Photoshop Plugin

Nate,

Do you consider an option to implement NLP as a Photoshop plugin? I know this was touched before on the forums but I haven’t found a definitive answer.

The reason I’m asking is I scan large format negatives which exceed the 512Mpix Lightroom limitation. Because of that the only way to apply NLP to such negatives is to reduce the scanned file size. This is undesirable because maximum detail is one of the major requirements in my scanning workflow.

My goal is to have master files at maximum resolution with NLP adjustments and cleanup applied once, so they serve as the definitive source for however many subsequent post-processing versions. I believe a Photoshop plugin could enable that.

Thanks!

@nate Instead of changing NLP to work under a different host, why not make the color changes exportable instead? I’m not sure how exactly NLP internals work but it seems it comes up with adjustments on individual image basis, meaning there is no correction preset per type of film or anything like that.

In a situation where the image size is limited by the host the only workable approach is to have a smaller version processed by NLP and then apply manual edits to the larger original to try and get a similar look. This may work for B&W but would probably be near impossible for color.

Why not have the color correction of an image exported in a form of an icc or dcp profile? It would certainly be possible to calculate the color mapping inside NLP, the correction would be individual to an image, and usable in any software that supports the profiles. For large images it would mean the exact correction created for the small version could be applied directly to the large original. There are also other benefits such as better resilience of the images processed earlier to breaking changes in NLP.

With a few extra tools you can already do that… what you want to do is to create a 3D LUT based on the color and tonal changes that Lightroom is applying to the image (via NLP). Then, you can use that 3D LUT inside of Photoshop or other editing programs.

To make a 3D LUT from the Lightroom adjustments that Negative Lab Pro has added to your image, you can use the LUT generator (https://generator.iwltbap.com/) or the Export LUT Lightroom Plugin (Export LUT (LUT Generator) – John R. Ellis Lightroom Plugins).

Then, in Photoshop, you just need to make a “Color Lookup” adjustment, like this: Lutify.me | How do I apply 3D LUTs in Adobe Photoshop?

That’s right… it is analyzing the images individually and creating adjustments for that image. This is necessary because fo the the huge variance of scans that it needs to be able to process (which could all be in different tonal ranges), and this method provides the most flexibility and resilience.

Hope that helps

-Nate

@nate Thanks for your reply. LUT makes sense, but I don’t think either of these software or the general approach would work. What a LUT generator does is it creates a HALD to which the user applies color correction. It is up to the user to come up with specific adjustments so they have to be known. Naturally, in PS or LR when applying my own adjustments I can replace the original image with the HALD so it carries my color corrections which can then be analyzed and exported.

In case of NLP the correction is not applied transparently, so I can’t reproduce it. If I feed a HALD to NLP, all I’d get is whatever adjustment for the HALD content NLP comes up with, irrelevant to the actual picture I want to edit. As far as I understand I can’t have a non-HALD image compared before and after correction to extract LUT.

Am I missing something?

UPDATE

@nate There are tools that indeed can extract a difference between before and after images to a LUT, but since they don’t have access to the original transformation and not all colors may be present in the original image to create smooth transitions, they will have to interpolate. Since the correction is on individual image basis, this might not be an issue at all. Yet, as NLP already has full information, it is in a better position to export it as a reusable piece as well.

…does this not basically mean that it does not make much sense to create the LUT because it will only deliver optimal results on exactly the image out of which the LUT was extracted? Well, maybe that there will be a chance match on a different image?

@Digitizer It does, but my use case calls exactly for the ability to extract the individual image adjustments so I can apply them to the same image (but larger) in different than LR software.

Yes - I think you misunderstand… don’t try to use NLP on the HALD… use NLP on the negative… then, after your conversion is where you want it, copy/paste the settings from that image over onto the HALD.

…oh, yes, that was your goal.

@nate
Negativ Lab Pro as a Plugin in Photoshop would be awesome. Especially if you can use it as an Smartobjekt filter. In that case it would be nondistructable and you could integrate NL pro in more compositing based workflowes in photoshop. And it would be an aditional option for users who don´t work with lightroom. I downloaded Lightroom only for NL. Normaly i am working with Capture one and Photoshop.

Please make a Photoshop Plugin <3