SmartConvert user guide
(Current Version V3.30, November 2025)
SmartConvert converts RAW images of film negatives into high-quality digital positives. Its main advantages are ease of use, lightning fast speed, and almost perfect results upfront. This guide explains each feature in detail - from importing images to exporting your final results.
Importing images
RAW files of most camera manufacturers as well as TIFF files are supported. No JPGs - these have not enough color depth.
There are three ways to import files:
Click “Add Images” .
Drag/Drop files to the main window.
Specify a HotFolder in the Advanced Settings. All RAW files in that folder will be automatically imported. Once imported, the RAW files are moved into a new subfolder called “RAW”. This is done do distinguish between new and old files.
Adjusting images
Use the control panel on the right to adjust density, contrast and make color adjustments.
Click “Edit Crop” to crop the image. Use the slider on the bottom to tilt the image. Choose between aspect ratios to crop with a specific aspect ratio.
For grayscale images, make sure to select “Grayscale”. This way, the images will be converted to true monochrome.
Copy / Paste Settings
Copy settings from one image to another using CMD+C/CMD+V (CTRL+C/V on windows). You can select multiple images in the thumbnails.
You can select which parameters you want to copy.
Use “Copy base correction” when stitching panoramic images together, or to equalize studio images done under identical lighting.
Recalc Button
The Recalc. Button (underneath the CMY keys) recalculates the image base correction based on the current crop.
Use the Recalc button if the initial conversion of SmartConvert is not satisfactory.
To use this button, first crop away ALL image border, then click “Recalc.”. Recalculating WITH border around the image will cause washed-out images!
FlatField Correction
By using the flat field correction, you achieve absolutely homogeneous scans without vignetting.
Take an image of the plain light source, without film.
Use identical settings as for scanning: Same lens, same focus, same aperture, same positioning and height of the camera.
Choose a shutter speed that ensures proper exposure.
Got to Settings → Advanced Settings and specify the flat field image there. Enable the “Apply Flat-Field-Correction” checkbox.
You can reuse the same flat field file, as long as your setup has not changed. My recommendation is to always use a new flat field image for each scanning session.
Presets
In the menu bar, choose “Presets” to apply a Preset to all imported images.
Presets are applied globally to ALL images!
Coming up in SmartConvert V3.40:
By default, images are processed with the “Normal” Preset setting. This gives a punchy result with slightly warm color. Choose “Flat” for a more desaturated and flat result.
Presets only affect Density, Contrast, Saturation and the CMY adjustments. No other parameters are stored.
You can create your own presets based on the manual corrections you did. CMY corrections will be saved as relative values to the initial AutoWB correction, not as absolute values.
SmartConvert remembers which Preset you selected in your last session and will process new images accordingly.
Show Clipping
Press “X” on the keyboard to show clipped areas. Clipped areas will be shown white. By default, SmartConverts avoids any clipping.
Image navigation
Use "Next/Previous Image” buttons to move between images.
Press “Enter” key to go to the next image.
Click on a thumbnail image to move to that image.
Click on the image counter above the image and enter a number.
Export Images
Click “Export Selection” to export only the images selected in the thumbnail view.
Click” Export All” to export all images
Specify an export folder, then select if you want to export JPG, TIFF or both. You can automatically downsize the exported images to a certain resolution, if needed. This will apply to both JPG and TIFF. JPGs are exported with AdobeRGB profile embedded. TIFFs are exported with sRGB color profile. TIFFs are exported as uncompressed 16bit files (huge file size!)
Advanced Settings
Go to Settings → Advanced Settings to configure specific settings and paths:
“Load RAW files with FULL resolution”: This has NO effect on preview quality. It is ONLY needed for some specific Fuji RAW files, which get distorted when imported with downsized resolution. DO NOT activate unless necessary. Otherwise, this will only reduce import speed.
AutoCrop search radius: The area where AutoCrop looks for the image frame. If your frames have very little border, choose the smallest setting.
HotFolder path: Specify a HotFolder to automatically import images from.
FlatField correction image: Correction image of the plain light source.
Application appearance and theme.
Activate Slide-Mode (for processing positive film).
Change color noise reduction strength (0-10). This helps reducing color noise from the camera sensor.
Processor cores: Number of processor cores that SmartConvert is allowed to use. By default this is set to 50% of available cores. In most cases, this gives best performance. Reduce the value if you encounter crashes or software stalls. A higher value does not necessarily lead to better performance!
Upgrading
If a new version of SmartConvert is available, you will be notified when opening the App.
Each version of SmartConvert is a separate, standalone App.
Download the new SmartConvert version to a new location, separate from your existing one. Otherwise, the file will get renamed by the system and break.
There is no visual indication for the download progress of the update file. Please keep SmartConvert running and manually check for the download to be completed (the update file is around 80MB on Windows and 150MB on Mac).