DNF01
People gathered outside a restaurant at night.

DNF01Digital. With feeling.

DNF01 develops RAW and JPEG photos with film-inspired color, halation, bloom and grain. Work on its own or alongside Lightroom. In development.

See the differenceRelease status

In development · macOS and Windows planned

Light that lingers. Finished with DNF01

DNF01 is film emulation and RAW development software for photographers. It is not a preset you apply once. You choose a film, tell it whether the light was day or night, blend up to four of them if you like, and finish with halation, bloom and grain.

A warmly lit neighborhood restaurant seen through dark foliage.
Color in the shadows.

Keep your Lightroom library and add DNF01 to your workflow, or develop and export a photograph entirely in DNF01.

A three-storey izakaya at dusk, a blue neon sign above it and a red lantern at its door. — After A three-storey izakaya at dusk, a blue neon sign above it and a red lantern at its door. — Before

Before and after

The same RAW file, opened in DNF01 with automatic exposure and no film, then with a film LOOK. Drag the line, or hold the button to see the original.

Choose a photograph

Before
RAW as DNF01 opens it. Automatic exposure, no film.
After
The same file with

Same RAW file, same exposure; only the LOOK changes. Rendered by the DNF01 engine at preview size, with no other retouching.

A three-storey izakaya at dusk, a blue neon sign above it and a red lantern at its door.
Cinestill 800TNight

21 LOOKs

Each LOOK has its own tone, colour and halation, and answers daylight and night differently. Choose one, or blend up to four.

Select a LOOK to develop the photograph with it.

Day and night
Keep your film and change how it answers the light.
Film Blend
Combine up to four LOOKs, each from 0 to 100%.
Strength
The overall strength of the LOOK runs from 0 to 200%.

Film names identify the stocks that inspired each LOOK. All trademarks belong to their owners. DNF01 is not affiliated with or endorsed by them, and these renderings are DNF01’s own interpretation, not a claim of a match.

Next, in exploration: a Season Film, a look for one moment of the year that joins the archive when the season ends.

Halation, bloom and grain

Film does not stop at the edge of a highlight. Light spreads inside the emulsion and glows around a lamp, and the surface is made of grain. In DNF01 each of these is a control of its own.

A red lantern in a night alley, with and without halation. — On A red lantern in a night alley, with and without halation. — Off

Halation

Light bleeds through the film and back off its base, leaving a warm halo around bright points. Each LOOK carries its own. Switch it off, or steer it toward red.

Cinestill 800T · Night

Hanging lanterns in a shopping street, with and without bloom. — On Hanging lanterns in a shopping street, with and without bloom. — Off

Bloom

The veiling glare of a lens. Wider than halation, and neutral in colour because glass has no hue. Off until you want it.

Kodak Portra 800 · Night · Amount 1.0 (0–2)

A neon sign enlarged, with and without grain. — 1600 A neon sign enlarged, with and without grain. — Off

Grain

Eight steps, from off to 1600. Shown enlarged, so you can see its structure.

KODAK VISION3 500T · Night · Grain 1600

Preview-size renders from the DNF01 engine, enlarged.

The DNF01 editor with a photograph open and the LOOK list on the left.
The DNF01 editor: LOOKs on the left, adjustments on the right, the folder below. The interface follows your computer’s language. English and Japanese are available.

Film LAB

Develop your photos, one roll at a time.

Film LAB is a separate screen for developing a whole folder as rolls. Choose a folder, decide how long a roll is, and give every roll its own Film, light and finish. Frames are developed one by one and saved beside a record of exactly what was done. Your originals are never touched.

  1. Choose a folder

    RAW, JPEG, PNG or TIFF files, sorted by capture time.

  2. Cut it into rolls

    27 EXP, 36 EXP, or any length from 1 to 9999.

  3. Load each roll

    A Film, Day or Night, halation, bloom, grain and a colour temperature offset, per roll.

  4. Develop

    Saved as Roll_01, Roll_02… with a manifest.json. A failed frame never stops the rest.

The DNF Film LAB window with Roll 01 developed.
The Film LAB window. This is the application, not a mock-up.

The strips are the 36 frames Film LAB developed in the window above, from ORF RAW files, with the KODAK VISION3 500T LOOK at Night. Interface shown in English.

With Lightroom

DNF01 works on its own: develop RAW, edit JPEG, export a finished image. Lightroom users can keep their library, browse their catalog from DNF01 and use a Lightroom plugin workflow.

Catalog access is read-only. Lightroom edits are not claimed to transfer. Plugin workflow details are being validated before release.

Plugin workflow: being validated

  1. Lightroom catalog

    Opened read-only. Never written to, never copied.

  2. DNF01

    Develop the RAW with a Film LOOK, halation, bloom and grain.

  3. Export

    A finished JPEG, PNG or TIFF. Your original stays where it was.

Frame a single photograph or bring two together. Choose an aspect ratio and a black or white outer border, then export the finished composition.

Layout
Single · Diptych · Frame
Outer border
Black or white
Pairs
Side by side or stacked
Two aquarium scenes arranged side by side in a single white-bordered print.
A world within a world.
A red paper umbrella and a goldfish combined in a vertical photo pair.
Small worlds, held together.

Photographs

Photographs finished with DNF01. Single frames and pairs, shown with their original borders and compositions.

  1. Light stays with you.
  2. After the light.
  3. Color in the shadows.
  4. In blue, in motion.
  5. Two passing moments.
  6. Things left behind.
  7. The quiet corners.
  8. Light after dark.
  9. Texture in the everyday.
  10. Out of the dark.
  11. Red, held in shadow.
  12. At the edge of daylight.
  13. Light through the leaves.
  14. A quiet color.
  15. Through the night.

DNF01

Your photograph. Your mix.

Choose a Film, switch Daylight / Night, then explore Film Blend. Adjust each Film individually and the overall LOOK strength from 0–200%. Finish with halation, bloom, grain and basic adjustments.

In development

A little more time in the darkroom.

DNF01 is in development, with Windows and macOS support planned. Release details will be announced here.

Release and specifications

Status
In development
Platforms
macOS · Windows (planned)
Price
To be announced
System requirements
To be announced
Develops
RAW (RAF, CR2, DNG, ARW, NEF, RW2, ORF, CR3), JPEG, PNG, TIFF
Exports
JPEG · PNG · TIFF
LOOKs
21 · Daylight / Night · Blend up to four · Strength 0–200%
Light
Halation · Bloom · Grain (eight steps)
Colour noise
Removed from the decoded photograph, brightness untouched
Film LAB
Roll by roll · 27 EXP, 36 EXP or custom · Manifest saved
Layout
Single · Diptych · Frame
Lightroom
Catalog browsing, read-only · Plugin workflow in validation
Built on
DNF Engine

Details marked “to be announced” will be published here with the release.

Explore light, grain and color through photographs finished with DNF01, with notes for anyone looking for a film look or film presets. Film look: the DNF01 approach ↗

See you in the next frame.

We are building the tools. You bring the photograph.

DNF01