For a version that is entirely contained in Affinty Photo, see the old workflow Signynt's Darkroom Macro
Signynt's Darkroom Shortcut constitutes a workflow for film negative inversion with dust and scratch removal. It consists of an Apple Workflow, three shell scripts that utilize Imagemagick (made by Fred Weinhaus and Jaz99), and an Affinity Photo macro / Photoshop action if you would like to use the dust removal option.
Using this shortcut gives you quick access to high quality, neutral and ready to edit RAW images with just one click. It also optionally provides access to quick and high quality dust or scratch removal that is better than the scanning softwares automatic options.
It can be used with DSLR scans, scans made with Silverfast or VueScan, and supports both B&W as well as color negative film.
Please read the instructions carefully, and use the YouTube video if you have trouble understanging any of the steps. If you still are having trouble, open an Issue, or DM me on Reddit.
- Install Imagemagick:
The easiest way to do this is using Brew.
If you don't yet have Brew installed, paste this command in to the Terminal:
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
Once Brew is installed run these two commands in the Terminal to install Imagemagick:
brew install imagemagick
Newer versions of imagemagick have unfortunately broken negfix8
, so once you've installed it you'll need to switch to a previous version by running these 3 commands:
-
brew install imagemagick@6
-
brew link --overwrite imagemagick@6
-
echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/imagemagick@6/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
You can now close the Terminal.
- Download the latest release and open the zip file
- Install the Apple Workflows that correspond to what kind of scans you are working with, and the software you use for scanning:
- For black & white scans, install
Signynt's Darkroom Shortcut (B&W).workflow
- For color negative scans that were scanned without IR, install
Signynt's Darkroom Shortcut.workflow
- For color negative scans that were scanned with IR, install the workflow labeled with
(IR)
that corresponds to your scanning software- If you scan with Silverfast, install
Signynt's Darkroom Shortcut (IR) (Silverfast).workflow
- If you scan with VueScan, install
Signynt's Darkroom Shortcut (IR) (VueScan).workflow
- If you scan with Silverfast, install
- If you are DSLR scanning, open the folder called
DSLR Scanning
and installConvert to TIFF.workflow
- For black & white scans, install
- Open the folder called
Macros
and install the dust removal macro for your image editing software- If you are using Affinity Photo, install
Signynt's Darkroom Shortcut.afmacros
by double clicking it - If you are using Photoshop, install
Signynt's Darkroom Shortcut.atn
- Open a new Finder window and press
Cmd
+Shift
+G
- Type in
/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop 2022/Presets/Actions
and hit enter to open your Photoshop Actions folder - Move
Signynt's Darkroom Shortcut.atn
into theActions
folder - Restart Photoshop
- Open a new Finder window and press
- If you are using Affinity Photo, install
- Install the scripts:
Open Finder and in the Menu Bar select Go > Go to Folder
and type usr/local/bin
, then hit enter. This will open up the bin
folder.
Drag and drop the three scripts called autocolor
, autolevel
and negfix8
from the Scripts
folder to bin
.
- Enjoy! Test out the script on the Example.tif file
If you have any trouble installing, try checking out my video tutorial to check if you are doing all the steps correctly.
Important: If you get an error while trying to use the shortcut, one of the most common reasons this can be caused is a messed up
$PATH
. To fix this, open the Terminal and run this command:echo "export PATH=/opt/homebrew/bin:$PATH" >> ~/.zshrc
Close the Terminal and try the shortcut again, in most cases it will work now.
- Scan a film negative as a RAW TIFF file, optionally select the infrared scan option
- In Silverfast for example select
64 Bit HDRi RAW
as the scan option
- In Silverfast for example select
- Right click on the output file, hover over
Quick Actions
, then select your corresponding shortcut- If you would like to process multiple files at once, simply select all the files you would like the invert, then right click
- Wait for the shortcut to finish loading. While it is running you will see a cog in the Menu Bar spinning
- Each processed image should now have a corresponding image labeled
-Inverted
at the end of the filename, and you're done! If you selected the IR option continue to the next step. - The parts of the image recognized as dust or scratches will appear as if they have been ereased. To fix these parts of the image open it in Affinity Photo or Photoshop
- For Affinity Photo: In the macros folder called
Signynt's Darkroom Shortcut
select the macro calledRemove Dust
- You can check to see if you are happy with the infill by comparing the layer called
Dust Removed
with the layer calledImage
. - To remove dust that was missed: Use
Inpainting Brush Tool
- To undo the dust removal in certain areas: Select the
Dust Removed
layer & use theErease Brush Tool
to erease those areas
- You can check to see if you are happy with the infill by comparing the layer called
- For Photoshop: In the actions folder called
Signynt's Darkroom Shortcut
select the action calledRemove Dust
and press the play button- To remove dust that was missed: Use
Spot Healing Tool
- To undo the dust removal in certain areas: Use a
Layer Mask
& a brush set to black to paint over the areas
- To remove dust that was missed: Use
- Edit the image to your liking and export it!
Important: For the dust & scratch removal to work, no part of the film/scanner holder may be visible. For details, and instructions on how to properly crop this out, see these instructions.
The workflow requires input images to be TIFF files, however most DSLR cameras output other RAW formats, such as NEF, ARW or DNG.
In those cases the images must first be converted to TIFF files, which can be done with the workflow which you will find in the DSLR Scanning
folder (double click Convert to TIFF.worflow
to install it).
Before using the workflow as described above you must first follow these steps:
- Select all you DSLR scans
- Right click, hover over
Quick Actions
, then selectConvert to TIFF
After running you will have a duplicate of each image which is a TIFF file, and is labeled as such. You can then select these and run them through the workflow as described above. Please note you can not use the IR version with DSLR scans.
Important: Make sure you crop the image too remove any of the lighttable that might be visible in the image, otherwise you will run into errors!
For more information on the plugin and how it works see my explaination video:
This workflow uses Imagemagick scripts to work, which are responsible for the main steps of inversion and color correction. Full credit goes to the creators of these scripts.
- negfix8 was created by Jaz99, thank you
- autolevel and autocolor were created by Fred Weinhaus, thank you
- The Photoshop action was contributed by @gjauxfaux, thank you
Please note the licensing from Fred Weinhaus, which apply to the autolevel and autocolor scripts:
Licensing: Copyright © Fred Weinhaus
My scripts are available free of charge for non-commercial (non-profit) use, ONLY.
For use of my scripts in commercial (for-profit) environments or non-free applications, please contact me (Fred Weinhaus) for licensing arrangements. My email address is fmw at alink dot net.
If you: 1) redistribute, 2) incorporate any of these scripts into other free applications or 3) reprogram them in another scripting language, then you must contact me for permission, especially if the result might be used in a commercial or for-profit environment.
Usage, whether stated or not in the script, is restricted to the above licensing arrangements. It is also subject, in a subordinate manner, to the ImageMagick license, which can be found at: http://www.imagemagick.org/script/license.php