EmulLab
Manual · 06

Analyze and
sync a roll.

Measure a whole roll together so its frames match, then copy one frame’s look to the rest.

Analyze a roll

  1. Open any frame of the roll in Edit.
  2. In the Adjust tab, under Roll Analysis, click Analyze Roll. Every negative in the roll is measured.
  3. Read the result: a bar for each frame shows its exposure correction. Click a bar to open that frame. On a B&W roll Auto Exposure starts at 0, so no frame is corrected and there are no bars; the report says so.
  4. Check the lines under it: one film base for the roll, or which frames differ.
  5. For a roll shot in one light, leave Same color balance for every frame and Same contrast for every frame on.

Copy one frame’s look to others

  1. Open the frame whose look you want.
  2. For the whole roll, click Sync in the toolbar or choose Edit › Sync Settings to Roll… (or Apply this frame’s settings to the roll in Roll Analysis). EmulLab asks first; click Sync n Other Frames.
  3. For some frames, choose Edit › Copy Settings (⇧⌘C), select the frames with ⌘-click or ⇧-click, then choose Edit › Paste Settings (⇧⌘V).
  4. To copy only some parts of the look (Tone, Color…), choose Edit › Paste Settings… (⌥⇧⌘V) or Sync Settings… (⌥⇧⌘S) and tick them.
  5. Each frame keeps its own film base, crop and dust spots. ⌘Z undoes it.
Reading the result
  • One film base for the roll: measured on the frames with a clean border, and given to frames without one. On a roll of color and B&W frames: One film base for the color frames and one for the B&W frames.
  • Film base varies between frames: mixed film, or frames scanned at a different camera exposure. It names the frames that differ.
  • Film border near clipping: scan with a little less exposure next time.
  • Frames left out: slides, positives, or files that couldn’t be read.
  • Frame n: the roll’s contrast turns x% of it white: the shared contrast clips that frame’s brightest parts. Click Use Its Own Contrast to give that frame its own; the others keep the roll’s, and Analyze Roll again leaves it on its own.
  • The stops figure is the exposure spread from the darkest to the brightest frame.
When the film bases don’t match

EmulLab asks before locking. Lock gives the roll’s base to frames without a clear border (frames with one keep their own), with the roll’s color balance and contrast. Don’t Lock leaves every frame as it is. ⌘Z undoes it.

Same color balance, same contrast
  • Same color balance for every frame: best for a roll shot in one light. Frames unlike the rest may come out warmer or cooler. Frames made with an earlier conversion keep their own color balance until they’re updated; the switch shows the current ones.
  • Same contrast for every frame: like printing a roll, one contrast with each frame’s exposure set on its own. Off stretches each frame to its own range. A frame it clips is named in the result, with a button to fix just that frame.
  • Both apply to color negatives. Some frames can pick up a cast when locked: see known issues.
What Sync and Paste Settings copy

The look: conversion settings, tone, color, Lab Look, levels, curves, HSL, color grading, sharpening, lens corrections and effects. Never the film type, film base, eyedropper gray, crop, straighten, rotation, dust spots or flat field. Slide Color goes only to other slides. With several frames selected, Sync (Edit › Sync Settings to Selection, ⇧⌘S) copies the look of the frame on screen to them without asking. To give every frame the same crop, see Apply Crop to Roll.

Applies to EmulLab 0.9.1 (Public Beta). Updated October 9, 2026.