film Q

How does it work?

film Q’s core technology is histogram stretching, a simple, time-proven method for inverting film negatives. Histogram stretching does not affect the original colour balance or saturation; it removes the orange mask and base fog by stretching the images’ min and max values to fill the colour space. This project’s commitment to transparent film inversion methodology is designed to give you greater creative control and understanding of the medium.

☝️ I’ve been using this method and the initial versions of the film Q code to invert the negatives on Analog.Cafe since February 2022.

Because film Q does not process files on your device — everything is done on Analog.Cafe servers — you can control it with anything that has a web browser, like a Mac, an Android phone, an iPad, or that vintage Windows 95 computer.

All downloadable film inversion apps affect the performance of your computer. film Q does not.

film Q is made for batch processing. You can queue up to 100 files and preview the results from any device.

film Q is the only app that can be used as a plug-in solution for your secure film negative archive. It automatically identifies folders with new scans within your file system and places clearly labelled positives where you can easily find them.

✪ Note: Because film Q does not modify, edit, or emulate your scans’ colour balance, you may need to colour-correct your images using your favourite editing software.