Best Film Presets for Lightroom: How to Choose a Film Look
An honest guide to film emulation presets: what separates good from bad, and how to choose between 15 classic film looks by subject and light.
The best film presets for Lightroom are not the ones with the most dramatic thumbnails. They are the ones built on real RAW files, with variations for different light and skin tones that still look like skin. Choose your film look by subject and light first, brand second: Portra 400 for people, Kodachrome 64 or Ektachrome for travel, HP5 for gritty black and white, CineStill 800T for night, and so on through the fifteen classic looks below.
How film emulation presets actually work
A film emulation preset is a saved set of Lightroom adjustments that pushes a digital file toward the colour, contrast and texture of a particular film stock. No preset contains film. What it contains is a stack of decisions: a tone curve that sets how shadows fall off and how highlights roll, Color Mixer (HSL) shifts that move greens, skies and skin, Color Grading that tints shadows and highlights, Calibration changes that reshape the primaries underneath everything, and a grain setting that adds texture.
The reason two "Portra" presets from two different makers can look nothing alike is that every one of those decisions is an interpretation. Film itself never looked the same twice either: it changed with exposure, development, the scanner and the person running it. So the honest question is not "is this preset accurate?" but "does it reliably give me the character I associate with this film, on my photos, without fighting me?"
What separates good film presets from bad ones
These points apply to any brand, ours included. Use them as a checklist before you pay anyone.
- Built and tested on real RAW files. A preset made on one JPEG falls apart on a RAW from a different camera. Look for sample images that show varied cameras, light and subjects, not one hero shot.
- Variations for different light. Harsh noon sun, open shade, overcast and tungsten interiors need different starting points. A single preset per film is a gamble; a set of tested variations (warmer, cooler, brighter, softer contrast) is a toolkit.
- Skin tones that survive. The fastest tell of a weak preset is orange, waxy or magenta skin. Good film looks shift the world around the face while keeping skin believable.
- Grain that looks like grain. Real film grain varies with the stock: fine on slow film, coarse on fast film. A preset that slaps the same heavy grain on everything is decoration, not emulation.
- Restraint in the sliders. Extreme Dehaze, Clarity or Saturation values look exciting on the sample and ugly on yours. Moderate settings leave room to adjust.
- All the formats you actually use. .xmp for Lightroom Classic, Lightroom desktop and Photoshop Camera Raw; .dng for the free Lightroom mobile app; and ideally .costyle for Capture One, so your look stays consistent across machines.
- A fair licence and no subscription. Pay once, keep the files, use them on client work. A preset you lose when you stop paying is a rental.
A quick manual recipe for a generic film look
If you would rather build your own, this is a sensible neutral starting point for colour negative film. Results depend heavily on the photo, so treat every number as a range to explore.
- Tone Curve: lift the black point slightly on the point curve (raise the bottom-left point to around 10 to 20 on the 0–255 scale) for that matte, scanned-negative base, and gently pull the top point down a touch to soften whites.
- Basic: Contrast around -5 to -15, Highlights around -20 to -40 so bright areas roll off rather than clip, Shadows around +10 to +20.
- Color Mixer (HSL): shift Green hue a few points toward yellow or blue depending on the stock, and lower Green and Blue saturation slightly (around -5 to -15) to calm digital vividness.
- Color Grading: a faint warm tint in highlights and a faint cool or teal tint in shadows, both with low saturation (around 5 to 12).
- Calibration: Red primary hue a few points positive and Blue primary saturation around +10 to +20 often gives skin and skies a more filmic separation.
- Effects: Grain amount around 15 to 30, Size around 20 to 30, Roughness around 40 to 60. Increase all three for faster film.
That gets you a believable generic film look. Getting a specific stock right, across different light and different cameras, is where most of the work goes, which is what a finished pack saves you. Our film-by-film guides go deeper: the Portra 400 look, the Kodachrome look, the CineStill 800T look and HP5 vs Retro 80s for black and white.
The 15 classic film looks, by family
This is not a ranking. Each look is the right answer to a different photo. Read the "when to use it" line first.
Kodak colour
Portra 400 is the people film. Warm, natural skin tones, soft contrast and creamy pastel highlights, with fine grain. Use it for portraits, weddings and lifestyle work, especially in open shade or golden hour, when you want flattering rather than dramatic.
Kodachrome 64 brings rich saturated reds and yellows, deep inky blacks, those iconic blues and ultra-fine grain. It loves bright sun and strong colour, so reach for it on travel, street and documentary work. Our pack has 20 variations because the look shifts a lot between hard light and shade.
Ektar 100 is the punchiest Kodak colour negative: strong saturation, precise contrast, luminous blue skies and the finest grain. It is a landscape, nature and architecture film. Be careful with skin, which it can push red.
Ektachrome E100 is a slide film look: clean, cool whites, vivid but controlled blues and cyans, and crisp micro-contrast. Use it for travel, editorial and product work where colour should feel clean and modern rather than nostalgic.
UltraMax 400 is the consumer film from family albums: warm, lively colour, punchy yellows and reds, clean blues and honest medium grain. It suits everyday life, family photos and casual travel, anything that should feel like a memory rather than a commission.
Black and white
Ilford HP5 gives open shadows, rich midtones, luminous whites and real, gritty grain. It forgives mixed and low light, which is why it is the default for street, documentary and honest portraits.
Rollei Retro 80s is the opposite temperament: hard contrast, deep solid blacks, bright crisp highlights and exceptionally fine grain, with smooth skin. Use it for architecture, graphic street shots in hard sun and clean fashion-style black and white.
Instant
Polaroid 600 recreates instant film's faded colours, lifted milky blacks and warm yellow-green cast. It is made for friends, parties, lifestyle and candids, where imperfection is the point. It is not the look for a sharp landscape print.
Cinema
CineStill 400D is motion-picture colour for daylight: warm, but with cool tones preserved and a soft red halation around bright highlights. It works for outdoor portraits, beach days and travel that should feel like a film still.
CineStill 800T is balanced for tungsten light, so cities turn cyan-green, neon glows warm and every light source picks up its signature red halation, with cinema grain on top. This is the night, neon and rainy-street look. In daylight it simply turns everything blue.
Fuji and Konica
Fuji 200 renders rich greens and blues, a cooler overall balance, slightly greenish shadows and beautiful skin. Pick it over Portra when the scene is full of foliage, sea or sky and you want freshness instead of warmth.
Konica VX Super is restrained: muted colour, blue-leaning greens, gentle contrast and crunchy grain. It suits quiet everyday scenes, overcast days and documentary series where nothing should shout.
LomoChrome
LomoChrome Color '92 is a warm, low-contrast nineties palette with vivid blues, pastel undertones and chunky grain. Use it for youth culture, summer holidays and anything that should feel like a found print from a shoebox.
LomoChrome Metropolis mutes colour, drifts warm tones toward olive, and pairs dense blacks with punchy contrast. It is an urban, editorial look: concrete, steel, fashion on the street.
Signature
BLVCK Legends is our own dark and moody look, not a film simulation. Greens and blues drain toward grey while skin and oranges stay warm, over deep crushed blacks. Use it for fashion, cars, night scenes and moody portraits.
Which film look should I use? Choose by subject
If you are unsure where to start, match the look to what you shoot most. The second option is usually the contrasting alternative.
| Subject | First choice | Alternative | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portraits | Portra 400 | Fuji 200 | Believable skin; Fuji if you want cooler and greener |
| Weddings | Portra 400 | HP5 | Soft, flattering colour plus a forgiving black and white for mixed venue light |
| Travel | Kodachrome 64 | Ektachrome E100 | Saturated and classic, or clean and modern |
| Street | HP5 | LomoChrome Metropolis | Gritty black and white, or muted urban colour |
| Night and neon | CineStill 800T | None needed | Built for artificial light and halation |
| Landscape | Ektar 100 | Fuji 200 | Luminous skies and fine grain, or softer greens |
| Moody | BLVCK Legends | Rollei Retro 80s | Dark colour with warm skin, or hard monochrome |
Single pack, bundle or Master Collection?
Every pack contains 10 variations of one film (20 for Kodachrome 64), in .xmp, .dng and .costyle, with a one-time payment and instant download. Here is how the options compare.
- Single film, $19 (€19). Right if you shoot one thing and know it. A wedding photographer who wants Portra and nothing else does not need fifteen looks.
- Family bundles, $29 (€29) for 2 films. Black & White (HP5 and Retro 80s), CineStill (400D and 800T), Fuji & Konica and LomoChrome. Each pairs two films that cover opposite conditions, such as day and night.
- Kodak bundle, $49 (€49) for 5 films. Portra 400, Kodachrome 64, Ektar 100, Ektachrome E100 and UltraMax 400: a complete colour toolkit from skin to landscape.
- Master Collection, $59 (€59). All 15 films, 160 presets. If you would buy more than three single packs, this works out cheaper.
All licences allow client and commercial work; redistributing or reselling the preset files themselves is not allowed. The full price list is on the home page, and if you are new to presets, our guide on how to install presets in Lightroom, Photoshop and Capture One takes a couple of minutes.
A short note: HelloPresets is an independent studio and is not affiliated with Kodak, Ilford, Harman, Rollei, Polaroid, CineStill, Fujifilm, Konica Minolta or Lomography. The film names describe the look each preset is inspired by.
FAQ
What are the best film presets for Lightroom?
The best ones are built on real RAW files, include variations for different light, keep skin tones natural and add grain that matches the stock. Which film look is best depends on your subject: Portra 400 for people, Kodachrome or Ektachrome for travel, HP5 for street, CineStill 800T for night.
Do film presets work on Lightroom mobile?
Yes, if they come as .dng files. You import them into the free Lightroom mobile app on iPhone, iPad or Android and save them as presets. Desktop Lightroom uses .xmp files, which sync to the mobile app automatically if you use Lightroom desktop (the cloud-based version, not Classic).
Can I use film presets in Capture One?
Only if the pack includes Capture One styles (.costyle). Lightroom .xmp presets do not open in Capture One, so check the format list before buying.
Why does a preset look different on my photo than in the samples?
Presets react to exposure, white balance and camera profile. Set white balance and exposure first, then try the variations; most looks need only small tweaks to Temp, Exposure or Grain after that.
Are film presets the same as shooting real film?
No. A preset recreates the colour, tone and grain character of a stock on a digital file. It cannot reproduce film's exposure latitude or the randomness of development and scanning, but it gives you that look consistently across a whole set.
Should I buy one film pack or a bundle?
Buy a single pack if you shoot one main subject. Choose a bundle or the Master Collection if you shoot across day, night, colour and black and white, since it costs less than buying several packs separately.
