V S C O F I L M M A N UA L

G E T T I N G S TA R T E D W I T H
VSCO FILM
LIGHTROOM 4, 5 & 6
ACR FOR PS CS6 & CC
Thank you for buying VSCO Film, the best way to emulate
film in Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw. Combining
the speed and simplicity of presets with the power of
custom camera profiles, VSCO Film tunes your specific
cameras RAW files to the included film looks. Since its all
happening within Lightroom and not working as a plug-in,
VSCO Film is completely non-destructive and extremely
fast, helping you process your photos faster and better.

DOWNLOAD & INSTALLATION

Your VSCO Film & VSCO Keys products live within your
VSCO Account. To find your products, first log into your
VSCO Account at vsco.co

VSCO MANUAL

SIGN IN

VSCO MANUAL

MY PRODUCTS

FILM

VSCO MANUAL

Choose the installer for your machine Windows or Mac

and download from your products page.
Below this, you will find your license key. Copy & paste
this key into your installer, or type the key in manually.
Your key needs to include the dashes as well as all 16
alphanumeric characters.

VSCO MANUAL

Run your installer & confirm you are

installing the correct VSCO Film pack for
your Adobe product.

Select the presets that you would like

installed, per the camera brands youre
shooting. We suggest installing only the
camera brands you need. This will keep
your presets panel more organized. Should
you ever need to add a different brand at a
later time, you can always re-install.

VSCO MANUAL

Enter or paste your license key.

Remember to include the hyphens
within the key. Note: Each license
key is different for each VSCO Film
product. The license key for VSCO
Film 02 will not work for VSCO Film
01 and so on.

Once the installer is complete, you

are all set to start using VSCO Film.

VSCO MANUAL

USING VSCO FILM

When youve installed VSCO Film, youll find a new
selection of presets in your Presets panel. To use them,
just click the desired preset and the tools within LR/
ACR are all set to bend the RAW file into looking like the
selected film look. To see another look, just click another
preset and the same happens again, replacing the
previous look, so theres no need to undo each time you
change presets.

USING THE DIFFERENT PRESETS

Depending on what you chose to install, you may see
several brand specific folders of all the presets for
Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, Leica, or Olympus. Each has a
different letter in front of each preset, using the following
convention:
C - Canon
F - Fuji
L - Leica
N - Nikon
O - Olympus
SO - Sony
Use the corresponding preset pack for your camera
to ensure that the correct profile is loaded with the
preset. Using the wrong brand preset will not load the
custom camera profile and instead will leave the Adobe
Standard profile in place, which will not be the intended
look.

VSCO MANUAL

STANDARD
The Standard version of VSCO Film is comprised of the
presets that do not use custom camera profiles, but
instead are based on the Adobe Standard profile that is
available for every camera supported by LR and ACR.

FILM PRESET VERSIONS

Youll notice as you look through the presets that each
film look has several versions. The simple reason for this
is that each film cannot be narrowed down to one singular
look. Exposure, scene illumination, lab processing &
scanning, and the films condition can all greatly affect the
look of film, even from shot to shot on the same roll. So,
since we match the look of digital cameras to the look of
film, multiple versions arise.

NORMAL (NO SPECIAL SYMBOL)

Every film has a normal version that only has the name
of the film in its title, such as C - Kodak Portra 400.
These versions are the typical kind of look youll see
from that particular film, and they usually work as a great
starting point for each film as youre going through the
presets.

+, ++, +++
The plus versions represent the grittier, more aggressive
looks that each film can exhibit under various conditions.
Most often these versions take on more color toning,
fading, and grain. These looks usually correspond to
underexposure and scanning variations due to nondaylight white balance conditions at the scene.

VSCO MANUAL

-, --, --The minus presets offer a less agressive look than the
normal presets. Typically these alternates turn down
contrast, grain, and any of the boldest features of a film
look. These are perfect for those wanting a cleaner
version of the same film stock.

HC
Short for High Contrast, these versions give you a
bolder look that can work well for images that look too
flat, even with the normal presets. They achieve their
contrast differently than the contrast slider in the basic
panel does, giving you a useful look thats not otherwise
attainable.

VSCO MANUAL

10

V S C O F I L M TO O L K I T
The VSCO Film Toolkit contains presets that can be used
in conjunction with the VSCO Film presets to further
fine-tune and customize your image.
RESET ALL
Resets all settings back to default.
RESET VSCO FILM
Resets only the portions of the adjustments that VSCO
Film changes.
AUTO TONE
Sets the Exposure, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, and
Blacks automatically.
BLACKS -, - -, - - -, 0, +, ++
Sets the Blacks slider in the Basic Panel to various levels
to help you control the deep shadows in your image.
CONTRAST: -, - -, +, ++
Decreases or increases contrast
DR: HIGHLIGHTS SAVE, +, ++
Brings back lost detail to extreme highlights. Useful for
when the look of the photo is good but some highlight
detail is lost.
DR: SHADOW SAVE, +, ++
Brings back lost detail to shadows. Useful for when the
look of the photo is good but some shadow detail is lost.
DR: LOWS BOOST, +
Boosts the the darker tones in an image in a broader way
than Shadow Save does. Useful for when the dark tones
in an image overall seem too dark.

VSCO MANUAL

11

DR: HIGHS SQUASH, +

Brings down brighter tones in an image in a broader way
than Highlights Save does. Useful for when the brighter
tones in an image overall seem too extreme.
FADE: +, ++
Increases the amount of fading, using the RGB channel of
the point curve.
FADE HIGHLIGHTS
Fades just the highlights. If you already have shadow
fading or anything from Faded/Toning employed, it may
change that as well.
FADED SHADOWS: +
Fades just the shadows. If you already have shadow
fading or anything from Faded/Toning employed, it may
change that as well.
GRAIN: -, NONE, +, ++, +++
Increases the amount of grain already present in a
film preset. Doesnt change the look of the grain, only
increases the amount. On films that are already very
grainy, such as T-MAX 3200 +, Grain + and even Grain ++
might actually decrease grain.
GRAIN BIGGER, +
Increases the size of the grain already present in a
film preset. Addresses the problem of High-Resolution
photos, such as those from a 5DIII or D800, having no
apparent grain when reduced to web-size because the
grain is so small. Allows lower resolution exports of these
photos to look more like scans of 35mm film.
LENS: CA & FRINGING
Corrects Chromatic Aberration and Fringing.

VSCO MANUAL

12

SHARPEN +, ++, +++

Increases the amount of sharpening.
SHARPEN: HIGH ISO
Increases the amount of sharpening but tailored to High
ISO images so that the inherent image noise isnt also
increased.
VIGNETTE: +, ++, +++, NONE
Increases the amount of vignetting, or the darkening of
the edges of a photo, in a similar way to how a real lens
does.

V S C O F I L M TO O L K I T - C O LO R
The VSCO Film Toolkit - Color contains presets that can
be used in conjunction with the VSCO Film presets to
further fine-tune and customize your image. This folder
contains specifically the tools that affect color.
BW: DARKER SKIES, +
Darkens skies in black & white photos.
COLOR BLUES: -, - -, +, ++, +++
Adjusts blues using the HSL tools to help manipulate
things like skies, or address problems with blues in
images.
COLOR ORANGE SKIN FIX: +, ++
Desaturates oranges using the HSL tool, fixing
overly-orange skin.
COLOR GREENER GREENS: +, ++
Changes the hue of greens, pushing them farther in the
direction film tends to push them.

VSCO MANUAL

13

COLOR SATURATION: -, - Desaturates all colors equally. On some films,

Color - Saturation will have no effect since it sets the
saturation to the same level it is set to on film. Use Color
Saturation - - in these cases.
TINT: GREEN SHADOWS, +, MAGENTA SHADOWS, +
Adjusts the tone of the shadows.
TINT: NONE
Removes all tint effects.
TONE: FUJI, FUJI 2, KODAK, KODAK 2, KODAK 3
Fading and toning effects as observed on film, when less
than ideal lighting or exposure was used. Works on all films.
TONE: CREAMY HIGHLIGHTS, +
Adds a warm tone to the highlights in an image. May
conflict with fading.
TONE: NONE
Removes all Tone effects.

VSCO MANUAL

14

VSCO FILM BRUSH PRESETS

The VSCO Film Toolkit - Color contains presets that can
be used in conjunction with the VSCO Film presets to
further fine-tune and customize your image. This folder
contains specifically the tools that affect color.
BURN, +, ++:
Darkens the image in the brushed area.
BURN HIGHLIGHTS:
Darkens the highlights in the brushed area. Useful for
recovering blown highlights.
COOLER, +, ++:
Applies a cooler white balance in the brushed area.
DODGE, +, ++:
Brightens the image in the brushed area.
DODGE SHADOWS:
Brightens the shadows in the brushed area. Useful for
recovering blocked up shadows.
HIGHLIGHTS SAVE, +:
Darkens the highlights in the brushed areas. Useful for
bringing out more highlight detail.
SHADOWS SAVE, +:
Brightens the shadows in the brushed areas. Useful for
bringing out more shadow detail.
WARMER, +, ++:
Applies a warmer white balance in the brushed area.

VSCO MANUAL

15

SUGGESTED METHODS FOR

USING VSCO FILM
While there is no right way to use VSCO Film, there are
a few ways that make sense and save time when it comes
to developing your photos. Here are the two suggestions.
1. Adjust White Balance and Exposure first, getting all
your photos looking close to what you want, then apply
VSCO Film. This method can be the fastest as changes
will render quickly without VSCO Film applied. Note that
any settings you do with highlights, shadows, whites and
blacks will be over-ridden by VSCO Film
only White
Balance and Exposure will not change. The quickest
way to do this in Lightroom is to use the Quick Develop
Panel in the Library. You can select a group of photos and
quickly adjust them this way, then apply VSCO Film to
batches of photos from the preset menu.
For ACR, hold down the shift key to select multiple
photos simultaneously and apply a preset to them all.
2. Apply VSCO Film first to your whole batch of photos,
then go through and adjust White Balance and Exposure.
This method can be useful as slight exposure and WB
changes are often needed after VSCO Film is applied.

VSCO MANUAL

16

TIPS AND TRICKS

Exposure and white balance play a huge role in the
accuracy of these film emulations. Make sure you have
a properly calibrated monitor and experiment with the
White Balance, Temperature and Tint settings.
Often tint needs to go a little more towards green to
offset the red in skin tones. If youre unsure of where
to set the white balance, try extreme settings in either
direction and slowly narrow down what looks best.
Exposure settings are also important. Overly-bright
exposure can look overly-digital, but overly-dark
exposure can be problematic too. Again, try extreme
settings and narrow it down to what looks good.

VSCO MANUAL

17

ADDITIONAL ITEMS FOR

VSCO FILM 03
CONSUMER AND PROFESSIONAL
FOLDERS
Instant film has two main families: Consumer and
Professional. The consumer type is whats commonly
associated with instant film, where after a loud shutter
and motor sound, an undeveloped photo is automatically
rolled out of the front of the camera. Within minutes the
photo appears before your eyes. Typically its limited to
a small, square format. The professional type is typically
loaded into a film back and attached to a medium or
large format camera. After the film is exposed, it must be
manually pulled out through a set of rollers that press all
the chemistry together. After waiting a set amount of time
(based on the film and the temperature) the two layers of
the film are pulled apart and a finished print is revealed.

ADDITIONAL PRESET VERSIONS

WARM / COOL
Unlike any other kind of film, instant film is very sensitive
to temperature. Shooting and developing it in warm or
cool conditions can drastically change the color balance
of the resulting photo, so these presets simulate the
effect of various temperature changes to these films.
NEGATIVE
Some of the professional instant films are able to
preserve a usable negative within the emulsion. By
cleaning them in special ways and then scanning them, it
is possible to create beautiful alternate looks with these
films, and these versions emulate those effect.

VSCO MANUAL

18

EARLY PULL
In the case of Fuji FP-3000B Negative, some very
unusual results can be achieved by peeling the print
early, and this preset simulates that effect.

VSCO FILM 03 TOOLKIT

CLARITY DOWN, +, ++, +++, NONE
Sets the Clarity tool to negative values to simulate the
smoother look of instant film.
OLD LENS, +, ++, +++, NONE (LR ONLY)
Using the Graduated Filter tool, this preset decreases
sharpness and clarity while adding a strong vignette
effect to simulate the influence of the lens in many of the
common, older cameras used with instant film. This look
is often associated with the instant film look because
cameras with this effect in their lens were so often used
with instant films. The (None) preset is especially useful,
as removing this effect otherwise requires opening the
Graduated Filter tool and removing adjustments manually.
SHARPNESS DOWN, +, ++, +++, NONE (LR ONLY)
Using the Graduated Filter tool, this preset decreases
sharpness to negative levels to simulate the softer look of
instant film and the lenses often associated with it.
The (None) preset is especially useful as removing this
effect otherwise requires opening the Graduated Filter
tool and removing adjustments manually.
TONE - (VARIOUS FILMS)
Because of the massive variations possible with instant
films, these presets were built to help customize the film
looks even further. Using the Split Toning tool, these
presets are stackable on top of all the VSCO Film 03
presets.

VSCO MANUAL

19

VIGNETTE - HEAVY, +, ++, +++, NONE

Similar to the standard Vignette tool, but stronger. The
standard Vignette tool only uses the Lens Correction
Vignette tool, while this one also employs the Post Crop
Vignette tool in the Effects panel.

VSCO MANUAL

20

ADDITIONAL ITEMS FOR

VSCO FILM 04
VSCO FILM 04 TOOLKIT
TONE - AGFA SCALA 200 1, 2, 3, 4
Especially when scanned, this film takes on a few different
color shifts that can add a nice tone to the image. Rather
than building multiple versions of Agfa Scala 200 with
these various tones, we created this tone set to allow you
to apply this effect to any of the presets.
TONE - SLIDE FILM COOLER, +, ++
Slide film can often take on a slightly cool overall tone,
and these tone presets enable you to add that effect to
any film preset.
TONE - SLIDE FILM MAGENTA CAST, +, ++, +++
Slide film can very easily take on a magenta color tone.
Although this may be due to aging, fading, or mistakes
in development, it can also be a wonderful look. These
presets enable you to add this effect to any film preset.

VSCO MANUAL

21

ADDITIONAL ITEMS FOR

VSCO FILM 05
ADDITIONAL PRESET VERSIONS
COOL/WARM
Depending on the type of lighting the film is shot in and
the way it is scanned, these films can exhibit a variation of
color balances, and these presets simulate that effect.
VIBRANT
Many of the films in Film 05 can exhibit bright and
lively colors in certain scenarios. Simply turning up the
Saturation slider doesnt do this look justice, so we
created these extra Vibrant versions to help achieve
this colorful look.
PORTRAIT
Some of the films in Film 05 were particularly suited for
portraiture, so these films got an extra Portrait version
that is fined tuned to deliver even better results for
portraits.
CONTRAST +
These presets are similar to the HC versions from
previous packs, boosting images with richer colors more
so than a simple increase to the Contrast slider.

VSCO FILM 05 TOOLKIT

SOFT HIGHS
When film is overexposed by several stops, it tends to
compress highlights pleasantly in a way that digital does
not. These versions simulate this effect.
ALT
Occasionally a film exhibited a look that didnt really fit
into any of the normal categories, but was just too nice to
pass over. These looks often appear as the Alt versions.
It could be from a more aged roll of film, or from an
unusual lighting scenario, or any other number of factors.
VSCO MANUAL

22

ADDITIONAL ITEMS FOR

VSCO FILM 06
ADDITIONAL PRESET VERSIONS
XP
XP is a common way of shortening the term Cross
Processing. Cross processing typically means processing
positive film through the negative film process, resulting
in wild and unpredictable results.
-1, +1, +2, +3

The small numbers next to the film presets represent

push and pull processing.
-1 = Pulled one stop. Only for the black and white films,
this would mean shooting a film like TRI-X 400 at 200 ISO
and then pull processing by 1 stop.
+1 = Pushed one stop. This would mean that a film like
Kodak Portra 400 would be shot at ISO 800 and then
push processed by 1 stop.
+2 = Pushed two stops. This would mean that a film
like Kodak Portra 400 would be shot at 1600 and push
processed by 2 stops.
+3 = Pushed 3 stops. Which would mean that Kodak
Portra 400 would be shot at 3200 and push processed
by 3 stops.
In general, push processing introduces more contrast,
more vibrant colors, and more grain.
OVER
When film is overexposed by several stops, it tends to
compress highlights pleasantly in a way that digital does
not. These versions simulate this colorful look.

VSCO MANUAL

23

ALT
Occasionally a film exhibited a look that didnt really fit
into any of the normal categories, but was just too nice to
pass over. These looks often appear as the Alt versions.
It could be from a more aged roll of film, or from an
unusual lighting scenario, or any other number of factors.
NIGHT
When normal daylight film is shot under typical night
time illumination (such as tungsten light), it must be
heavily corrected at the time of scanning to resemble a
realistic color balance. This correction also changes the
characteristic look of the film, offering a more realistic film
rendering of night time illumination. Since some of the
films in VSCO Film 06 represent a push to a very high ISO
speed, these presets are ideal for these kinds of lighting
conditions.
VIBRANT
Many of the films in Film 06 can exhibit bright and
lively colors in certain scenarios. Simply turning up the
Saturation slider doesnt do this look justice, so we
created these extra Vibrant versions to help achieve
this colorful look.

VSCO MANUAL

24