Filmic Tone Limiter [Lightroom preset]

When it comes to film emulation tools I've done Grain, I've done Color and with this pack, I am finally addressing the tone part of film emulation.

You know how when you print photos from film there is never pure white or perfect black? Well, that is exactly what I am addressing with the Filmic Tone Limiter pack. This set of 12 Lightroom presets works by creating a mask over the entire image that applies a variant of the Filmic Curve on top of your photos to Limit the spectrum and the darker parts of the images from going into pure black and the highlights from becoming pure white

What is the Filmic Curve?

The filmic curve is a type of tone mapping curve, which is a mathematical function that defines how the brightness levels (tones) from a scene are translated into an image. It helps in compressing the dynamic range, allowing details to be visible in both the darkest and brightest areas without harsh transitions. In digital photography, especially in RAW image processing software, a filmic curve is applied to the linear data captured by the camera sensor. This happens in the Camera Profile. But if we want our images to emulate film, we have to push this a bit further and accentuate the effect.

Film typically handles the end of its dynamic range capabilities smoothly, compressing them gently, unlike digital sensors that can abruptly clip them. The filmic curve mimics this behavior by gradually compressing highlights and shadows, creating a more natural, cinematic look. Of course, this will not help you much if you mess up your exposure while taking the photo, but will help you get more natural-looking tones in post-processing.

The presented values are exaggerated for educational purposes

A very simplified version of all this is that we are trying to lift the black point and lower the whites in our photos with a smooth curve to prevent them from clipping. But if all you do to a curve is move these 2 points all your mid-tones will shift as well greatly reducing the overall contrast in the image. Meanwhile, a filmic curve has a toe and shoulder, they help you with the ends of the dynamic range while holding onto those mid-tones and keeping them the way they were.

Where in my Workflow should I use them?

I use the Filmic Tone Limiter after I've done my white balance and my basic raw and right before starting to do any localized editing and color grading

Why on a mask and not in the curves panel?

Because I don't want my tools to interfere with your normal editing workflow. So you can use my Filmic Tone Limiter presets and still use the curves panel for adjusting the image the way you normally would.

Why so many presets for a curve?

Because there is no 1 click solution for any image. I created the presets 1 - 6 as pairs with the 6 All In One Grain presets but of course, this doesn't mean they will function correctly just in this pairing. You can mix and match them as you see fit, but the general rule of thumb is that preset 1 will be way more subtle than preset 4. Presets 6 - 12 are more experimental and creative. They push the values a bit more and also play and are a great fit for stronger film emulation where you want to have your photos look more like expired film or just go by the feel and have fun with your edits. They will still produce a more natural response than a linear or a lifted curve and you can always adjust the strength of the preset because they have support for the Lightroom Preset amount slider.

WARNING: Your Lightroom Version has to be somewhat recent. This won't work with versions of Lightroom that do not have a curve panel inside their maks.

To learn how to add any presets to Lightroom you can follow these steps:

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-cc/kb/faq-install-presets-profiles.html