FLX Film Convert - consistent color negative conversions

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p.1 #1FLX Film Convert - consistent color negative conversions

Hi all,

as a side project to my film simulation app (https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1960442/), I have built a companion app for Mac that uses the negative-to-print pipeline for camera-scanned color negative film.

You can find it here (.dmg file to download under "releases"): https://github.com/felixjablonka/flx-film-convert

The main feature compared to other converters is that the app knows the color response of the film from its spec sheets and thus it does not have to guess the white balance, color response, black / white points etc from what's in the frame. As far as I know all the other ones (NLP, SmartConvert, NegPy) still do this guessing game and it can lead to inconsistent results if e.g. there is a dominant color in the frame.

A small caveat to this: this app is still a bit experimental and many film profiles work well (e.g. Portra 400, Portra 800 and Gold 200), but esp. Ultramax still needs work as I got some unexpected results. I am releasing the app now, because I'm already quite happy with the results I'm getting, but colors will likely improve further with a later release.

Beyond the core (printing the negative to virtual paper), the app allows tweaking the print exposure, contrast, color balance, sharpness, editing EXIF/metadata, exporting as Tiff or JPG.

The app is and will remain free, open-source and for now only available for Mac OS 26+. I will likely port it to Windows at some point, but not in the near future as the main work will go into improving the Mac app first.

I hope some of you will like it. For me personally, it has cut down the time I spend converting negatives a lot, and I don't get frustrated anymore with inconsistent conversions as soon as there's a dominant color in the frame.

Cheers
Felix

Nov 07, 2026 at 07:33 AM

fjablo

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p.1 #2FLX Film Convert - consistent color negative conversions

Here are some recent Portra 400 shots, scanned with the Nikon Zf + 60mm f2.8G + Easy35, then converted with the app.

Isarauen x Portra 400 by Felix, auf Flickr

Nov 07, 2026 at 07:35 AM

bjhurley

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p.1 #3FLX Film Convert - consistent color negative conversions

This looks great! If I ever switch to camera scanning I'll give this a try; the photos look excellent. I guess the upside of waiting to switch to camera scanning is that the number of available options for hardware and software just keeps increasing and getting better.

Nov 07, 2026 at 10:57 AM

geekcop

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p.1 #4FLX Film Convert - consistent color negative conversions

Well, that was a lot of fun. Here is a quick convert on a Kentmere Pan 400 image. Since Kpan is not listed as a film choice I used HP5. Turned out great. I like the app and will try using it on the next set of scans I do with my setup. Keep up the great work. Both your apps have a permanent spot in my dock and I look forward to using them.

Nov 07, 2026 at 12:31 PM

Desmolicious

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p.1 #5FLX Film Convert - consistent color negative conversions

Nov 07, 2026 at 12:47 PM

corposant

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p.1 #6FLX Film Convert - consistent color negative conversions

Will these work with flatbed skins?

Nov 08, 2026 at 10:18 AM

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