converts countless test rolls of film to the most accurate emulations possible within Lightroom.

Keep in mind, each batch of film is unique, and there is no true appearance for any film stock. Results can vary between batches and even between rolls. Exposure technique, processing and age also have an impact on final results from any roll of film, from color shifts to grain size and intensity. What we are trying to say is that XeL emulations are based upon his choice of film, exposure and processing thereof. Each emulation is emulating his end results from a given film stock.

Some emulations in XeL:Color also recreate the look of numerous film stocks that are no longer available. In these situations, Michael gathered physical samples of these stocks, and performed a intensive blind emulation to match the feel of those long lost films.

Ok, onto the reason you’re here.

Here you go …

We have installation details, a breakdown of the whole Preset Collection, and Sample Images below.

Product Overview Video

Michael Gray walks you through the XeL:Color Product along with some sample workflows to get you started!

For the full HD experience, be sure to play the video at full screen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_fF4LPHyk8

Everything you need is right here.

Previously, we released our toolkit with a PDF manual. However we are eschewing the PDF in preference for a live web page. We have done this for two reasons.

First, the manual is not a product own its own, and is put together more as a guide to the toolkit than a full blown reference. An HTML document allows us to correct any errors we may inadvertently create quickly.

Secondly, we may find it necessary to add to or alter XeL: Color as Lightroom evolves. While not as detailed as our prior PDF manuals, an HTML document allows use to rapidly make changes to the guide and ensure users have both the most current documentation available and be made aware if we are required to alter or add to the XeL: Color download in the future.

XeL utilizes Lightroom’s native preset capability to rapidly process your images in the style of classic film stocks.

Anyways, enough babbling, let’s get into use of XeL: Color.

Installation

Installation of X-Equals Presets is a snap! … we even have a video that shows you how!

After you have received your downloadable Zip file containing XeL: Color, you must manually install the package into Lightroom before you can use the presets. Start by extracting the Zip file to your computer. We highly recommend keeping the XeL presets in their folders. This will sort them properly by family and effect, and we will be adding to these folders as time goes on with booster packs and free presets.

Now open Lightroom to start the installation process. Lightroom can point you to the folder you need to install your presets to for you. We will use the Preferences dialog to locate our presets folder.

Lightroom’s Preferences dialog can be found in the Edit menu (Windows) or Lightroom menus (Mac) of the menu bar. Simply look towards the bottom of the drop down and choose Preferences… Alternately, you can also use the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl/Cmd + ,) to launch the Preferences dialog.

Once the dialog opens, click on the Presets tab. Look toward the middle portion of the dialog in the Location section. First, notice if the Store presets with catalog option is enabled. If it is, you will need to install the presets into each catalog you wish to use. If not, presets will be installed into the Lightroom settings folders and will be available in any catalog.

Now, click the Show Lightroom Presets Folder… button. This will open up a Mac Finder or Windows Explorer window, navigate to the destination folder for Lightroom settings.

Open the Lightroom folder.

Once this window has opened, you will need to navigate to the Develop Presets folder.

Open your extracted folder to prepare to copy. Copy all of the sub-folders from the XeL: Color folder to the Develop Presets folder, keeping all presets in their proper folders. Do not simply copy over the root folder.

Now close all your OS Explorer/Finder windows and exit Lightroom. Upon opening Lightroom anew, XeL: Color will now be made available.

XeL: Color Contents

XeL: Color is made of a series of preset families, contained within their own folders. Each family of presets has a specific focus, which we will briefly cover. These families will appear in your Presets panel as such.

Each family is contained in a preset folder with a title that starts with XeL-CL. Each family focuses on one particular type of preset.

XeL-Cl Archaic Processes – Contains presets that enable a processing style reminiscent of old fashioned photographic methods or products.

XeL-CL Cold Storage Instant Films – Contains sets of presets that emulate specific instant film emulsions.

XeL-CL Cold Storage Print Films – Contains sets of presets that emulate traditional negative (print) film stock.

XeL-CL Cold Storage Slide Films – Contains sets of presets that emulate traditional reversal (slide) film stock.

XeL-CL Cross Processing – Contains presets that utilize the new RGB curves to give a cross processed effect.

XeL-CL Curve Kick – Contains a selection of tone curves to help you think outside the box.

XeL-CL Special Effects – Contains presets that facilitate you in recreating traditional darkroom tricks, amongst other effects.

Some of these families feature individual presets that perform a specific task. Others utilize a series of presets designed to be used in unison to garner a certain emulation or effect. Either way, each preset wil only adjust a small amount of sliders within Lightroom. This allows for modular presets that can be mixed and matched as desired, or entire steps left out of the process if needed.

As you can see in the image above, single click presets simply have an ID and name (XCP05 – E6 in C41 E). Whereas presets designed to be used in unison feature an ID ending with a letter (XFS252A – Agfa RSX II 200 Mix). Presets with letters ending the ID are designed to be used together, or mixed with other like presets in the same family with the same letter designation.

The ID is drawn from a code denoting the preset family (XCP, XFFS) and a number designation (05, 252A). This can be used to quickly take note of preset combinations if so desired. In actuality, it assists the designers in maintaining a semblance of organization.

Now let us take a closer look at each family of presets and see a few samples from each.

XeL-CL Archaic Processes (ACA###X)

This family of presets attempt to capture the unique look of photography past. XeL: Color includes the following Archaic Processes.

• Handpainted

• Autochrome

• Olde Postcard

Both Autochrome and Olde Postcard are designed to use the Mix preset from a Cold Storage Film Emulation. Handpainted has a custom Mix preset, but can also use film emulation mixes.

XeL-CL Cold Storage Instant Films (XFI###X)

This family features a selection of some of the best known instant films and a few different versions of the same stock.

• Fuji FP-100C

• Polaroid 600
• Polaroid 669 Warm

• Polaroid 669 Cool
• Polaroid 600 V.2

• Polaroid 669 Expired

XeL-CL Cold Storage Print Films

This family of presets feature preset groups emulating many color print films from the past to modern day.

• Kodak High Definition 400
• Kodak Gold 100

• Kodak Gold 200
• Kodak Gold 200 Crossprocessed
• Kodak High Definition 400 shot at 1600
• Kodak Ultra Color 400
• Kodak Portra 160 NC

• Kodak Portra 400 NC
• Kodak Portra 160 VC
• Kodak Portra 400 VC

• Kodak Portra 160 VC Bleach Bypass
• Kodak Ektar 100

• Fuji 160C
• Fuji 160S
• Fuji 400H

• Fuji 800z
• Fuji Press 800 Expired
• Fuji 160C Crossprocessed
• Konica Super XG 100

• Konica Super XG 200
• Polaroid High Definition 200

XeL-CL Cold Storage Slide Films (XFS###X)

This family features some of the most important chromes (slides) from days past.

• Kodak Kodachrome 10
• Kodak Kodachrome 10 V.2
• Kodak Kodachrome 10 V.3
• Kodak Kodachrome 25

• Kodak Kodachrome 64
• Kodak Kodachrome 200
• Kodak Kodachrome ASA 10 (4×5)
• Kodak Ektachrome 100VS

• Kodak Elite Chrome 100
• Kodak Elite Chrome 200
• Kodak Ektachrome 100 VS Crossprocessed
• Kodachrome Bleach Bypass (Theoretical, not really possible)
• Fuji Velvia 50
• Fuji Velvia 50 V.2

• Velvia Classic
• Fuji Velvia 100
• Fuji Velvia 100F
• Fuji Velvia 100 shot at 80
• Fuji Velvia Crossprocessed
• Fuji Sensia

• Fuji Provia 100F Crossprocessed
• Agfa RSX II 50
• Agfa RSX II 100

• Agfa RSX II 200
• Kodachrome Memorial Special Preset

XeL-CL Cross Processing (XCP##)

Although some of the emulations feature a crossprocessing effect, primarily through split toning, not all emulations feature that option. However, using these presets, you can give any image a crossprocessed effect, utilizing Lightroom 4′s new RGB curves.

• 6 presets based on Slide Film (E6) processed in Print Chemistry (C41)

• 6 presets based on Print Film (c41) processed in Slide Chemistry (E6)

XeL-CL Curve Kick (XCC##)

This family of presets is a collection of replacement Tone Curves designed to provide a variety of results, from random, to controlling contrast. Nothing to show sample wise, as each curve is unique, and only look correct on the right image.

Xel-CL Special Effects (XCX##X)

This family of presets uses Lightroom in uncommon ways to generate unique effects.

• Bleach Bypass

• Redscale

• Center Focus
• Holga Lens
• Light Leaks
• Mute Primary Colors

• Negative
• Tonal Cutoff

• Solarize

This is XeL

XeL: Color and XeL: Black and White together represent the most flexible and expansive collection of film emulation and supplementary tools available anywhere, for any platform. This is just the beginning of XeL, and we fulling plan on expanding both XeL Collections in the future through additional smaller releases. This is the master set that all future releases will integrate into.

XeL is the preset platform that will evolve with you and you needs, and adjust with Lightroom as changes come our way. Let us know what you would like to see in future releases. We are doing all this for you and your art.

So let’s get you setup!

Grab the whole XeL:Color toolkit right here for only $29.99

Thank You!

All of us at X-Equals welcome your feedback and comments as we continue to focus on delivering no-nonsense advice and innovative products to keep you inspired!

My personal thanks goes out to you for taking the journey with us.

|Brandon Oelling – Editor in Chief
X-Equals – image, workflow, technology, business

This fine shopping experience is brought to you by E-Junkie. They rock, and are the only group we trust to deliver you quality X-Equals goods!

We’re psyched to launch the XeL Education Center!

If you’re a new XeL Customer, or a prospective customer trying to get a feel for what XeL is, and how it differs from the abundance of free non-professional Presets out there, this is the place!

Simply put, here’s the knowledge bomb on how to take your workflow to the next level with all the power, simplicity, and flexibility that comes with X-Equals XeL – the Professional Standard in Film Emulation and post-processing in Lightroom 4.

Product Overview Video

Michael Gray walks you through the XeL:Color Product along with some sample workflows to get you started!

For the full HD experience, be sure to play the video at full screen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_fF4LPHyk8

Need help with installation or support in general? We have you covered!

Installation of X-Equals Presets is a snap! … we even have a video that shows you how!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNUfA1Vatug

X-Equals XeL breaks free from the traditional approach to Lightroom presets, and that’s a GOOD thing!

… utilizing a modular approach that allows users to quickly and efficiently create images in a completely non-destructive RAW-based workflow.

How does that differ? … well here you go!

Understand XeL, and how it’s uniquely focused on bringing razor sharp precision to your workflow along with your favorite films:

• X-Equals – XeL 2.0 – Product Details
• Embracing the Shadows with X-Equals XeL
• XeL – Reimagine Lightroom Presets
• XeL: Black & White – Getting the Best Results
• X-Equals XeL – Real World, Kick A** Results

Don’t have XeL yet?

Well, come on now! Let’s get you dialed in!

Comments, feedback, etc.

What should we be providing in the XeL Education Center to make sure you’re successful? Drop us a line!

|Brandon Oelling
X-Equals – Click. Download. Smile.

Are you still having trouble?

No problem, If you have any questions or need product support you can email us below.

Note from the Editor

A week or so ago Jeff Tamagini posted this photo on Twitter – mentioning he leveraged XeL:Black and White in his workflow. Naturally, we took notice of such a sweet image and asked him to describe in more detail how he processed this shot. Lucky for all of us he accepted! Now … on to the goodness!

X-Equals XeL – Real World, Kick A** Results

First things first, thanks to the X-Equals team for giving me the opportunity to do a guest post to go through the process I used for my photo Dreaming. I have been a fan of the presets these guys have made for a long time, but once Lightroom 4 came around the old presets didn’t function quite the same.

My main reason for wanting to upgrade to the XeL Black and White presets was speed.  I will fully disclose, when I am editing one off photos I am going to open Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 or Color Efex Pro 4. But when I shoot events where I have hundreds of photos to process these programs, as great they are, will just not do, they can not batch process and time becomes an issue.

… my main goal in creating this photo was to test how the XeL Black and White stacked up against Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 (SEP2) with minimal tweaking after applying the presets.

The technical aspects of this photo are the following. It was shot with a Canon 5D mark II with a Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8IS. I was zoomed to 200mm, an ISO of 800, aperture of f/5.6, and a shutter speed of 1/125th. The reason for the high ISO is that this particular photoshoot was done in conjunction with the lighting company FJ Westcott and I used their Spiderlite TD6’s which are continuous lights that are daylight balanced. Since there is no flash of light, a higher ISO is needed to get a faster shutter speed to freeze the movement of the model.

Again my main goal in creating this photo was to test how the XeL Black and White stacked up against Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 (SEP2) with minimal tweaking after applying the presets. But my very first step in this process was to open this photo up in Photoshop to retouch it.

My retouching included blemish removal, skin softening, sharpening, some minor dodging and burning. All in all I would say it was a 10 minute retouch. When it was finish I headed back into Lightroom with the photo below.

In Lightroom, I went into the Develop Module and with the retouched photo selected I created a virtual copy by pressing CMD+’ on the mac or CNTL+’ on windows. On that virtual copy I right clicked and selected Edit in then Silver Efex Pro 2. It brings up a dialog box of some choices and I always choose Edit a Copy with Lightroom Adjustments. This creates another copy and launches SEP2.

After SEP2 launched I left everything set to its defaults which is neutral and on the right under Film Type I chose Illford Delta 100 Pro and I clicked save. The edited Tiff file is now back in Lightroom.

Now, back on that virtual copy I first created from the retouched photo I went and applied the XeL presets. Still in the Develop Module, I expanded the XeL – BW Cold Storage Films folder in the Presets panel on the left and scrolled through the tons of options till I reached the Illford section. I applied the 3 presets, Illford Delta 100 Pro Mix, Tone and Grain.

… the XeL edited shot appears to have been automatically dodged and burned in the correct places. That is very cool.

Wow, I believe was the word that came out of my mouth. I compared the two photos side by side. The only other thing I did to both photos to was to drop the Highlights to -30 and I also opened up the Shadows to +14. Both of those adjustments are available under the Basic rollout within the Develop Module.

That is it everything else was left to the defaults. When you look at the photos side by side, you can see that the SEP edited photo (on the left) seems flatter and slightly over exposed compared to the XeL processed file (on the right). In fact, the XeL edited shot appears to have been automatically dodged and burned in the correct places. That is very cool.

If you are someone that is just getting started with Lightroom and love black and white photos the XeL presets are an amazing set of presets for very little cost. If you are someone that shoots lots of event work and needs a streamlined and fast workflow these are also for you.

Thanks to X-Equals for creating an awesome set of develop and adjustment brush presets they really are amazing. Also thanks to Dawn for being a fantastic model and to FJ Westcott for providing the lighting for the shoot.

Jeff Tamagini – Tamagini Design

All XeL Presets are 100% Lightroom 4 Compatible!

We’re so amped to bring you another innovative addition to the XeL Family!

Sample image from XeL: Black and White Cold Storage Films

XeL:Black and White is the culmination of a year’s worth or research, analysis, development and testing – representing a major milestone release in support of the innovative X-Equals XeL platform.

XeL:Black and White breaks free from the traditional approach to Lightroom presets – utilizing a modular approach that allows users to quickly and efficiently create stunning black and white images in a completely non-destructive RAW-based workflow.

“We noticed a overwhelming interest in black and white processing from the photographic community, and considering the popularity of some Photoshop plug-ins that created black and white images and emulated black and white film, we felt that there should be another option.”

… says Brandon Oelling, XeL Product Manager at X-Equals. “We started to push Lightroom’s capabilities – working to simulate the traditional black and white darkroom experience and approach using only Lightroom.”

“XeL was envisioned to shift the preset paradigm from disparate one click effects, to a set of well defined – targeted presets that can be combined strategically to make specific adjustments.”

… says Michael Gray, XeL Technical Director. “These tools, used in unison, allow you to quickly prototype your black and white image, focusing on the effect you desire rather than continually moving sliders around.”

Sample image from XeL: Black and White Solarize

The soul of the XeL platform, and XeL:Black and White, comes from Michael’s passion for traditional film and dark room techniques. By melding this passion with the capabilities of Lightroom, he created this collection of presets that allows users to quickly create stunning black and white images directly from within Lightroom.

What’s included in the download?

XeL: Black and White is a massive collection of over 300 presets, consisting of:

• Antiquated process emulations
• Over 50 classic film emulations
• A selection of digital color filters, emulating the use of filters in film photography.
• A full range of presets simulating variable contrast paper effects
• A selection of toning presets, to add that special touch.
• Solarization, custom tone curves, basic B&W color mixes, and ND filters
• Special graphic arts effects, including 2-Tone and Reduced Tone images.

Unlike other black and white toolkits, XeL:Black and White is not a stand alone application or a plug-in, but rather a collection of finely tuned presets that support a completely nondestructive workflow, while retaining all the benefits and flexibility of working in RAW.

Sample image from XeL: Black and White Curve Kick

Grab the User Guide and take a peek.

Here’s a full copy of the XeL:Black and White User Guide, which includes installation details,  some sample workflows, samples of the Presets included in the download, and tips on their usage!

Want to dig deep?

Here you go, all the details about each Preset family, their unique identifiers, and sample images!

XeL is the next logical extension of the X-Equals Preset Platform. We wanted to change the way people think about presets. It seems too many presets available are simple one-click fixes, adjusting a lot of the image and generally not playing well with other presets. Sometimes you want a specific effect, not a complete image style. Other times you want to combine aspects of multiple presets to create your vision. XeL makes this easy.

We at X-Equals feel presets should be modular tools that take the monotony out of making specific adjustments. So we have developed XeL to provide specific image adjustments and effects that you can combine to create the exact effect you desire.

XeL is modular, each group of presets in XeL focus on adjusting a specific set of adjustments in an effort to recreate specific photographic effects. Every XeL preset is designed to be used in unison with other XeL presets, used much like building blocks to create the desired effect.

This takes preset use from a simple stylistic choice to a collection of actual tools. By making modular presets, each application alters a specific part of the image, without altering any existing adjustments. Often you will find presets will adjust just about every slider in Lightroom. We strive for each preset to only change a few items.

So let us break down what XeL: Black and White has to offer, what each preset family adjusts and how to use these tools to bend your images to your will.

First, every preset in the XeL platform has a preset ID. This is a 6-7 character long alphanumeric ID, along the lines of XBA03C. The first 3 character denote the family in which the preset belongs. XBA means this preset belongs in the Antiquated Processes family. The following 2-3 numeric digits denoted the actual preset. 03 means this is the Ambrotype preset. If an ID ends in a letter, it denotes it is a single component of a preset. C in this id means it is the Toning preset for the Ambrotype emulation.

These ID’s are primarily used to facilitate in preset organization. When a preset is an emulation, it will usually have multiple components, and the letters at the end keep them in the desired order. You can also use the ID’s to help you note what presets were used, without writing down the full preset name.

Also, as we add presets to XeL, either as free downloads from the blog or digests or released in new collections, these ID’s will help you properly place the preset into the proper families.

Now let’s look at each group of presets in XeL. Below we list the preset family folder and family ID abbreviation, followed by details.

XeL-BW Antiquated Processes [XBA]

This family of presets attempts to emulate 4 different archaic photographic processes. The emulations consists of 4 unique presets; one for the color mix, one for image tone, one for image toning and one for lens effect.

The Antiquated Processes family currently consists of a Tintype, a Daguerreotype, a Cyanotype and Ambrotype emulation. The preset components break down as such:

-A- Mix: This preset sets the B&W Mixer settings in the Develop Module, allowing for the proper emulation of color response in the black and white conversion.

-B- Tone: This preset sets the Clarity and Tone Curve needed to produce the proper image tone and density required for the emulation.

-C- Toning: This preset sets the Split Tone settings required to produce the proper toning or color cast over the black and white image to facilitate emulation.

-D- Lens: This preset completes the emulation of the archaic style. It first applies Grain and Post-Crop Vignette settings to add some depth to the image and follows up by applying a dual Graduated Filters, creating an adjustment layer over the image allowing alteration of Local Settings, completing the overall appearance of the emulation.

Using all 4 presets from a single emulation will create a complete emulation on your image.

What’s included in the download?

XeL-BW Cold Storage Films [XFB]

This family of presets features 54 presets emulating different black and white film stocks. These are all fresh emulations create using my current emulation process and feature grain presets. There is some variation from the original Cold Storage releases, and this is due to the change in my emulation process and the fact these are emulated from rolls I have recently shot.

Each of the 54 emulations consist of 3 presets; Mix, Tone and Grain. The Kodak HIE pseudo-infrared preset includes a 4^th preset that uses local adjustments to produce a glowing halation effect. The component presets break down as such:

-A- Mix: This preset sets the B&W Mixer settings in the Develop Module, allowing for the proper emulation of color response of the original film.

-B- Tone: This preset sets the Clarity and Tone Curve needed to produce the proper image tone and density required for the emulation.

-C- Grain: This preset adjusts the Grain settings to simulate the grain structure of the original film stock. The accuracy here is not as precise as I would like, as the tools in Lightroom are rather limited, but it closely approximates the grain results I received in my test rolls.

-D- Halation: This is a special preset, just for the Kodak HIE emulation. It utilizes a dual Gradient Filter to apply a Local Adjustment across the entire image, attempting to simulate the glowing halation effect of the original film stock.

The use of all the components from a single emulation will produce a close approximation to the appearance of my test roll. However, feel free to mix and match between emulations to create your own look, by swapping a B for another B and so on.

XeL-BW Color Filters [XBL]

The Color Filter family of presets uses a hack to simulate the use of a Colored Filter in traditional B&W film photography. By adjusting White Balance to generate a specific color cast to the overall image, we can duplicate the function of a colored filter fairly reasonably.

The Color Filter family consists of 13 presets, which will provide a given color cast to an image. To fine tune the effect, simply adjust the two White Balance sliders, but be warned, you will quickly change the shade.

XeL-BW Color Mixes [XBM]

This family of presets allows you to generate a generic color mix, based on basic film concepts or upon some of our more popular past presets, Straight Muggin and Stark Raging Black.

7 presets are in this family, 5 of which emulate generic film styles and 2 duplicate the color response from prior presets.

Each of these presets adjusts only the B&W Mixer, to generate the desire color response.

XeL-BW Contrast Papers [XBP]

This family of presets is designed to simulate the effect of printing out on differing grades of traditional printing papers. The effect is created by hacking Lightrooom’s Graduated Filter tool, over laying two grad filters across the entire image, one from the top and one from the bottom (or left and right in portrait orientation).

By laying the two filters, we create a virtual Adjustment Layer, which provides a consistent amount of alteration to the image. Where one filter is weakening, the other is growing stronger, averaging out to a constant level of adjustment. This technology is also utilized in the Archaic Process Lens presets and The HIE Halation preset.

Once the layer is created, these presets proceed to alter Local Clarity, Local Contrast and Local Sharpness to simulate the effect of printing in the darkroom. There are 14 levels of effect from very soft, low contrast to very sharp high contrast.

While these presets are based off of actual paper prints I have made, I did not attempt to properly emulate the effect of different paper stocks. That is a project of greater scope, and I am still working on a process to simulate each paper’s tendencies. These presets are essentially an average of about 30 different prints I made. I need to develop a more refined process to call them proper paper emulations.

XeL-BW Curve Kick [XBC]

The Curve Kick family of presets consists of 30 unique, custom Tone Curves. Nothing else is modified besides the Tone Curve.

The family offers a wide selection of High and Low Contrast curves, as well as some defined S-Curves, Darkening and Brightening curves and a few designed to pop Shadows or Highlights.

XeL-BW Grad ND Filters [XBN]

This family of presets offers you a quick option for dropping in a Neutral Density Graduated Filter on your image. The preset will lower Local Exposure in the area covered by the filter, darkening that section of the image whilst leaving the lower portion of the frame alone.

There are 24 presets in this family, 12 for Portrait images and 12 for Landscape images. There are 3 coverage levels of application, 2/3 frames, 1/2 frame and 1/3 frame coverage. Each level of coverage offers 4 presets adjusting the Local Exposure; -0.5, -1, -1.5, and -2.

While adding a Graduated Filter to an image is not difficult, these presets allow you to add it with one click whilst prototyping you image, leaving you only needing to further tweak placement and Local Exposure.

XeL-BW Solarize [XBS]

Solarization is the partial reversal of image tone created from white light of a partly developed sheet of film or paper. The effect causes highlights to go dark and shadows to go bright, often with thick black or white lines between solid areas.

This family of presets alters the Tone Curve drastically, simulating this effect. No other adjustments are made. This process is done for graphic effect, and can be heightened by adding subtle colors with the Local Adjustment Brush, simulating the Sabbatier Chromoskedasic effect, where the image is reversed and color is artificially introduced to the image.

There are a total of 11 Solorize curve presets in this family.

What’s included in the download?

XeL-BW Special Effects [XBX]

The Special Effects family of presets is more varied in its application of adjustments. Currently, the Special effects family contains Detail Enhancement presets, 2 Color High Contrast presets, Tonal Cutoff Presets and Negative presets. There is a total of 14 special effect presets in this family.

The Detail Enhancement presets alter Clarity, Contrast, Fill, Recovery and Blacks in unison to enhance detail. There are 4 presets that vary the level of enhancement. These presets directly affect the Basic Tone adjustments and create an effect much like an HDR image or work by Dave Hill.

The 2 Color High Contrast presets utilize a hard cutoff Tone Curve, in concert with Clarity, Contrast, Fill, Recovery and Blacks to create a stark black and white image, using only black and white in varying levels of detail. This is hard core graphic art stuff here.

The Tonal Cutoff presets are much like the 2 Color High Contrast presets, but allow for a moderate level of tonality between black and white. Again, the preset uses a highly modified Tone Curve, in concert with Clarity, Contrast, Fill, Recovery and Blacks to create images with an almost line art feel, with varying levels of tonality.

Finally, the Negative presets invert the Tone Curve, creating a negative image within Lightroom. One is a flat negative curve; the other is an S-Curve. The negative image can be used for graphic art needs or if you wish to print negative on transparency to print in a traditional darkroom. But keep in mind, the Lightroom adjustment sliders respond in the opposite manner you are used to when working with a negative tone curve.

XeL-BW Toning [XBT]

This family of presets presents 17 options for toning of your black and white images. By using the Split Toning adjustment in Lightroom to simulate the appearance of classic darkroom print toning.

This XeL family offers differing renditions of the following classical toning methods: Sepia, Selenium, Copper, Palladium, Cyan, Polysulphide and Uranium.

Using XeL: Black and White

Now that we covered XeL’s current offerings, let’s have a quick detail on getting results quickly. I am going to share with you my XeL workflow, but you may find a differing process that works best for your needs.

Phase 1: Black and White Mix

My first step in perfecting a Black and White image in Lightroom is to find the color mix that best suits my needs. I would start with the Cold Storage Films applying the Mix presets until I find one that fits my image. You can also use the Color Mix or Archaic Process Mix presets.

Once I find what I like I move on.

Phase 2: Tone and Grain

The next step is tone and grain. If I chose a Cold Storage Film, I will go ahead and apply the Tone and Grain presets at this time. If I like the mix, but not the toning, I will try other film tones or try the Curve Kick tone curves. With the Grain presets, I may try a few others as well, especially if I desire coarse grain.

Phase 3: Toning and Detail

Now that I have the basis for my image ready, I will start considering its further enhancement. First, I will apply a color tone, if I need one, by selecting one from the Toning family.

Now, I will apply any special effects I desire from the Special Effects family. Often this will be a simple Detail Enhance, but I often find myself using a Tonal Cutoff as well.

Phase 4: Paper

Finally, to complete my image, I will try a few presets from the Contrast Papers to find my final look.

If I am looking for an archaic look, I will simply apply only the 4 presets from a given Archaic Process preset. You can mix them up, or switch out their Mix or Tone with that of another process or film stock as well. Throw in a Solarize curve or a 2 Color High Contrast preset for that unique look.

Once you get the look about where you want it, then its time to do your final tweaks. Adjust the tone curve, basic tone adjustments sharpen and so forth.

As you play around with the XeL presets, you will start to get a feel for what you can do with these tools and how you can utilize them to expedite your workflow. When you find a combination that really works for you, you may want to consider saving that combination as a new preset to further speed your editing.

We really hope these tools will unlock your creativity and get you away from simply presets and basic black and white conversions. We believe that XeL will change the way you think about presets and possibly the functionality of Lightroom itself.

Thank You!

All of us at X-Equals welcome your feedback and comments as we continue to focus on delivering no-nonsense advice and innovative products to keep you inspired!

My personal thanks goes out to you for taking the journey with us.

|Brandon Oelling – Editor in Chief
X-Equals – image, workflow, technology, business

This fine shopping experience is brought to you by E-Junkie. They rock, and are the only group we trust to deliver you quality X-Equals goods!

It has been a while since we have looked in depth at the process of installing Lightroom presets. Recent operating system upgrades (especially OS X Lion) have caused preset locations to change and/or become hidden from normal view.

When we wrote up the documentation for of our currently available presets, we were primarily using Windows XP and Vista and OSX Leopard and Snow Leopard. We have also seen the upgrade from Lightroom 2 to Lightroom 3.

So let’s take a few minutes to refresh everyone on the process and to introduce new users to the installation of presets.

In general, there are 2 primary methods by which we install presets:

1. internally within Lightroom and
2. direct copies directly in the host operating system

When installing just a few presets, it is often easiest to do so from within Lightroom, but when installing large amounts of presets, such as any of our preset collections; it is quicker and easier to do so via the operating system.

So let us take a quick look at both methodologies.

In general, there are 2 primary methods by which we install presets

Installation within Lightroom

Installing just a few presets is insanely easy to do from within Lightroom. Right from within the Develop Module, you can install a few Develop Presets quick and easy.

Before we get into the process, we want to consolidate any presets we wish to import into one folder on our system. So, make a temporary folder on you desktop and get all the presets you want to install in there.

Now, make sure you are in the Develop Module. Head over to the Presets panel.

Open the folder you wish to install the presets to, or create a new preset folder by right/control-clicking in the preset panel and selecting New Folder.

Once you are at the folder you desire installation to occur within, right/control-click and select Import…

This will now bring up an installation dialog.  Navigate the dialog to the folder on your desktop containing the presets you wish to install. Select the preset or presets you wish to import, control-click to select more than one preset at a time. Click OK, and you are done.

As I mentioned earlier, this is the best way to install a few presets at a time. So, if you pick up a few presets from our digest or anywhere else on the web, this is probably the method you would want to use. It is quick and does not require you to restart Lightroom.

However, if you are installing a large collection, collections split up into folders or you are installing any other type of preset; it is probably pest to install via the operating system.

Installation via the Operating System

When it is not feasible to install presets inside of Lightroom, installing via the OS is your best option. Large amounts of presets, collections with defined folders, local adjustment presets and so forth are best installed this way.

Previously, we simply gave you the different paths by which you would navigate to install the presets. With changes to the OS and many people keeping presets with catalogs, this method is not quite as simple as once before.

However, Lightroom can point you to the folder you need to install your presets to for you. We will use the Preferences dialog to locate our presets folder.

Lightroom’s Preferences dialog can be found in the Edit menu (Windows) or Lightroom menus (Mac) of the menu bar. Simply look towards the bottom of the drop down and choose Preferences… Alternately, you can also use the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl/Cmd + ,) to launch the Preferences dialog.

Once the dialog opens, click on the Presets tab. Look toward the middle portion of the dialog in the Location section. First, notice if the Store presets with catalog option is enabled. If it is, you will need to install the presets into each catalog you wish to use. If not, presets will be installed into the Lightroom settings folders and will be available in any catalog.

Now, click the Show Lightroom Presets Folder… button. This will open up a Mac Finder or Windows Explorer window, navigated to the destination folder for Lightroom settings.

Open the Lightroom folder.

Once this window has opened, you will need to navigate to the appropriate folder within it. If you are installing Develop Presets, select the Develop Presets folder. If they are Local Adjustment Presets navigate to the Local Adjustment Presets folder. Adjust the folder based upon the type of presets that you are installing.

If you are installing a mass of random presets, you may want to create a new folder within the Develop Presets folder, such as Downloaded Presets. Open your new folder to prepare to copy. If you are installing any of our preset collections, do not bother with creating a new folder, as we will just copy over the folders from the download archive.

Once the final destination folder is open, go back to the folder where you have your presets unzipped to. Click on one of the presets you are going to copy and use the keyboard shortcut CTRL/CMD+A to select all files. Now simply drag and drop to the destination folder.

If you are installing X-Equals collections, read the X-Equals Installations section below for specific details.

Once all files have been copied, you can close your Explorer/Finder windows. You will now need to exit Lightroom and restart to complete installation. Once back in, check the Presets tab to make sure presets installed correctly and to desired locations. You can then move individual presets from folder to folder as desired.

Large amounts of presets are best installed via the OS method.

X-Equals Installations

Now, let’s quickly cover the details needed to install our different preset collections. If you have purchased the Big Box, containing all of our collections, you will want to follow the instructions for each individual collection.

XeL: Black and White:

1. Extract archive to a new folder on your system. That folder will contain the individual preset family folders.
2. Using the Installation via Operating System method, navigate to the Develop Presets folder.
3. Copy all of the sub-folders from the XeL: Black and White folder to the Develop Presets folder, keeping all presets in their proper folders. Don not simply copy over the root folder.
4. Start Lightroom and the new folders will be visible in the Presets tab.

We highly recommend keeping the XeL presets in their folders. This will sort them properly by family and effect, and we will be adding to these folders as time goes on with booster packs and free presets.

XeL: Local Adjustments:

1. Extract archive to a new folder on your system. That folder will contain the individual preset family folders.
2. Using the Installation via Operating System method, navigate to the Local Adjustment Presets folder.
3. Copy all of the presets from the XeL: Local Adjustments folder to the Local Adjustments Presets folder.
4. Start Lightroom and the new folders will be visible in the Local Adjustments tab in the Effect drop down menu.

Creative Production Presets Vol 1:

1. Extract archive to a new folder on your system. That folder will contain the individual preset family folders.
2. Using the Installation via Operating System method, navigate to the Develop Presets folder.
3. Copy all of the sub-folders from the Creative Production Presets Vol 1 folder to the Develop Presets folder, keeping all presets in their proper folders.
4. Start Lightroom and the new folders will be visible in the Presets tab.

We highly recommend keeping the CPP presets in their folders. This will sort them properly by general effect.

Cold Storage Vols 1 & 2:

Extract archive to a new folder on your system. That folder will contain the individual emulation folders. Each folder contains the 3 presets that the emulations offer.

Due to user preferences as I was developing the emulations, I packaged each set into its individual folder. This has become an issue for many users who want all the presets and not a selection of emulations.

The best option is to condense the presets after extracting the archive. To do this, use the OS search feature on the preset folder searching for *.lrtemplate.

This will cause the OS to find all the presets in the subfolders and show them in the search dialog. Use CTRL/CMD+A to select all once the search is complete. Cut the presets from the search dialog and then paste them into a new folder. Name the folder appropriately and copy to the destination folder as you normally would.

Final Thoughts

As Lightroom progresses, I am sure that these instructions will change again. But for now this will get you up and running. Hopefully, some of this runabout in installing and using presets will be alleviated in the future, especially if Adobe sees fit to allow nested preset folders within Lightroom. Even allowing one more tier of folders would greatly improve organization of presets.

We are aware of an issue with the latest release of OSX (Lion) that has made the user libraries hidden by default. Hopefully these instructions allow you to bypass this issue, but if not, you will need to look for a method to make your libraries visible in Finder again.

If you are having any issues or find any other solutions, feel free to let us know in the comments section or drop us a line via the contact page.

Michael W. Gray – X-Equals – image, workflow, technology, business

Making Emulation Presets

When we at X-equals release Lightroom presets, be it for sale or free, we strive to provide the highest quality presets with the greatest level of functionality possible. To this extent, I have created a step by step process to emulate the look of any given camera and film combination, allowing for the simulation of the look in an accurate manner. We take our presets very seriously and put in a lot of effort and testing to ensure quality emulations. Today I am going to share a basic development process for creating an emulation preset.

Originally I was going to emulate a 35mm Holga, however, my Holga has seen better days and the shutter was sticking. Instead, I broke out my old Polaroid Spirit 600 along with a pack of expired Polaroid 600 instant film (expired 2/2006) I fished out of the freezer. People like the look of Polaroid, right? So, let’s get this process started.

Phase I: Calibration

The first step of emulation, for Lightroom or any other purpose, is to have a completely color calibrated workflow. If your colors are not calibrated, from camera to scanner to monitor, there is absolutely no hope of an accurate emulation. A fresh calibration before any emulation is an absolute must; otherwise there is a chance of color drift skewing your results. Once the monitor is calibrated, move onto the scanner.

The next step is calibrating the scanner. As the scanner is the only way to get the film samples into Lightroom, it is imperative that it is accurately calibrated as well. If not, you are not getting an accurate rendition of the film, and therefore cannot accurately emulate from your sample shots.

I utilize SilverFast 6 AI-Studio IT-8 for my emulation scanning. These IT-8 targets automatically calibrate the color response generated from the scanner in SilverFast to ensure accurate reproduction. As the Polaroid film produces an actual print, I will calibrate my scanner for photo prints, using the print IT-8 target. For more information on calibrating your scanner, check out SilverFast’s guide to scanner calibration, which will get you started.

The final step for preparing to emulate is to calibrate your digital camera in Lightroom using Camera Profiles. This is vitally important, as you want to start with the most accurate representation your camera can generate, and ACR Camera Profiles is the best tool to do so. This is a rather involved process, so check out our piece covering the basics of Camera Profiles.

Once you have calibrated all aspects of your color management system, we are ready to go out in the field and get some sample shots.

Phase II: Sample Collection

The second phase of emulation is collection of sample images. This requires the use of a variety of subject targets and shooting a few scenes. As I am utilizing a Polaroid, I am limited to 10 sample shots, so every shot counts. The more sample images you have to work from, obviously the better your results will be.

I start by shooting an X-Rite Color Checker, with both the sample camera and my digital camera. Set the color checker into nice, balanced light, and utilize a tripod or camera rest if possible. Shoot one shot of the color checker with the Polaroid, and shoot a second shot with the digital camera.

Shoot all DSLR shots in RAW, and set a custom color balance off a gray card, to ensure color temperature is as close as possible.

Each of the following targets is shot, with both the sample camera and DSLR. A few subject shots are taken for fine tuning. The target or subject name and reason for use is listed in the list below.

• X-Rite Color Checker: Used to generate the color mix in the Lightroom HSL to emulate color response.
• IT-8 Print Target: Used to ensure and tweak color mix generated with the color checker.
• Graph Paper Target: Used to analyze and emulate the lens distortion of the sample camera.
• Portrait Shot: An image of a human subject used to check for skin tone consistency.
• Landscape Shot: To ensure that color reproduction is reasonably accurate.
• Still Life Shot: Again to ensure color reproduction accuracy.

Additional shots may be taken, as the more comparisons available, the easier it is to fine tune the emulation. Remember to shoot the shots as identically as possible with the two different cameras. Attempt to frame the shots as closely as possible. Since I am shooting a Polaroid for my samples, I am going to attempt to compose for a squarish crop, other wise I would fill the frame if emulating 35mm.

With that we can move back to the computer.

Phase III: Scanning and Uploading

So, once all your sample shots are developed, which was rather fast for me as I was working with Polaroid media, we are ready to scan. Earlier I calibrated my scanner for photo scanning from prints, which would be accurate for Polaroids.

Now, things get a bit tricky. I want to scan in my samples at the highest quality possible, retaining as much color and image detail as possible. The first issue is color depth, which needs to be set at 48-bit (or 16-bit/channel in Photoshop parlance). This setting ensures as much color data as possible will be saved, usually much more than a scanner can produce. For a bit more information on bit depth, check out this article.

The next important setting is resolution. In SilverFast this is accomplished by using the DPI slider. Other scanning apps will let you set your specific resolution. I want to get as much detail as possible from my scan, so I am setting my print scanning DPI to 1200.

Apply no sharpening inside the scanning application, as we want the data as untouched as possible. If the is a need to sharpen for fine detail, do so later. Sharpening can produce undesired changes to the image, so leave that out. If you are new to scanning, here is a primer to get you started.

After the scan is complete, double check the results compared to the original. It should be close, but it will have a variance to the eye due to direct lighting in the scanner as compared to ambient lighting. If something seems drastically amiss, attempt to rescan, possibly adjusting the preview scan before performing the new scan. But the idea is accuracy, not aesthetics.

If I was scanning film, I would have approached this with slightly different settings. I would have scanned using the 48-bit HDR feature in SilverFast and scanned in at a 3200 DPI for 35mm or smaller film or 1600 DPI for medium format. The resultant scans would have been rendered using SilverFast HDR before saving the final TIFF files. Questions regarding DPI and PPI, check here.

The export of the scans is vitally important as well. Images should be saved as 48-bit TIFF files. This ensures every pixel generated is manipulated as little as possible. No down-sampling of color and no compression applied. This results in huge images, but will ensure accuracy.

Now, fire up Lightroom and import the resulting TIFF files into the Library. Then upload the RAW files from the DSLR as well. Add all the images, scans and RAW, into a new Collection in Lightroom. With this, we are finally ready to start the emulation process.

Phase IV: Emulation

Now that all the images are uploaded we are ready to start the emulation process. This can be a bit tedious to do, but is very rewarding once everything starts coming together.

First, select the Color Checker sample from the scan. Before we go any further, crank up the Color Noise Reduction slider in Lightroom, eliminating color variances in the scanned image. Then set the White Balance in Lightroom to the third patch from the right, on the bottom row of the Color Checker, just under Yellow. After the White Balance is set, turn the Color Noise Reduction back down to zero, restoring the natural colors to the image.

Then, Copy the White Balance setting from the color Checker Scan to the IT-8 scan as well. The reasoning for doing this is to remove any color cast from the scan, allowing us to emulate the “true” colors.

Now, start comparing back and forth, between the scan and the RAW file (which should have a custom White Balance applied, eliminating the need for setting its White Balance.) Start with the Primary colors and adjust the RAW file’s Hue, Saturation and Luminance for each color in the HSL panel in the Develop Module. As we get the Primary colors accurate, move onto the Secondary colors, adjusting them the same way.

As we slowly get all the colors to sync up, move on to the Tertiary colors, until all the color patches of the checker reasonably close. The colors may be too dark or light, fix this by adjusting the Tone Curve until we get close, then re-address the HSL. Jump between HSL and Tone Curve adjustments many times in this process. Once satisfied with the color mix (and often you have to make do with close), we are ready to check the overall color response.

If you are not familiar with the HSL tools in Lightroom, check out this tutorial.

To check the rendition of color response, create a new preset from the color checker image, adjusting the Treatment (Color) and Tone Curve. Apply this preset to the IT-8 RAW sample and compare it to the scanned IT-8. It should be close, if it is not, make some minor HSL and Tone Curve adjustments trying to bring the full spectrum representation of the IT-8 chart as close as possible on the original scan and RAW adjustments.

Once the color is close, update the preset with the new adjustments. At this the Color Mix is complete. Now revert both the Color Checker and IT-8 scans to their Import status, undoing the White Balance adjustment. From here look at the White and Gray patches of the Color Checker and start working the Split Tone sliders, attempting to reproduce the color cast preset on the Polaroid scan. Once satisfied, update the preset, adding the Split Tone adjustments. Then check the effect again on the IT-8 chart, if satisfied, move on.

The next step is to address the overall tone of the scan. So, apply the preset to Portrait, Landscape and Still Life shots. Check the tone and clarity of the original, and set the Clarity on the RAW file and lightly adjust the Tone Curve until the tonal qualities of the original and RAW file start to get similar. Update the preset again adding in the Clarity and updating the Tone Curve.

With the Portrait sample open, check the skin tone and make sure it is well balanced between the scan and RAW file. If the preset is making the skin too Orange, back off the Orange Saturation until the skin looks better, the less adjustment the better. If the preset is not popping enough in the skins, up the Orange Saturation just until the image looks right. Once the skin looks right, update the Treatment (Color) in the preset.

The next step, and last when doing film emulations, is the grain analysis. To do this, jump back to the Color Checker scan. Zoom in first on the White patch, usually at a 1:1 zoom. Look at the grain density, size and shape and then hop over to the RAW color checker image and zoom in. Try to zoom the RAW file in to about the same size as the scan. This may require using a 2:1 or even 3:1 zoom depending on camera model. Once it is close, attempt duplicate the appearance of grain as closely as possible.

This is hard, as the Lightroom Grain does not look 100% like the grain in any film, but it can get a reasonable approximation. After the White patch is close, check it against the Black, then Red, Green and Blue patches. Once convinced it as close as Lightroom allows, update the preset adding in the Grain settings. Due to the nature of Polaroid film, it does not have traditional grain or dye clouds, but still a discernable grain pattern. Lightroom does not emulate this well.

At this point the “film” emulation is complete.

Our film presets have a few more steps not easily reproduced. The sample of the Color Checker and IT-8 are taken to the Physics lab at a university. From here, a technician friend runs the frames through a few measurement devices to get averaged RGB and LAB values for each color patch. Negative films also get the orange mask measured, along with both negative and positive values for all the colors.

From here, the technician creates a scan, applies the calculated color values through a Photoshop script adjusting the color curves to generate a “true” reproduction of the actual colors present in the frame, adjusting for orange mask with negative film. Grain is measured from a 2mm x 2mm patch of the frame and enhanced. A count, analysis and measurement of grain is done and an enhanced grain image is produced.

I am provided with all the raw data and corrected scans to carry out my comparative emulations. This step saves a lot of accuracy concerns, then relying upon my skills to translate the scan and data into usable Lightroom adjustments. This is a bit more through than simple comparative emulation. That said; textbook accuracy never prevents us from artistic corrections to ensure ease and quality of use.

Now try to simulate the effect of the plastic lens of the camera. This process uses the graph paper target, so open the scan of that target. Zoom in around the edges, looking for any distortion in the lines of the graph. The focal length of the Polaroid seems to create a slight pincushion effect at the edges. Not normally evident, but there none the less. Then hop over to the RAW file and attempt to adjust the Lens Correction, primarily the Transform, sliders to approximate the distortion. Then hop back to the scan, zoom in and attempt to refine the adjustment to the RAW file. Once satisfied, update the preset including Lens Correction, Transform adjustments.

The softness of the lens should be evident in the preset already, but if the image does look softer in the fine lines of the graph, drop the clarity until it looks correct. Negative Clarity starts to induce softness to the image and can be useful in cases like this. However, there was no need to refine Clarity for this lens.

The final step of this emulation is to add a light leak. Although none of the sample shots included a light leak, it can be common in Polaroid film, so we want to add in the feature. Sometimes it is the camera to blame, other times the film gets the edge exposed to light in packaging, other times it’s the result of an edge cut being included in a film pack. Either which way, it has been frequently seen in Polaroid images, and worth of inclusion.

To do this, add a Graduated Filter to the left side of the frame. After the graduated filter is added, crank up the Local Exposure to blow out the image, and then throw in a Red Color adjustment to add a slight color cast to the light leak. Also, drop the Local Clarity to really soften any subject matter in the over-exposed area. Once again, update the preset, adding in the Graduated Filter.

Remember, the filter will be added to the position of the RAW frame the same way every time. The end user can relocate or shift this filter as desired. However it will always default to the same side of the frame, adjusting to the top or bottom when shot in portrait orientation. Multiple light leaks can be created in a preset, but I chose to do one as it is a common abnormality.

With that, our emulation is complete. Now test the new preset on other images in the catalog, ensuring we get consistent results. The preset will not play well with severely over or under exposed images, but when the exposure is close; it should look nice, depending on lighting. Any given emulation is not representative of any film stock or camera as a whole, but is specific to the pack or roll shot for testing and the camera used.

The post on Seven by Five further covered packaging of the preset, but most of you are familiar with our distribution configuration, and it would just be eating up your inbox. If curious, hop over to the original and get that final bit.

Free Preset Goodness

After all that, you know we just gotta share that preset. As always, the preset is a pack with both the full effect and all the components available in a single download.

Give it a spin and see how you like this release! Don’t forget, crop to a Polaroid frame… 3 x 3.125 as the Custom setting for cropping.

Michael W. Gray – LifeInDigitalFilm