VSCO Brings Back Beloved Film-Inspired Lightroom Presets
Some of VSCO’s beloved Adobe Lightroom presets have returned nearly seven years after they were discontinued, albeit only for a limited time and only for VSCO Pro subscribers.
The VSCO Film 02 presets are back, promising to bring the color and look of various iconic film stocks to RAW photos. The presets give RAW photos a vintage, analog look while still preserving complete RAW editing control, including all the image sliders photographers use in Lightroom.
The VSCO Film 02 set is quite robust, including looks inspired by many iconic film stocks. The available film emulation presets include Fujifilm Neopan 1600, Fujifilm Superia (100/400/800/1600), Ilford Delta 3200, Kodak Portra 160 (NC and VC), and Kodak Portra 400 (NC, UC, and VC).
Each of these presets includes standard, +, ++, and – recipes, which are not simply strength values, although that is part of what makes them each variants. In the case of the “+” version, there are more pronounced color shifts, grain, and tonality. “++” is “not just ‘stronger,'” VSCO says, but includes unique chemical-inspired effects, like washed-out blacks or hue shifts, which the company says mimic the look of extreme or vintage film processing techniques.
All the presets are optimized for RAW photography workflows, ensuring dynamic range, highlight and shadow details, and simulated film grain all look their best. The standard version of each preset also works with JPEG files, but the variants are explicitly made for RAW files.
This is not just a simple reissue, however, as VSCO had to perform new development.
“We’ve optimized the presets to work seamlessly with modern camera profiles and Adobe Lightroom profiles, giving photographers the best of both analog inspiration and digital precision,” photographer Zach Hodges, who built VSCO’s iconic presets as a founding team member of the company, tells PetaPixel. Hodges is now VSCO’s photography evangelist. “Visually, it should be the same as it’s always been, but now things like the strength slider are natively supported, and there’s no background conversions needing to be made that could cause weirdness.”
This new development time is one reason the VSCO Film 02 preset pack is only available to VSCO Pro subscribers. VSCO also wanted to use this reissue as part of its broader investment in VSCO Pro growth.
“The timing also aligns nicely with the resurgence of film and nostalgic photography trends,” Hodges adds.
Photographers have been asking VSCO to bring back its Film Presets for years, since the company discontinued its classic Lightroom presets back in March 2019. The Film 02 pack specifically was chosen because it is one of VSCO’s most beloved preset packs.
“It’s inspired by recognizable films like Portra and Superia, but really unique and rare versions of them that were even rare when this pack came out. So that’s fun. They have a variety of really nice looks, from clean and pretty to grainy and faded. I think people value film’s character and inaccuracies now more than they did a decade ago, and this pack has plenty of that, but isn’t overly grunge-y either,” Hodges says.
As for how limited “limited time” really is, VSCO is playing that info close to the vest for now. Hodges says that, based on the community’s response and feedback to this limited-release reissue, VSCO may explore other ways to offer VSCO Film presets.
As mentioned, the updated VSCO Film 02 preset pack is only available to VSCO Pro subscribers. VSCO Pro subscriptions start at $5 per month and include a wide range of tools and features, including all of VSCO’s photo filters, unlimited editing in AI Lab, full-suite photo editing on desktop and mobile, video editing and grading tools, a photo website tool, VSCO Capture, VSCO Canvas, a professional profile, VSCO Hub access, ad-free use of VSCO, the ability to create blogs, and much more. Complete details for all of VSCO’s plans, including its free one, are available on VSCO’s website.
Image credits: VSCO
