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Film emulation software doesn’t come cheap, but for those who want to get quality results without spending a bundle, this offer is perfect for you. Until October 31st, 2013, DxO and Sony are partnering to give away free licenses for DxO FilmPack 3 Essential Edition. It’s not the latest version (they’re currently on Version 4), but it still works just fine and produces great results. For photographers who want to mimic the look of film in their photos, this is a great piece of software that some stores are still selling. It’s a good alternative for those not willing or able to shell out for the latest versions of DxO FilmPack, VSCO Film, or AlienSkin Exposure.
We took advantage of this offer and gave it a try — the download is 174mb and will work on Mac or PC and can be used as a standalone program or as a plugin for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, or Aperture. The license key was delivered by email, but found its way into the spam folder, so be sure to check for it there if it doesn’t arrive quickly. Installation was simple and we were able to begin using it within minutes.
To get an idea of what kind of results you can get with Dxo FilmPack 3, we took this sample image and applied several of the film presets that we’ve organized in a gallery below the original.
Click to see these film-emulation samples larger
Get DxO FilmPack 3 Here