Automatic balance
In the app, the beside the Automatic balance block says:
Classic: simple balancing. Mids: simple balancing + adjustment of the middle points (greys). Highs: locks the black points and adapts the balance through the highlights. Whites: the same as Highs, gripping tighter at the very top. Body: balances the middle of the image, letting the ends fall where they land. AVG: averages what the other five buttons propose.
Six keys, one plate. Each reads the frame differently and places the same three channels; hovering one previews what it would write, on the histogram below and in the Source balance readouts. Until a crop or a measure window says where to read, the plate says so in white.
Automatic balance
Crop before using the automatic balance
Six keys that measure the frame and set the colour conversion in one press, each aligning the channels the same way first, then placing black and white differently.
More about Automatic balance
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Automatic balance block.
The block’s own opens Color › Automatic balance in this manual.
- Carried by a preset
- By name, not by value: a preset carries the method, and applying it re-measures the photo it lands on.
- Classic and AVG assume nothing about the scene's colour, so they are the two to fall back on when the others look wrong.
- Mids, Highs, Whites and Body each assume some part of the scene is neutral, in a different, measured way.
- Hovering a key previews it: marks appear on the per-channel histogram and the Source balance readouts show "current to proposed".
- Crop or draw a measure window first: the keys read every pixel the crop keeps, and a rebate or holder edge will pull the result.
- In Black & White mode there is a single key, Equalise, since one channel has nothing to align.
Measure window
Draws a smaller rectangle inside the crop that the balance keys and histogram measure from, instead of the whole crop. It only restricts measurement: nothing outside it is cut from the export.
More about Measure window
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Automatic balance block.
The block’s own opens Color › Automatic balance in this manual.
- Carried by a preset
- Never: it depends on this frame's content: pasting one destroys hand-made cropping.
- Press Custom measure window, drag its corners like a crop frame, then press Return or the same key again to arm it.
- The window stays put even if the crop is tightened or loosened afterwards, and travels with Copy framing and Paste framing.
- Reset measure window is greyed until a window exists, and hands the measurement back to the crop.
- Excludes a rebate or holder edge from the measurement, or gives the keys a window on the subject when the sky dominates.
- A contact sheet has its own per-frame windows under the Contact sheet switch; this window is for a single photo.
Threshold
How much of each channel's data a balance key skips at each end before placing black and white. At rest it skips a tenth of a percent; at its top, five percent, gaining contrast by clipping.
More about Threshold
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Automatic balance block.
The block’s own opens Color › Automatic balance in this manual.
- Range
- 0.00 % to 5.00 % as shown (0 to 0.05 stored)
- At rest
- 0.10 %
- Double-click returns
- 0.10 %
- Right end
- 5.00 % shown
- Carried by a preset
- Nothing to carry: it is a preference of yours (autoLevelsThreshold), not a setting of the photo, and it is not written to the sidecar.
- Counted on each channel's own total, not the whole image, so a weak channel is not judged against a strong one.
- It is a preference, not a setting of the photo: not saved to the sidecar, not carried by a preset.
- Raise it a little if dust or a bright scratch keeps stealing the black or white point.
- Lower it toward zero to keep a deliberately deep black or specular white.
- Not a contrast control: for contrast without clipping, use the Effects block's slider instead.
Contact sheet windows
On a contact sheet, chooses whether the balance keys and histogram measure each frame through its own grid window, or the whole sheet as one picture, gaps and all.
More about Contact sheet windows
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Automatic balance block. It appears only on a contact sheet that carries its frame grid.
The block’s own opens Color › Automatic balance in this manual.
- Carried by a preset
- Never: whether those windows are used is what this scan IS, not a look one applies.
- The gaps and borders print black and, counted, drag every reading toward a lighter and flatter result.
- Leave it on: there is no reason to measure a sheet through its gaps once the grid exists.
- The switch only appears on a sheet that carries its grid; an older sheet shows a warning instead.
- If a warning appears, select the same frames and make the sheet again to get the switch back.
Colour
In the app, the beside the Colour block says:
Warms or cools the print after conversion, like darkroom filters. Colour density is the same control as saturation.
The enlarger's two filters, after the conversion: Temperature warms to the right, Tint goes magenta to the right, and the third slider is saturation under its darkroom name. Red has no row because it is the reference.
Temperature and Tint
The enlarger's two filters, after the balance: Temperature warms or cools the print, Tint shifts it between green and magenta. Both tint the finished image and never touch the conversion the balance keys wrote.
More about Temperature and Tint
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Colour block.
The block’s own opens Color › Colour in this manual.
Temperature
- Range
- -100 % to +100 % as shown (-1 to 1 stored)
- At rest
- +0 %
- Double-click returns
- +0 %
- Right end
- the yellow end of the gradient
Tint
- Range
- -100 % to +100 % as shown (-1 to 1 stored)
- At rest
- +0 %
- Double-click returns
- +0 %
- Right end
- the magenta end of the gradient
- Carried by a preset
- Yes: a preset and Paste settings carry the whole "curves" row.
- Each moves one point on a channel's curve, after the balance; pressing a balance key again never undoes either adjustment.
- The gradient under each track shows its direction: Temperature blue to the left and yellow to the right, Tint green to the left and magenta to the right.
- Red has no row: a dichroic head has no cyan filter, so a third slider would only redo what these two do. They share one reset.
- Use after the balance, when the print reads cool or warm, or skin reads green or magenta, judged against a known neutral.
- Not for the base cast of the film, nor a cast the balance left on only one end of the tones: that is the conversion itself, fixed by another key or the Source balance.
Colour density
This is saturation under a darkroom's name. It raises or lowers how far every colour stands from grey, without moving brightness or a neutral grey itself.
More about Colour density
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Colour block. This control is absent in B&W mode.
The block’s own opens Color › Colour in this manual.
- Range
- -100 % to +100 % as shown (-1 to 1 stored)
- At rest
- +0 %
- Double-click returns
- +0 %
- Right end
- +100 % shown
- Absent in
- B&W
- Carried by a preset
- Yes: a preset and Paste settings carry the whole "density" row.
- Right separates colours from each other; left draws them together, and the two directions are exact inverses of each other.
- Absent in Black & White mode: a grey print has no colour density to raise.
- A conversion that reads flat in colour, though its tones are right, wants a few tens of percent.
- A film whose look is muted on purpose is better left alone, or pushed left rather than right.
- For shadows and highlights to get different saturation treatment, use the Zone saturation block in Grade instead.
Lighting
How light the photograph is, on the whole print. The five sliders are the five handles of the global levels, in the order a photograph is judged: the three inner points first, then the two ends. Every one of them lightens to the right.
Exposure
The midtone of the whole print: push right to lighten through the middle tones while black and white stay put. It rests at 0.670 on every negative, the paper's own contrast.
More about Exposure
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Lighting block.
The block’s own opens Color › Lighting in this manual.
- Range
- 0.150 to 0.850 as shown (0.15 to 0.85 stored)
- At rest
- 0.670
- Double-click returns
- 0.670
- Right end
- 0.850 shown (the stored value is at its lowest there: the slider is mirrored so that right lightens)
- Anchored at mid-travel
- 0.670 sits at the middle of the track; the two halves are linear but not equal
- Carried by a preset
- Yes: a preset and Paste settings carry the whole "levelsGlobal" row, and this slider alone is "levelsGlobal.linked.mid".
- All three channels move together, so it never fixes a colour cast; that is the balance keys or the filters.
- Not for placing black: a frame that looks dark because nothing reaches black wants the Black point slider instead.
- Double-click returns to 0.670, the paper's contrast, almost always the right place to start from.
- On the Luma tab, the same handle acts on luma alone and rests at 0.500 with no anchor.
Shadows and Highlights
Adjusts the tones just above black and just below white without moving either end: right lightens both. Together they add contrast through the middle while black and white stay exactly where they are.
More about Shadows and Highlights
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Lighting block.
The block’s own opens Color › Lighting in this manual.
Shadows
- Range
- 0.050 to 0.450 as shown (0.05 to 0.45 stored)
- At rest
- 0.250
- Double-click returns
- 0.250
- Right end
- 0.450 shown (the stored value is at its lowest there: the slider is mirrored so that right lightens)
Highlights
- Range
- 0.550 to 0.950 as shown (0.55 to 0.95 stored)
- At rest
- 0.750
- Double-click returns
- 0.750
- Right end
- 0.950 shown (the stored value is at its lowest there: the slider is mirrored so that right lightens)
- Carried by a preset
- Yes: a preset and Paste settings carry the whole "levelsGlobal" row.
- Both are held to a fifth of their own quarter either side, so the five points of the block never fold into each other.
- Shadows reaches a residual a single per-channel gamma cannot: channels whose darker quantiles still sit apart after the medians align.
- Shadows blocking up though the black point is right: a little to the right opens them. Not instead of the black point itself.
- Highlights reading harsh though the white point is correct: a little to the left. For a dull upper range with white already in place, a little to the right.
- Not for recovering a clipped white: check the White point and the density ceiling first instead.
Black and White points
Sets where black and white sit on the finished print: the two ends, with three sliders between them to shape it. Right darkens Black and lightens White.
More about Black and White points
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Lighting block.
The block’s own opens Color › Lighting in this manual.
Black point
- Range
- -0.100 to 1.100 as shown (-0.1 to 1.1 stored)
- At rest
- 0.000
- Double-click returns
- 0.000
- Right end
- 1.100 shown
White point
- Range
- -0.100 to 1.100 as shown (-0.1 to 1.1 stored)
- At rest
- 1.000
- Double-click returns
- 1.000
- Right end
- 1.100 shown (the stored value is at its lowest there: the slider is mirrored so that right lightens)
- Carried by a preset
- Yes: a preset and Paste settings carry the whole "levelsGlobal" row.
- Both tracks run a little past their range on the pushed-past end, so an over-pushed black or a clipped white can be brought back.
- White rests at 1.000 with its handle near the left of the track: pushing right lowers the stored value and lightens the print.
- A milky print though a balance key has been pressed: a little right on Black firms it up. Blacks blocking up: move left of zero to give it back.
- Lights that never reach white after a balance key: a little right on White. Clipped highlights that should keep texture: go left of 1.000.
- Not for correcting one channel only: that is a per-channel handle behind the manual door.
Effects
In the app, the beside the Effects block says:
Contrast hardens or softens the whole print. Vignette darkens the corners in stops, without shifting their colour; below zero it lightens them. Film fade is the matte of a print that has aged: blacks lift, whites come down, the mid-tones stay where the grade put them.
Three finishing effects reset as one block, each acting where its own stage sits in the chain: contrast on the curves, vignette and fade after the grade.
Contrast
An S-curve on the whole print that spreads or compresses the midtones without ever touching black or white. It cannot clip: nothing that was distinct becomes the same.
More about Contrast
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Effects block.
The block’s own opens Color › Effects in this manual.
- Range
- -100 % to +100 % as shown (-1 to 1 stored)
- At rest
- +0 %
- Double-click returns
- +0 %
- Right end
- +100 % shown
- Carried by a preset
- Yes: a preset and Paste settings carry the whole "contrast" row.
- The two directions undo one another exactly: a push right followed by the same push left returns the original print.
- Lives in Effects alongside Vignette and Fade, since all three shape the light rather than place it.
- Use after the balance and exposure, when the print is right but wants more or less punch.
- On a harsh scan, push left: it flattens the middle and gives the ends more room.
- Often replaces the curves for the common case: one slider that cannot fold or clip does what a hand-drawn S usually wants.
Vignette
Darkens the four corners of the print, in stops, without shifting their colour. Below zero it lightens them instead.
More about Vignette
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Effects block.
The block’s own opens Color › Effects in this manual.
- Range
- -2.00 stops to +2.00 stops as shown (-2 to 2 stored)
- At rest
- +0.00 stops
- Double-click returns
- +0.00 stops
- Right end
- +2.00 stops shown
- Carried by a preset
- Yes: a preset and Paste settings carry the whole "vignette" row, and this slider alone is "vignette.stops".
- The centre third is untouched; the darkening rises from there to the corners, on an ellipse that follows the frame, so the dose reads the same on the preview and on the export.
- Applied after the grade, as one factor on the three channels: the corners keep their hue. The balance keys and the histogram never see it.
- Scanner falloff is not this: that is the Flat-field block, which divides the scan by a mask before anything else.
Fade
The matte look of an aged print: blacks lift, whites come down, and the midtones in between stay exactly where the grade put them. It only runs one way, toward more fade.
More about Fade
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Effects block.
The block’s own opens Color › Effects in this manual.
- Range
- 0 % to 100 % as shown (0 to 1 stored)
- At rest
- 0 %
- Double-click returns
- 0 %
- Right end
- 100 % shown
- Carried by a preset
- Yes: a preset and Paste settings carry the whole "fade" row, and this slider alone is "fade.amount".
- At full travel a black rests one percent above zero and a white is pulled down by about a quarter of the range.
- Sits after the grade, on the finished print, and is carried by a preset as a look, not a conversion setting.
- Use for a deliberate matte, low-contrast look that keeps skin and colour intact, rather than lowering Contrast.
- Good for matching a print from an album whose blacks have gone grey and whose whites have dimmed.
- Not for opening shadows in an ordinary print: that is the Shadows slider, which keeps black black.
Curves
In the app, the beside the Curves block says:
A second set of curves, separate from Colour's own filters — drawn by hand, one point at a time.
A second set of curves, independent of the two filters, on five channels. Drag from empty space to add a point, drag a point to move it, double-tap to remove it.
A freehand curve per channel, or all three together, for tone shaping no slider reaches. Drag to add a point, drag a point to move it, double-tap to remove it.
More about Curves
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Curves block.
The block’s own opens Color › Curves in this manual.
- Carried by a preset
- Yes: a preset and Paste settings carry the whole "manualCurves" row.
- The curve is a natural cubic spline, chosen so a smooth sky never shows the grey bands a straighter spline would leave.
- Sits between Lighting and Colour: it reshapes what the levels placed, before the two colour filters tint it.
- Use when a slider is not enough, for a tone range no single Lighting point reaches.
- One channel at a time reaches a cast that lives only in the shadows or only the lights.
- Add a point rather than dragging one far: the spline rewards more points and punishes long empty spans.
Manual conversion
A door, not a setting: what it hides is the conversion itself, which the automatic balance writes for you. Open it when you want to see or correct what a key decided. Whether it is open is remembered, because it says what you know, not what this photo needs.
Source balance
The three channel gains in stops, before the inversion. In Negative mode the channel's own colour is on the left; in Positive mode the two ends swap. A hovered balance key shows what it would write here as current → proposed.
Three gains, one per channel, applied before the inversion: this is the conversion itself, removing the film's base cast. The door lets you see what a balance key wrote and correct it by hand.
More about Source balance
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Source balance block, behind the “Show manual white balance” door at the bottom of the tab, closed by default; it stays as you left it from one photo to the next.
The block’s own opens Color › Source balance in this manual.
Red ↔ Cyan
- Range
- -3.00 st to +3.00 st as shown (-3 to 3 stored)
- At rest
- +0.00 st
- Double-click returns
- +0.00 st
- Right end
- the Cyan end of the gradient
Green ↔ Magenta
- Range
- -3.00 st to +3.00 st as shown (-3 to 3 stored)
- At rest
- +0.00 st
- Double-click returns
- +0.00 st
- Right end
- the Magenta end of the gradient
Blue ↔ Yellow
- Range
- -3.00 st to +3.00 st as shown (-3 to 3 stored)
- At rest
- +0.00 st
- Double-click returns
- +0.00 st
- Right end
- the Yellow end of the gradient
- Carried by a preset
- Yes: a preset and Paste settings carry the whole "gains" row.
- Hovering a balance key shows what it would write on each row as "current to proposed", before you press it.
- Not the Colour block: those two filters tint the print after the inversion and never move these gains.
- Use when the keys keep getting a cast wrong on a film whose base is not orange.
- On a leader frame or a scene with no neutral, set the gains by eye, then place the per-channel levels.
- Not for warming or cooling a print: that is the Colour block; a gain here moves the conversion itself.
Density ceiling
In the app, the beside the Density ceiling block says:
Reveals more detail in the densest parts of the negative, at the cost of more visible noise there.
The top of the density axis. It rests on the floor of its range, and the three per-channel windows are then graduated on it; raising it reveals the densest parts of the negative at the cost of noise there.
Raises the top of the density axis the per-channel levels are graduated on, giving room to a burnt sky or a lamp piled at the top, at the cost of more visible noise there.
More about Density ceiling
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Density ceiling block, behind the “Show manual white balance” door at the bottom of the tab, closed by default; it stays as you left it from one photo to the next.
The block’s own opens Color › Density ceiling in this manual.
- Range
- 2.097 to 2.600 as shown (2.0969 to 2.6 stored)
- At rest
- 2.097
- Double-click returns
- 2.097
- Right end
- the white end of the gradient
- Carried by a preset
- Yes: a preset and Paste settings carry the whole "densityCeiling" row.
- At rest it sits on the floor of its range, where the resting white point of the per-channel levels lands exactly.
- On a negative, a higher ceiling brightens the densest parts; on a positive, it darkens them.
- Raise it when a burnt highlight reads as a flat white patch though the negative has detail, until texture shows.
- Also helps a dense, thin or underexposed scan whose blacks pile up at the ceiling.
- Otherwise leave it on its floor: every key and every rest was designed on that resting axis.
Per-channel levels
Five handles per channel on a density track, over the histogram they are placed on. The window runs from −0.35 to 3.0 in Negative mode, so a black point can sit below zero where a channel transmits past the reference.
One channel at a time: a histogram of the raw scan with five handles below it, reading in density rather than 0 to 1. This is where a balance key places black, white and the points between.
More about Per-channel levels
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Per-channel levels block, behind the “Show manual white balance” door at the bottom of the tab, closed by default; it stays as you left it from one photo to the next.
The block’s own opens Color › Per-channel levels in this manual.
- Carried by a preset
- Yes: a preset and Paste settings carry the whole "levelsPerChannel" row.
- The histogram is measured before the levels, so moving a handle never deforms the distribution it sits on.
- While a balance key is hovered, dashed marks show where it would place the handles.
- Use after a key to see exactly what it placed, in numbers, on the histogram and readouts.
- Drag the black or white handle by hand where a key's threshold left it short or long.
- Not for the whole print's exposure: three channels moved together is the Lighting block, further down the pipe.
Flat-field
In the app, the beside the Flat-field block says:
Evens out uneven lighting from the scanner, whatever you crop to.
Evens out the uneven lighting of a scanning mask, before everything else, whatever you crop to. Choose the mask first: the amount is greyed until you do.
Flat-field mask
Chooses a mask, a measurement of your scanning setup's own uneven light, so the scan can be divided by it and the corners evened out. The list is short and nothing is guessed from your scan.
More about Flat-field mask
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Flat-field block.
The block’s own opens Color › Flat-field in this manual.
- Carried by a preset
- Yes: a preset and Paste settings carry the whole "flatField" row, and this slider alone is "flatField.mask".
- Runs before everything else, before the crop and straightening, in the scan's own frame: cropping first would slide the correction across the picture.
- The balance keys and histogram read the scan before this division, so a mask never pulls a black point into a corner.
- If you scan through a Valoi Easy35 and corners come out dark on every frame, choose its mask.
- On any other setup, leave it on None: a mismatched mask makes corners worse, not better.
- Not for lens falloff from the camera at shoot time: that is the Vignette slider in Effects.
Flat-field amount
Sets how strongly the chosen flat-field mask is applied, from no correction to the mask's full unevenness. The resting light touch assumes the mask is close to your setup but not identical.
More about Flat-field amount
In the Color tab of the settings panel. Inside the Flat-field block. It is greyed at rest, and wakes when what it acts on exists.
The block’s own opens Color › Flat-field in this manual.
- Range
- 0% to 100% as shown (0 to 1 stored)
- At rest
- 20%
- Double-click returns
- 20%
- Right end
- 100% shown
- At rest
- greyed, until what it acts on exists
- Carried by a preset
- Yes: a preset and Paste settings carry the whole "flatField" row, and this slider alone is "flatField.amount".
- Greyed out, not hidden, until a mask is chosen in the field above.
- Raise it until the corners of an evenly lit frame match the centre, then stop.
- Corners that come out lighter than the centre mean too much amount: back off.
- Acts before the crop and is never seen by the balance keys or the histogram.
- Not a vignette control: with no mask chosen, it does nothing at any value.
How every slider works
How every slider in the app works
- Drag anywhere on the row: the value moves by how far your hand travelled, it does not jump to where you clicked. That is what makes a fine adjustment possible without aiming.
- Hold ⌥ while dragging and the travel is divided by five.
- Scroll sideways on the trackpad over a slider to nudge it.
- Double-click to return to the base value, which is not always the resting one: on Sharpening amount it is zero, the one gesture that switches the stage off.
- Keyboard: once a slider has the focus, the arrow keys move it by a hundredth of its travel.
- A slider whose track is anchored puts one named value at the middle of its travel; the two halves are linear but not equal.
- A bipolar slider shows no fill: its whole track is the gradient between its two ends, because it is a balance between two hues, not a quantity.