FOR CAPTURE ONE 12

OR CAPTURE ONE 20

V1.1
1
Chapter 1: Introduction 4
About this guide 4
Why Capture One for Fuji Shooters? 5
Capture One 20 6
What’s new in this edition (v1.1) 6
Capture One Editions 7
Capture One Pro 7
Capture One Pro Fuji Version 7
Capture One Express Fuji Version 7

Chapter 2: Setup & Tips 8

Installing the Bonus Presets 8
Understanding the difference between Styles and Presets 9
Installing Presets 9
Improving the screen preview quality 11
Setting Preview Size 12
Using Recipe Proofing to create a Better Preview [PRO] 13
Important Common Tasks 15
How to save and apply presets [PRO*] 15
How to Save and Apply Styles [PRO]* 16
Stack Styles (and presets) 17
Applying Styles & Presets on Import 18
Setting Defaults [PRO] 18
Viewing Before and After 20
Raw & Jpeg Pairs in Capture One 21
Viewing at 1:1 22
Summary 22

Chapter 3: Working with Fuji Raw Files 23

Setting the Fuji Film Simulations 23
Where are the Film Simulations Located? 24
Setting the Film Simulation modes to automatically match what you shot in Camera 25
Manually Selecting the Film Simulations 25
Syncing changes to all images 26
Lens Corrections 27
Manually selecting a Lens Profile 28
Chromatic Aberration 28

2
 Purple Fringing 29
Diffraction Correction 29
Sharpness Correction 30
Light Falloff 30
Matching Shadow and Highlight Tone Options 31
Shadow Tone 31
Highlight Tone 33
Dynamic Range 34
HDR Tool in Capture One 20 36
Do you need to use DR in camera when shooting RAW? 36
Matching Grain [PRO] 37
Summary 37

Chapter 4: Sharpening & Noise Reduction 38

Why you need to sharpen raw files 39
Why is input sharpening so important 40
How Sharpening works in Capture One 43
The Main Sharpening Controls 44
Noise Reduction 46
My Recommendations for Settings in Capture One 48
Step 1: Reduce the Threshold 48
Step 2: Change the Radius for 16mp Cameras 49
Step 3: Reduce the Luminance Noise Reduction 49
Suggested Settings Ranges 50
Nose Reduction in Capture One 20 50
Fixing Moiré [PRO] 51
Bonus Tip: Use Layers to separate Input Sharpening and Creative Sharpening [PRO] 52
Summary 52

Conclusion 53
Appendix A - About the Bonus Presets 54
Sharpening Presets 54
Noise Reduction Presets 55

3
Chapter 1: Introduction

About this guide

The idea behind this guide is to provide Fuji shooters with enough knowledge to get

started working with Fuji RAW files in Capture One. While processing Fuji RAW files in

Capture One no longer requires a significantly different workflow to using RAW files from

other cameras, there are still some idiosyncrasies with Fuji files and some things that

require specific techniques. This guide outlines those, and also some of the other areas that

will help when working with Fuji RAW files.

This eBook is not designed as a complete manual replacement and it does not cover every

single tool and function of Capture One. This guide assumes a basic knowledge of Capture

One. You should know how to open the application and navigate around the interface. You

don’t have to be an expert but you should know the absolute basics. It also only briefly talks

about working with JPEGs in the software, and is primarily aimed at working with RAW files.

4
Why Capture One for Fuji Shooters?

If you’re reading this you have probably already decided to at least give Capture One a try.

For photographers shooting with Fuji X-Trans cameras, getting the best from your camera’s

RAW files can sometimes seem like a challenge, especially if you’ve been mostly using

Lightroom. Because of the way Lightroom converts Fuji RAW files, there can often be

smearing of fine detail, leading to a water colour effect, as well as issues with strange

“worm” like artifacting in areas of solid colour. While not everyone is bothered by these

issues, for many, it is a reason to consider other methods of converting RAW files.

For Fuji X-trans shooters, Capture One uses a different engine that doesn’t suffer the same

artefacts that Lightroom does when converting Fuji X-Trans files. But this isn’t the only

reason one might consider using Capture One

For those using Fuji’s medium format cameras, even though they use a more traditional

Bayer sensor design, the software still offers advantages. Capture One is a very powerful

image editor in its own right, and the software was originally designed as a front-end for

medium format cameras. Over the years it has become more mainstream and is one of the

primary challengers to Lightroom in the photo workflow space. The software has many

advantages, including an advanced toolset, layers and many more features that make it a

powerful photography application.

Capture One has supported Fuji cameras for a while, but in version 12, that support is taken

to a new level. Version 12 of the application increased compatibility with Fuji RAW files, in

part thanks to a collaboration with Fujifilm and also brought support for Fuji’s medium

format cameras, as well as official Fuji film simulation modes for selected models. This,

coupled with an extensive toolset, gives Fuji shooters a powerful alternative for processing

Fuji RAW files.

5
Capture One 20
In December of 2019, Capture One 20 was released. While most of the changes in the

software don’t really affect the advice for Fuji Shooters in Capture One, there are a few

things that will affect how you work. As some people may not upgrade, this book will

maintain compatibility with version 12, and will offer alternative advice for version 20 where

appropriate. These sections will be indicated when necessary.

The areas that this primarily affects are as follows:

• Matching the in-camera Dynamic Range Options

• Guidance for Noise Reduction

Note that this information is preliminary as Capture One 20 has only just been released at the time of writing.

What’s new in this edition (v1.1)

This version of the guide has been updated in December 2019. It includes the following

changes:

• Clarified that the advice in this guide works for Fuji cameras with Bayer sensors as well

as X-Trans Cameras.

• Added Information about Capture One 20.

• Fixed typos

Note: The supplied presets have not been changed, so if you have already installed these

from a previous version of the guide, you don’t need to re-install.

6
Capture One Editions
There are a number of different version of Capture One available, some of the features vary

slightly depending on the version.

Capture One Pro

This is the standard “Pro”version of Capture One. It offers all the available tools, and it will

work with all supported cameras. It is available as both a perpetual licence and as a

subscription.

Capture One Pro Fuji Version

This is a version of Capture One Pro specifically for Fuji shooters. This has the full feature set

of Capture One, but is limited to working with supported Fujifilm cameras.

Capture One Express Fuji Version

This is the free cut-down version of Capture One. It still offers the same RAW processing

engine, and Fujifilm support but its features are significantly limited compared to the full

version of the software.

This guide is primarily written for the “Pro” version of Capture One, and some of the tools

and techniques discussed here may not work fully, or at all, with the express version. To

help users differentiate, any area of this guide requires one of the pro versions will have the

[PRO] designation in the title of that section.

7
Chapter 2: Setup & Tips

In this chapter we will look at some quick set-up tips to make working with Capture One a

little easier. We will also look at some common tasks that you should know for use in

Capture One that will also help you use the tips and workflows discussed later in this

eBook.

Installing the Bonus Presets

This guide comes with a number of presets to help you quickly set common settings like

sharpening and noise reduction. These presets are there to help you but shouldn’t be

considered an alternative for understanding how the settings work and for coming up with

your own preferences. Later in this guide, I will show you how to work with sharpening and

noise reduction in Capture One, and how to understand what it is doing. The presets

should be used in conjunction with that knowledge, and are just a starting point. You will

always get the best results from using your own judgement and settings.

8
Understanding the difference between Styles and Presets

If you’re not already familiar with the terminology in Capture One, it is important to

understand what Styles and Presets are.

Styles are a collection of settings that can control multiple adjustments at once. In other

words, applying a Style will set lots of different parameters on your image. If you’re coming

from Lightroom, “Styles" in Capture One are the same as Lightroom’s Develop Presets.

Presets, on the other hand, are settings for a single adjustment. These settings are found in

the pop-up menu that is on the top corner of individual adjustments. This guide comes with

presets for Sharpening and Noise Reduction. Once you install these, you will find them in

the pop-up menu at the top corner of the respective panel. We will cover this in more detail

later in the guide.

Installing Presets

There is no simple way to install the presets, so you’ll have to install them manually. Luckily

this is fairly straight forward, and you should be able to install the presets easily.

On a Mac

1. Quit Capture One

2. Locate the “Bonus Presets” folder that you just downloaded with this eBook. Inside

this there are two folders. Copy the entire folder of sharpening presets: “Fuji

Sharpening” by selecting the folder and pressing Command + C or choosing Copy

form the edit menu.

3. Navigate to the following place in the finder. The easiest way to do this is go to the

Finder and then from the Go menu choose Go To Folder.… Then copy and paste the

9
 following path into the dialog that pops up:

~/Library/Application Support/Capture One/ …And click ok.

4. Once here, you may need to create folders if they don’t already exist. If you don’t see

the following folder: “Presets60” create it. Make sure to label this exactly. Now open

this folder and if it doesn’t already exist, create another folder inside this

called: “Sharpening”. If these folders already exist, just navigate inside them.

5. Open this folder and paste the Fuji Sharpening folder in here. Repeat this process

for the Fuji Noise Reduction presets. The folder you need to copy into inside the

Presets 60 folder should be called Noise Reduction. As with sharpening, if you don’t

see this folder you will need to create it.

On a PC

1. Quit Capture One

2. Locate the “Bonus Presets” folder that you just downloaded with this eBook. Inside

this there are two folders. Copy the entire folder of sharpening presets labelled: “Fuji

Sharpening” by selecting it and pressing Ctrl + C or by right clicking on the directory

and choosing copy.

3. Navigate to the following place in the Windows Explorer.

C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\CaptureOne\

4. Once here, you may need to create directories if they don’t already exist. If you don’t

see the following directory: “Presets60” create it. Make sure to label this exactly.

Now open this directory and create another folder inside this called: “Sharpening”. If

these directories already exist, just navigate inside them.

5. Open this directory and paste the Fuji Sharpening folder in here.

6. Repeat this process for the Fuji Noise Reduction presets. The folder you need to

copy into inside the Presets 60 folder should be called Noise Reduction. As with

sharpening, if you don’t see this folder you will need to create it.

10
Note that if you’re on a PC you may see a directory labelled “_MacOSX” This is a special

Mac folder and you can just ignore it on the PC.

NOTE: This method will create a sub folder in the preset menus. If you would prefer not to have
your presets in a sub-menu copy the contents of this folders rather than the folder itself.

Improving the screen preview quality

Like many photo workflow applications, Capture One uses a “preview” system when

displaying images in its browser. This is a lower resolution version of the actual RAW file.

The software does this to speed up the application when users are browsing and editing, as

it doesn’t have to load the full resolution RAW file off of the disk every time. However,

because it is a preview there are a number of limitations. Certain things like sharpening are

only approximated, and certain things like aberration correction and fringing aren’t

rendered fully either.

In order to see these properly, you need to view the image at 1:1. The other problem is that

previews can sometimes appear soft. This depends on the display that you are using, and

high dpi or retina displays exhibit this issue less than older non-retina displays. You may

also find that vertical or portrait orientation images appear softer than landscape ones.

Luckily there is a way to get a very accurate representation of what your final image will look

like, especially if you plan to export it to the web. It involves using a function in Capture

One Pro called Recipe Proofing. We will get to that shortly, but first, you need to set the

preview settings.

This is an entirely optional step. If you’re happy with the way Capture One previews work, then you
can skip this section, however, I recommend doing these steps as it is a valuable tool. This technique
may have a limited effect if you are using a very high resolution display such as a 5K display.

11
Setting Preview Size

Before we get to that, it’s first important to look at the settings for the previews. Previews

can take up a lot of space in Capture One’s library. This is because previews are not just

Jpeg previews as they are in some other applications. Instead, they behave more like

“smart previews” in Lightroom, and will allow you to edit the image, including highlight

recovery etc, even if the original RAW file is disconnected.

To change the preview settings here’s what to do:

1. Open the Preferences window by choosing Preferences from the Capture One menu

on a Mac or the Edit menu on a PC.

2. Once in the preferences window click on the Image tab.

3. Here you will see a pop-up menu for preview size. This menu will give you a list of

available preview resolutions. It is recommended that you set the to be one size larger

12
 than the longest dimension of your current screen resolution. For example, if you have a

screen that is 2560 X 1440 then select the next largest size which would be 2880.

4. Close the preferences window.

Capture One will not regenerate previews automatically unless you tell it to. In other words,

if you already had a lot of images imported into your library, they will remain at the old

resolution. To regenerate previews here’s what to do:

1. Select the images for which you wish to generate previews.

2. From the image menu choose “Regenerate Previews”.

Using Recipe Proofing to create a Better Preview [PRO]

Now that you have set the preview size, you can proceed to set up recipe proofing so that

you can get an accurate preview of what the image will look

like when exported. Recipe proofing is designed to show

you the effects of scaling and compression will have on your

final image, however it only works properly if you set a

recipe that will scale the image below the size of the current

preview window. Once you do this it will not only show

compression and colour space, but it will also fully render

things like aberration correction, sharpening and so on, and

thus give you a preview that would be as accurate as if you had exported the image at that

resolution. As you may not have a recipe set up at the right resolution for this effect to kick

in, the best thing to do is to create one especially for this purpose. Here’s what to do:

1. Go to the Output tool-tab on the Capture One interface. It’s the single cog icon.

2. Click on the + button at the bottom of the Process Recipes panel to create a new

recipe.
13
3. Name this “Proofing” (or something similar).

4. Most of the options can be set as default and don’t matter as you’re only going to use

this for proofing. The important things to set are as follows:

5. Set the ICC Profile to sRGB Colour Space Profile.

6. Set the Scale to Width x Height and set a resolution that is slightly smaller than the

current preview area. You will have to guess (or measure) the resolution for this. On a

2560 X 1440 display a resolution of 1850 X 1200 works. The most important thing is that

the resolution is small enough to trigger the proper rendering. It needs to be less than

the size of the preview window. It may take a bit of trial and error to get this right.

7. Under the Adjustments tab of the Process Recipe, make sure Sharpening is set to “No

Output Sharpening”

8. Make sure your newly created profile is selected in the list of process recipes. It doesn’t

have to be checked, it just has to be selected.

9. To enable proofing on an image, click on the Recipe Proofing icon on the toolbar. This

is the icon that looks like a pair of glasses. When you do this the icon will appear

illuminated, and you will see a badge on the main preview window that says “Proofing”

which lets you know that proofing is enabled.

10. Having proofing enabled slows down editing in Capture One, so it might be best to

disable it again once you’ve evaluated your image. You also won’t be able to zoom into

1:1 when proofing is active. You can work with this option enabled but it will slow the

performance of the application.

14
Important Common Tasks
There are lots of tasks that you may need to regularly do in Capture One that may not be

familiar to you if you are relatively new to the software. These are things that will help your

workflow, and you may need to do if following along later in this guide. So here is an

explanation of some of these common tasks, which will be helpful to you when working in

Capture One.

Because there are users with many different skill levels that may be reading this guide, rather

than fill it up with lots of tips for things many people may already know, the following section

is limited to some of the tasks that are important to the workflows and tips outlined later in

this guide (or that I feel are important to know!). If you are a more advanced user, you may

already know how to do some or all of these, so feel free to skip ahead.

How to save and apply presets [PRO*]

As mentioned earlier in this chapter, presets are a way to save settings for an individual

adjustment panel. You can save presets for almost all adjustments in Capture One, and then

recall them by selecting the saved preset from the pop-up menu. You can also apply

multiple presets to a set of images on import. To save presets here’s what to do:

1. On any adjustment or panel that supports presets, click on the presets menu (which

looks like three horizontal lines) and choose Save User Preset.

2. From the dialog that pops up, select the options to save as and click “Save”.

3. A save dialog will appear. Name the preset whatever you want, but make sure not to

delete or change the file extension. If you want to create a sub-menu for your settings,

you can do so by creating a sub folder in this dialog.

4. Click Save to save the preset.

5. To apply a preset that you saved, you can simply select it from the same pop-up menu.

15
How to Save and Apply Styles [PRO]*

While presets are settings for individual adjustment panels, Styles can contain multiple

adjustments. You can store almost anything you can adjust in Capture One as part of a style,

and they can include everything from colour adjustments to noise reduction and

sharpening. For those coming from Lightroom, Capture One’s “styles” are more like

Lightroom’s Develop module presets than Capture One’s presets.

There are several ways to apply and save styles in Capture One. The easiest is to use the

Adjustments tool tab. On the interface this is the tab that looks like a little clipboard. Here

you will find all the installed Styles and Presets grouped into Built in Styles and User Styles.

To Save a Style, first make whatever adjustments that you need to make and then complete

the following steps.

1. Switch to the Adjustments tool tab.

2. From the … popup menu choose: Save User Style…

3. This will bring up a window with a set of checkboxes for all of the saveable adjustments.

Any adjustment that you had made to the image you were working on should be

checked. If you don’t want to save these as part of the Style then uncheck the setting

that you don’t want saved. Similarly, if you want something to be saved that hasn’t been

adjusted, for example if you want a particular setting to revert to zero when the style is

applied, then check the checkbox for that particular adjustment.

4. When you have all the necessary parameters checked, click Save.

5. This will bring up an open and save dialog. You can name the style and save it in the

default location. This will then show up in the root of the “User Styles” section in the

Adjustments tool-tab. If you want to create a sub category for your styles, simply save

them into a subfolder.

16
Once you have saved a style, recalling it is pretty straightforward. Simply locate the style

you want to apply in the Styles and Presets tool of the Adjustments tool-tab and click on it

to apply it. You can also hover over styles here and you will get a full image preview on the

main window.

Stack Styles (and presets)

Capture One has two different modes for what to do when applying multiple styles to an

image. In the default mode, adjustments from a new style will override adjustments from

the style previously applied. However there is also an option called “Stack Styles”. When

this option is checked Capture One will apply multiple styles to an image and attempt to

combine them.

This also works for presets. Where this comes in useful is if you have saved different styles

of presets with subsets of adjustments saved. For example, if you had one set of styles for

Sharpening, another for Noise reduction and so on, and you want to combine them on your

image as a set of tools. In this case make sure “Stack Styles” is turned on.

* Note: Saving styles and presets is limited to the pro version of Capture One, but the express version
can still apply presets and styles, so if you have the express version and install third party styles or
presets, they should still be available inside Capture One

17
Applying Styles & Presets on Import

If you find that you’re applying the same Styles or Presets to every image, then you can

actually apply Styles and Presets to animate on import. You can actually apply multiple

styles and presets by using the Stack Styles option above.

Here’s what to do:

1. Open the import dialog either by inserting a card into a card reader to trigger an import

session, or click on the import images button on the toolbar. Alternatively choose

“Import Images…” from the file menu

2. On the import window, in the Adjustments section, click on the Styles pop-up menu.

3. Using this menu navigate to the Style or Preset that you want to apply.

4. If you want to apply multiple presets or styles be sure that the Stack Styles option at the

top of this pop-up menu is checked.

5. As you add styles to the stack that will be applied, they will show up in this menu at the

top. To remove a style from the stack that will be applied on import, go to the Style or

Preset that you wish to remove from the list of applied styles and from the sub menu

choose “Remove”.

6. Once you’ve finished setting up the styles to be applied, continue to import as normal.

Setting Defaults [PRO]

In addition to Styles and Presets there is another useful way of remembering common

settings in Capture One, and that is to set new defaults. For most tool settings in Capture

One, you can save defaults. These will be the settings that are then applied every time a

new image is imported from the same make and model of camera. This can be very useful

for things like sharpening and noise reduction, which you may want to change from the

factory defaults. Rather than applying these changes every time, you can set new defaults.

18
The advantage of setting defaults over applying a style on import is that when you use the

reset button in Capture One to reset an image, it will reset to the settings that you set as

default. If you had chosen to apply a Style on import instead, then when you reset an image

it will be restored to the factory settings rather than those you applied as a style on import.

To set the defaults for any of the tool panels in the Capture One interface here’s what to do:

1. Select an image and make the adjustments that you wish to save as defaults. The image

must be taken with the same make and model of camera as the one for which you wish

to set defaults.

2. Go to the tool panel for which you wish to set defaults. Note that not all tools will let you

set defaults. One such example is the Lens corrections tool.

3. From the … pop-up menu on the top right hand corner of the panel choose: “Save as

Defaults for [Name of Camera]. “

4. This will bring up a dialog box asking you if you wish to set defaults for the selected

variants. Note that defaults are set on a per-image basis. Setting new defaults it won’t

override existing images in your catalogue unless you specifically tell it to.

5. This has now set the defaults for all new images.

6. To apply these defaults to existing images, select an image, go to the corresponding

panel and from the pop-up menu choose “Apply Defaults”

7. To reset to the factory settings, from the same menu choose: Reset Defaults For [name

of camera].

19
 Viewing Before and After

Capture One uses an odd interface for viewing before and after versions of your image

when editing. Quite a few users have written to me having found this confusing, or not

being able to find this feature at all.

To view the unedited version of an image while working on it, i.e., the “before” view, you

hold down the Option key (on a Mac) or Alt (on a PC) and click and hold on the reset

button in the main toolbar. While you option-hold down the reset button, you will see the

before view. When you release it you will go back to the current view.

You can also do this for individual tools. If you want to see what the default settings of a

particular tool are like while editing, hold down the option (mac) or alt (pc) key and click on

the individual tool’s reset button, located on the top of the tool’s panel. This will perform a

before and after view for just that tool.

Note: if you don’t see the reset icon on the toolbar, you can add it by going to the View menu and

choosing customise toolbar. This appears to be off by default in the express version of Capture

20
Raw & Jpeg Pairs in Capture One

If you shoot RAW + JPEG pairs, Capture One brings both files in together but treats them

as separate images. There’s no option to group the RAW + JPEG pairs together, however,

there are a couple of ways to manage the way that the software shows images when

working with both.

1. The first method is to hide the JPEG files automatically. There is an option to always hide

JPEG files so that you never have to see them unless you want to. The option is in the

View menu. Choose: View > Global Filters > Always Hide JPEG Files.

Note: If you use this method, you should only turn the filter on after importing images. If this
filter is on when importing images, only the RAW files will be imported.

2. The second method is to use the filter options in the Library tool-tab. This is the

first tab in the set of controls. Below the catalog collections and folders you should see

The Filters section. Here you can filter by star rating, colour label, keywords and so on.

To use this to hide JPEG files (or RAW files) find the heading that says “Format” and

click on the little circle in the pill shape that’s around the number of files of each type

(see the screenshot below)

This will then only show those type of files. You can command-click (Ctrl + click on a PC)

options in this panel to select multiple filters. This is useful if you’ve processed some

images in Photoshop for example, and you want to hide the JPEG files, but show both

RAW and Tiff (or RAW + PSD). In this case you would command click on the circle for

both RAW files and Tiff files.

21
 Viewing at 1:1
When performing certain adjustments in Capture One, it’s really important to view your

images at 1:1. While “pixel peeping” may be considered taboo, it's important in certain

situations, because Capture One doesn't properly render certain settings at lower zoom

ratios. In addition, if you are viewing at a ratio other than 1:1, then the image is being

anti-aliased for display, and this will reduce the effect of the sharpening as you view the

image.

We have already discussed using recipe proofing to create a better preview, but even

using this technique, there are times when it is advised to view your images at 1:1 when

adjusting them. The tools for which this is most important are as follows:

Tool Reason

Sharpening Sharpening isn’t properly rendered when zoomed out,

and the softening effect an also distort the settings
used. Use 1:1 to avoid over sharpening.

Noise Reduction Not rendered properly at 1:1. Anti-aliasing of zoomed

out image may make noise reduction appear more
effective than it actually is.

Chromatic Aberration & Purple Fringing Not properly rendered when zoomed out

Grain Not properly rendered when zoomed out

Summary
In this chapter we looked at setting up Capture One to improve the way it previews

images, discussed how to install the companion presets from this guide and talked

about some of the common tasks that may be less than obvious for people new to the

software, but which will be important later in this guide. In the next chapter we will

discuss Fujifilm specific adjustments that you should make to optimise the software for

working with Fuji files.

22
Chapter 3: Working with Fuji Raw
Files

In this chapter we’re going to look at the various settings and workflows for Capture One

that are specific to working with Fuji files. The two most important things that you will need

to be aware of are how to set Fuji film simulations, and how to adjust the sharpening and

noise reduction (covered in chapter 4). We will also look at matching the in-camera

dynamic range settings, some notes about lens corrections, and how to optimise your

workflow with custom defaults or styles so that you don’t have to set these parameters

every time you launch Capture One.

Setting the Fuji Film Simulations

Version 12 of Capture One added Fuji’s Film Simulation picture modes to the software, but

unfortunately not for all cameras. If you have a first generation X-Trans camera, such as an X-

Pro 1, X-T1 etc you will not have official film simulation support. You need to have one of the

23
second generation 24mp or newer cameras to have support. The GFX medium format

cameras are also supported.

Where are the Film Simulations Located?

You can find the settings for the film simulation modes in the Base Characteristics tool,

which is located on the “Colour” tool tab . With a .RAF file selected, you will see that

the ICC profile should be corresponding to the camera that you are using, and you will find

the film simulation profiles in the “Curve” pop-up. You must have a RAW file selected in

order to see the film simulations. If you don’t see the film simulations here, and you have

a .RAF file selected, then your camera is most likely not supported. In addition to the Fuji

Film simulations, in this list you should also see the Capture One defaults which are: “Film

Extra Shadow”, “Film High Contrast” and “Film Standard” and “Linear Response”.

24
Setting the Film Simulation modes to automatically match what you
shot in Camera

The default mode of Capture One 12 and later is to automatically match the RAW file to the

simulation mode you used when you shot the image. For example, if you had Provia

selected when you took the photo, Capture One will automatically set the corresponding

film simulation mode. However, the interface is a little confusing on this.

To have Capture One automatically set the film simulation mode to match the in-camera

setting, you simply set the Curve option in the Base Characteristics panel to “Auto”. This

will then automatically choose the corresponding simulation mode to the one you shot

with. Unfortunately though, the panel just displays “Auto” and doesn’t actually show you

which mode you had selected. There doesn’t

seem to be any way to display the mode actually

used either, however the correct film simulation

profile will be set.

Manually Selecting the Film Simulations

To manually select a film simulation mode for an image, then simply select one of the

options from the “Curve” pop-up menu on the base characteristics panel. The Fuji specific

curves are prefaced with the name “Fujifilm” and contain options that match the settings

you find in camera, such as “Provia”, “Velvia” and so on.

Unlike Lightroom, these curves aren’t locked to a specific camera, so you can actually select

a mode that isn’t necessarily supported by your camera. At the time of writing, this primarily

means that you can use “Eterna” on an unsupported camera. For example, if you have an

X-T2 or X-Pro2 you can still use Eterna, by selecting it from the pop-up menu.

25
Syncing changes to all images

If you have manually selected a film simulation mode and wish to then sync this to the rest

of the images in your folder or album, then here’s what to do.

1. Select the image you have made changes to

2. Select all the other images in your folder or album by using the keyboard shortcut

Command+ A (Ctrl + A on a PC) or choosing Select All from the Select Menu.

3. The image that you are working on should have a thick grey outline indicating that it is

the primary select (in other words, this will be your source image)

4. Ensure that “Edit all selected variants” is enabled. You can do this from the

Image menu or by clicking its icon on the toolbar. It is the icon that looks

like a stack of images and can be found on the top right of the interface. If it

is enabled it will be orange, and in the menu the menu option will have a tick beside it.

5. On the base characteristics panel click on the copy and apply settings button. This is the

one that looks like a little double arrow.

6. From the window that opens, click on the “Apply” button. This will sync the settings to

all your other selected images.

7. Deselect your images by using the shortcut Command + Shift + A (Ctrl + Shift +A on a

PC).

TIP: if you’re a new Capture One user that has migrated from Lightroom, beware of the keyboard

shortcut for deselecting images. In Lightroom this is Command + D, but in Capture One this will

duplicate your images. If you have a lot of images selected and you use the incorrect shortcut, you

could end up with a lot of duplicate files. The correct keyboard shortcut to deselect all is Command +

Shift + A (Ctrl + Shift + A on a PC)

26
Lens Corrections
Capture One uses a system of lens profiles for its lens corrections, although it can use

embedded manufacturer data too. The software will use the images metadata to

automatically detect the lens that was used when the image was shot, and apply the correct

profile automatically. If there is no corresponding profile it should default to “Manufacturer

Profile” with most Fuji cameras, which uses the metadata in the RAW file to compensate for

lens aberrations. You will find the lens correction tool in the “Lens” tool tab.

If there is no manufacturer profile available, and no corresponding lens profile, then it

means that lens is not supported. In that case it will default to “generic”. Most Fuji lenses

have either a profile or are supported by embedded metadata. For some lenses there will

be both a Capture One lens profile and the embedded metadata powered “Manufacturer

Profile”. In these cases the stand alone profile may be better, but not in all cases. In some

instances the profile doesn’t support every feature of Capture One’s lens corrections tool,

and in those cases you may need to switch to the manufacturer profile.

Lens corrections will compensate for distortion and chromatic aberration automatically,

however some other parameters may need to be set manually.

27
 Manually selecting a Lens Profile

If you are shooting with a manual or non-Fuji lens using an adaptor, you can still apply a

lens correction profile for that lens if it is available. You can select a profile by clicking on

the Profile pop-up menu in the Lens tab of the Lens Correction tool-tab. This menu is

organised by manufacturer, so select the manufacturer first, and then select the lens.

Capture One has a fairly big lens database, but it is perhaps not quite as comprehensive as

Lightroom’s. Because of this there may occasionally be times where you can’t find a profile.

In this case you will need to set it to “generic pincushion” and set the distortion manually.

Chromatic Aberration

The Chromatic Aberration option should be automatically checked for most Fuji lenses,

whether you’re using either the separate lens profile or the manufacturer profile. In most

cases this should do an adequate job of correcting basic aberration. However, if you think

it’s not quite doing a good enough job, you can also have Capture One analyse the image

for aberrations. Most of the time this doesn’t make much of a difference, but I have found

that on rare occasions it is marginally more effective.

To do this, from the … menu located beside “Chromatic Aberration” on the Lens tab,

choose “Analyse”. This takes a few seconds to show the results. You should almost never

need to use this feature, but it’s good to be aware of it, just in case.

Tip: Remember when checking for chromatic aberration that you need to zoom to 1:1 to avoid Capture

One’s preview system which sometimes doesn’t display corrections properly. (See chapter 1)

28
Purple Fringing
This is another form of chromatic aberration, which often manifests itself around high

contrast edges. While the term used in Capture One is “purple fringing” it is not always

purple. Sometimes it can be green or blue too. You most often find this on lenses with wide

apertures (f/1.4 etc) or with cheaper optics, but it can occur on any lens in the right

circumstances. Using the purple fringing slider can compensate for this.

The purple fringing slider is located on the Lens Correction tool tab, usually below

the Lens Correction panel if you’re using the default layout. Simply drag the slider up to

eliminate the fringing. It is not always 100% effective but it should help reduce these kinds

of artefacts.

Diffraction Correction

This is a form of pre-sharpening designed to combat

lens diffraction. This is the softening that can occur

when shooting an image stoped down at higher f-stop

numbers, usually higher than f/8, but it depends on

the lens. Capture One can compensate for this using

the “Diffraction Correction” option in the Lens panel. This uses a sharpening method

known as deconvolution sharpening, and it can be quite effective at compensating for

diffraction softness. However, I suggest using this with caution, as it can also lead to over-

sharpening. It can be very effective though, especially if you find that your image has a

degree of softness and you have used a narrow aperture (high f-stop number). The best

approach with this control is not to leave it on all the time, but to check how it looks on a

per image basis.

You need to check this at 1:1 to properly determine the effect it is having on your image

29
Sharpness Correction

This is another control that is designed to compensate for lens optics, and should not be

confused with the main sharpening controls which will be covered in the next chapter.

The Sharpness… slider in the Lens correction panel corrects for edge softness on lenses.

This uses the profile to compensate for the falloff in sharpness that happens with some

lenses, by increasing the sharpness towards the edge of the image.

To use this feature, simply drag the slider to the right to control the amount of lens

sharpness compensation to use. This requires a compatible lens profile and not all profiles

are supported. This may also not work when using the “Manufacturer Profile”. As with the

diffraction correction option, this can be very effective but can also cause some over-

sharpening if you’re not careful, so use this control sparingly.

Light Falloff

In order to correct for Lens vignetting, you use the Light Falloff slider. As with the other

adjustments, this depends on the lens profile, and may be disabled for some profiles. A

value of 100 should eliminate any lens vignette depending on the profile, however the

slider lets you go above 100 should you need to. If you find that this slider is disabled, you

can try switching from the Capture One profile to the Manufacturer profile in the Profile

Pop-up.

30 Light Falloff Disabled Light Falloff Enabled

Matching Shadow and Highlight Tone Options
If you have changed the shadow and highlight tone options on the camera you may find

that when you import the images into Capture One, the contrast will appear to be different.

This is especially true if you have increased the shadow tone. If you want you can use some

of Capture One’s tools to compensate, although you may not be able to exactly replicate

the effect.

Tip: While the following sections will show you how to match some of the in-camera Fuji

options when shooting RAW it is often best to just adjust your images visually. Trying to get

an exact match to the JPEG may be a long and complicated process, and often you will

never exactly match it. Instead, the best thing to do is adjust your images usually in Capture

One to suit your own tastes and needs. If you want to get close with certain options, read on.

Shadow Tone
Matching the shadow tone setting can be done a variety of ways. The in-camera function

works by compressing the shadow side of the tone curve, and you can create a similar

effect in Capture One by using the curves tool. Here’s what to do:

1. Create a point on the curve in at the mid point

2. Create another point just below that toward the

left side of the mid point (see diagram below)

3. Now, at the quarter way point, add another point

to the cube and drag this down to match positive

in-camera shadow tone options, or up to match

negative values. You only want to drag a small

amount as too large and adjustment will look false.

4. If you find this is affecting too much of the shadow tones, move the centre points closer

to the base of the curve, but this setup should work for most parts.
31
Alternatively you can use the Colour Balance [PRO] tool to adjust the shadows. The colour

balance tool is sometimes called the “three way colour corrector", and can be found on the

Colour tool tab. To adjust the black levels to roughly match the shadow tone options here’s

what to do.

1. Go to the Colour Balance Tool in the Colour tool tab

2. Click on the “Shadow” heading to select the shadow wheel. You can just use the

shadow wheel from the three way colour corrector, but by using the shadow wheel, you

can get finer control over the adjustments.

3. In this tool there are 3 main controls. On the left is a saturation control, or controlling the

saturation of the effect, in the middle is the main colour adjustment control, which you

use for tinting the shadows, mids or highlights (in this case shadows) and on the right is

a brightness adjustment slider, which will increase the brightness in which ever control

you're using, again, in this case, the shadows. This is the control we want to use for

matching the shadow tone option.

4. Dragging this slider down, will decrease the brightness in the shadow areas (i.e make

them darker). This will correspond to a positive shadow tone setting in-camera.

Dragging this control up, will increase the black point and make the blacks brighter.

This corresponds to a negative shadow tone value in-camera. It’s not exact, but it is

similar. Increasing the shadows using this control may result in some raised black levels.

32
Highlight Tone
Matching the highlight tone is a little more complicated. The way it works in the camera is

by compressing the highlight portion of the tone curve. There’s no easy way to exactly

match this in Capture One, but to achieve a similar effect, there are a number of options.

1. Use the Highlight control on the Colour Balance tool [PRO]. This won’t be exact, but

will have a similar effect.

1. To do this, go to the colour balance tool, and select the Highlight wheel.

2. Drag the levels control (see above) up to match positive values, and down to match

negative values.

2. Use the Highlights Slider in the High Dynamic Range tool.

1. This allows you to do a little highlight recovery. This isn’t the same as the way the

highlight tone option works in-camera, and it can only work to bring down the

highlights (the equivalent to a negative highlight tone setting) but you may find this

result more natural looking.

3. Use the Curves Tool

1. To create a similar effect to the highlight tone option using curves, you need to do

the same as you did for the shadow tone options, only on the upper part of the

curve. Again, this won’t be exact, but should create a similar effect, to an extent.

33
 2. For Positive Highlight Tone options drag the upper part of the curve up. For negative

Highlight tone options drag the curve down. See the diagram below for examples.

As I said at the beginning, unfortunately, none of these options exactly match what you will

get in-camera, but by combining these three techniques, you may be able to get a more

pleasing or more natural result. Personally, I just use the highlights slider in the HDR tool,

but I never try and replicate the in-camera options exactly, preferring instead to achieve a

desirable result visually, rather than try and match the cameras output exactly.

Tip: If you are happy with these results then save them as a curves preset. That way you can quickly
recall them in the future without having to re-create the curve each time. See Chapter 1 for
instructions.

Dynamic Range
One of the commonly used in-camera settings on Fuji cameras is the Dynamic Range

settings, or as it’s referred to on the camera: DR. What the Dynamic Range expansion does

is allow you to capture more information in the shadow and highlight areas when shooting

JPEG files than you normally would be able to, effectively extending the dynamic range of

the shot. However, this information doesn’t translate directly into the RAW files when

working with Capture One.

34
Fuji’s dynamic range expansion works by shooting at a higher ISO, then underexposing the

image at the time of capture so as not to clip highlights. It then increases the effective

exposure for the resulting file from the underexposed sensor data so that it gives a

correctly exposed image, but with greater dynamic range in the highlights.

When shooting with DR400 for example, the camera underexposes the image by 2 stops

and then recovers the data back to give a correct exposure, compressing the highlights so

that they are not clipped. For DR200 it does the same underexposure trick but only by one

stop. The in-camera DR settings only really work properly on JPEG files however, as they

require in-camera processing.

While the DR settings in the camera work well for maintaining highlights, there are some

tradeoffs. You are effectively underexposing the image when you do this, and then re-

adjusting the exposure. Fuji’s RAW files are very flexible and can recover a good amount of

information from the shadows and highlights without having to resort to such exposure

manipulation tricks, so you can achieve similar results just by manipulating the RAW file.

If you do use the DR settings on the camera then the file should be read properly by

Capture One, and it will compensate for the exposure adjustment used by this method on

the camera (earlier RAW converters could sometimes display files captured using the DR

settings as underexposed). It does not, however, correctly adjust the highlight and shadow

recovery to match the highlight compression and shadow recovery that occur in-camera

when using the DR modes. You can easily do this yourself though by using the Shadow

and Highlight sliders in the High Dynamic Range tool of the Exposure Tool Tab.

The high dynamic range tool is fairly self explanatory. To increase highlight recovery drag

the highlight slider to the right. To increase shadow recovery drag the shadow slider to the

right. You can also manually enter values.

35
If you are unfamiliar with these sliders, here’s what to do to increase the dynamic range:

1. Switch to the Exposure Tool Tab

2. Scroll to the High Dynamic Range Tool.

3. To recover shadows drag the slider to the right. (If you’re coming from Lightroom then

this works in the opposite direction of the Lightroom slider.)

4. To recover highlights, drag the highlights slider to the right.

Capture One 12
Capture One 20

HDR Tool in Capture One 20

If you’re using Capture One 20, the High Dynamic Range tool has been changed. In this

version the “zero” values for shadow and highlights are now in the centre of the sliders, and

to recover highlight you now drag the slider to the left.

Do you need to use DR in camera when shooting RAW?

There is some debate as to whether or not there is any advantage when shooting RAW to

enabling the DR modes in-camera. Some people are of the opinion that, if you are shooting

RAW then you may be better off sticking with DR100, and just shooting as normal. The RAW

files have plenty of headroom to adjust the dynamic range in Capture One using the

Shadow and Highlight sliders, and you can achieve almost as much highlight recovery by

just using the high dynamic range sliders on their own. There are still some minor

differences though. In my own testing I’ve found that by using the DR modes in camera,

even when shooting RAW, you can recover a fraction more detail from the files compared

to not using the DR modes. However, it should be noted that the difference is pretty subtle,

and by sticking with DR100 in camera, you retain the ability to shoot at lower ISO values.

36
Matching Grain [PRO]
If you use the in-camera grain function on your Fuji camera (if your model has that function),

this won’t be translated to the RAW file when you import it into Capture One. However, if

you want to add grain to your image, then you can use Capture One Pro’s grain function.

To add grain, here’s what to do:

1. Zoom in to 1:1 on your image in order to properly evaluate grain adjustments.

2. Go to the Detail Tool Tab

3. Scroll down to the Film Grain Panel.

4. Set the Type to Silver Rich or Cubic.*

5. Set the amount to between 40 and 70 (to roughly match the in-camera options)

6. Set the Granularity to around 40

* While it is difficult to exactly match the in-camera grain, the Silver Rich or Cubic options

are the most natural looking and are most like real film grain.

Summary
In this chapter we looked at some of the common settings and adjustments you can do to

match what you may be familiar with from Fuji’s in-camera settings. We looked at how to set

the film simulation modes, and match the shadow and highlight tone options as well as

how to increase the dynamic range to match or simulate the Fuji DR settings. We also

covered additional useful tools like how to set lens correction and purple fringing

reduction. In the next chapter we will tackle the important subject of sharpening and noise

reduction, and how it affects Fujifilm images.

37
Chapter 4: Sharpening & Noise
Reduction

Sharpening is often one of the most misunderstood and yet most important aspects of

working with RAW files in any software. In early versions of Capture One, Fuji files required

very specific treatment to optimise the quality for the X-Trans output, but over the past few

versions the handling of Fuji Raw files has improved so much that they no longer need to

be treated differently from other RAW files. Fuji also has a number of cameras that use a

more traditional Bayer sensor rather than X-Trans, including the company’s GFX series

medium format cameras. Regardless of whether you are using an X-Trans camera or a Bayer

sensor camera, the advice is the same, and there are several things you can do to optimise

the sharpening in Capture One. In this chapter I will share a workflow for getting the best

quality and detail from your RAW files, and cover a way to speed up your workflow by

setting defaults.

38
Before that, it is important to understand why RAW files need to be sharpened. There is

often confusion about this, and why sharpening is so important.

Sharpening and Noise reduction go hand in hand in Capture One, and so, this chapter will

be structured as follows. First I will outline some of the theory behind sharpening and noise

reduction in Capture One, then I will discuss the settings you should use for both

sharpening and noise reduction, and how to change the defaults.

Why you need to sharpen raw files

There is a common misconception about sharpening photographs, that it is only done to

correct errors by the photographer. This misconception often manifests in comments that

are something along the lines of “you’d be better off learning to take pictures properly and

get them right in camera so they don’t need to be “sharpened”. The thing is though, the

reason you need to care about sharpening RAW files actually has nothing to do with

whether you captured your photos properly, or whether images are “sharp” in camera or

not. It’s actually to do with the way RAW files work.

There are three types of sharpening that you can do to a digital image. “Input

Sharpening” (sometimes called RAW sharpening or capture sharpening), “Creative

Sharpening” and “Output Sharpening”. Input sharpening is the first step and is not

39
something you should do without, as it is an important part of the RAW conversion process.

It deals with the way RAW files are captured and converted to a visible image. Creative

sharpening, as the name implies, is a creative choice, and can be used to enhance detail, or

to compensate for out of focus images and so on. Lastly output sharpening is used when

exporting an image to compensate for the effects of scaling, or when printing an image. In

this guide we will primarily concentrate on the first of these, input sharpening, as it is the

most important.

Why is input sharpening so important

When you take a photo on a modern digital camera, that image is captured by the sensor,

whose job it is to convert light into digital information - but basically, all a sensor does is

just measure the amount of light hitting the sensor at each of its individual elements, called

photosites. (Photosites are what you think of as “pixels” when you think of the “megapixels”

in an image.) What comes off the sensor wouldn’t be recognised as an image as we see it,

because all the actual silicon of the sensor does is measure the amount of light.

Bayer Filter Array Fuji X-Trans Filter Array

40
On top of the light sensing layer sits a colour array. Each of the sensor elements is filtered

by either a red green or blue filter. The layout of these is either in what is called a “Bayer”

array GFX and X-A series, or in the case of Fuji’s X-Trans cameras, an “X-Trans” array. This

filter, basically only lets light of a particular colour through to the sensor, so for each

element, it gets light filtered by a particular colour, but it still only measures the amount of

light. Additionally, some sensors have another layer called a low pass filter, sometimes

referred to an anti-aliasing filter. The purpose of this is to prevent moire and aliasing, but

Fuji X-Trans cameras leave this out, as Fuji believe that the design of the X-Trans colour filter

array mean that it is not needed.

When you press the shutter button, the sensor measures the amount of light, and then this

needs to be converted into usable image data, by combining the information about the

amount of light captured, with the already known pattern of the colour array, to create a

visible image. The process of conversion introduces some softness into the image, partly

due to the anti-aliasing filter if one is present, and also partly because of the way the colour

is created from the sensor information. Because each pixel created from a filtered photosite

that is either red, green or blue, the actual colour is created by interpolating the

information from the surrounding pixels. Think of it like how an inkjet printer works, only in

reverse (it’s not exactly the same, but this is a close analogy) Additional filtering, such as

noise reduction, chroma blurring and so on, may also be done as part of the conversion

process. This too leads to some softening of the image.

When you shoot using your camera’s JPEG option, this processing is done by the cameras

on-board processor, and part of that processing includes some sharpening. If you look on

your cameras picture controls, they will almost always include some kind of way to adjust

the amount of sharpening, usually in a simple plus or minus setting to adjust the amount of

sharpening applied. This has nothing to do with capturing a blurry image due to user error,

41
it’s simply to compensate for the inherent softness that comes from the process of

assembling the visible image from the sensor information.

When you shoot RAW, the sensor information is dumped to a file on your memory card,

and the reassembly process is done in software rather than the camera's processor.

Because it doesn’t have to be done in real-time, it means that you have more options for

processing, and that means that different or more complex algorithms can be used for the

various parts of the process. Part of that process still includes sharpening, but often the

options are greater than in-camera because you have more time and greater processing

power. RAW conversion software such as Capture One can use different techniques, but the

underlying principle is still the same, and the main reason for sharpening when processing

RAW files, regardless as to whether its done in-camera or by software on your computer, is

not to correct for user error but to compensate for the softening during the conversion

process.

That’s not to say you can’t do additional sharpening if your image is soft due to the lens

used, or some mistake on the part of the photographer, but this should be done in addition

to input sharpening.

42
How you sharpen your raw file can actually have a significant impact on the look of the

image, and not necessarily just the perceived sharpness. The algorithm used can impact

the structure of the file, and too aggressive or too much sharpening can lead to an overly

processed or “digital” look. Changing the way a RAW image is sharpened, can alter the

appearance of fine detail in the image.

Most people don’t need to know the intricate details of how different sharpening controls

and approaches affect the image, but it is important to understand that sharpening does

affect the image. In the days of film, most people didn’t know how to process their

negatives, but they had a general understanding of the way that negatives were processed

using chemicals and then printed onto photographic paper. In the digital world, it's the

same. Even if you don’t know every detail of how to process your images, a broad

understanding of the principle is good to have.

How Sharpening works in Capture One

If you are using the Pro version of Capture One, there is a “three step” sharpening process.

This is a little confusing, because it is not quite the same as the three types of sharpening

we discussed earlier. In Capture One, step one and two are both part of the input

sharpening process, but the second step, which is the main sharpening controls, can be

used for both input and creative sharpening. If you find all this confusing, you’re not alone.

But don’t worry too much about understanding the terminology (some of it is arbitrary

anyway), and just learn to work with the right controls to get your image looking how you

want it to look!

The first step is kind of a pre-sharpening pass, and we have already discussed the controls

for this in the previous chapter, which are the lens correction options, including Diffraction

Correction and edge sharpness compensation.

43
The second step is the main sharpening controls. These are based on a method known as

unsharp masking. If you’re familiar with Photoshop, you will have probably heard of this

term. Capture One adds an additional control to help suppress halos, but it is

fundamentally a type of unsharp masking. These main controls are used for both input

sharpening and creative sharpening, and a certain level of sharpening here should always

be applied to a RAW file as it is a vital part of the conversion process.

Note: There is a misconception among some users that the main sharpening controls are only used
for creative sharpening but this is incorrect. They are also part of the RAW conversion or input
sharpening process, and so shouldn’t be turned off if you want to get the best from your RAW files.

The third step is output sharpening. This is applied when exporting or printing an image.

Output sharpening is used to compensate for the softening effect of scaling an image

when outputting it for screen at different resolutions, or when printing. If you’re just

outputting images for the web, this should be used sparingly, as in my opinion is often not

necessary, as Capture One does a good job scaling. For the rest of this chapter we will

focus mainly on the second “step,” which is the main sharpening controls, as these are the

most important.

Important: When adjusting sharpening in Capture One it is important to zoom your image to
1:1. Because the previews are strongly anti-aliased when zoomed out, and also because they
don’t properly render every effect, it is really important to zoom to 1:1, as this is the most
reliable way to actually see how your image is being affected by the changes you are making.

The Main Sharpening Controls

Now that you have the basics of sharpening in Capture One, let us take a quick look at the

main sharpening controls and how they work. The controls, which can be found in the
44
Detail tab, are basically a form of Unsharp Mask. Unsharp masking works by finding edges

in an image and increasing the contrast of those edges. Here is a quick overview of the

function of each of the sliders:

Slider Function Notes for Usage

Amount Controls the overall amount of contrast applied to The default amount here is usually
the edges in the image fine for most circumstances for
Fuji files. The default value can be
increased for creative sharpening,
but should be ok as a part of input
sharpening

Radius This effectively controls the width of the edges The default value of .8 should be
that are effected. Values between 0.8 and 1.0 are fine for Fuji files. If you find that
best for Fuji files. Increasing this value can create small details are noisy, try
the effect of more “chunky” details in your image. increasing this value to 1.0, but for
Smaller values will make the details appear fine most images 0.8 should work fine.
and delicate.

Thereshold This controls what is considered an edge when The default value of 1 here is too
the sharpening algorithm examines the image for high for low ISO images in my
edges. Typical values are between 0 and 1. opinion. I suggest lowering this to
Setting this to zero will allow the sharpening to zero, and only increasing it if there
cover more details in the image, however it may is too much noise in your image.
come at the expense of sharpening some noise. Lowering the threshold may
The default it 1, however in my opinion this is too introduce some fine grain in the
high for normal ISO files (see below) image. You need to decide if you
prefer this to the slight reduction in
detail which will result from a
higher value.

Halo Supression Unsharp masking can sometimes lead to halos If you have used a higher amount
around edges. These appear like white or dark of sharpening than the default,
rings. This slider helps reduce or eliminate them. turning this up may help
compensate. High values may
slightly soften details.

45
Noise Reduction

As with sharpening, noise reduction should be considered part of the RAW conversion

process. All digital images have a degree of noise in them, and this is just a by-product of

how image sensors work. While noise levels have improved in recent cameras, there is still

some noise in all digital images. This varies according to the ISO the image was shot at, and

if you’re recovering an underexposed image. When you shoot Jpegs, a degree of noise

reduction is applied by the cameras on-board processor, so when working with RAW files,

most RAW conversion software will apply a degree of noise reduction by default.

The noise reduction tools are located in the detail panel, below the Sharpening settings. As

with most RAW software, you can control the amount of Luminance noise reduction and

colour noise reduction separately. There are also some additional controls, and the table

below outlines some of the controls with some notes on their use:

46
Setting Description Notes for use

Luminance Controls the reduction of The default value for this slider is
Luminance, or Brightness noise in 50. In my opinion this is way too
an image. This is the grainy black high. You can reduce this to zero
and white noise that you will see for low iso images, and increase it
and the intensity often depends on as your iso increases.
the iso that you shot at Recommended values will be in the
next section

Details This control compensates for the The default value of 50 is generally
softness introduced when using the fine for most use cases. If you need
Luminance noise reduction by to apply a high amount of
adding a subtle amount of Luminance noise reduction
sharpening increasing this may help with any
softening.

Colour This setting controls the amount of The default value of 50 is

colour noise reduction in the image. recommended as a minimum here,
Colour noise often exhibits as but you shouldn’t need to change it
colour splotches or coloured dots, in most circumstances.
and is often more unpleasant than
luminance noise which looks like
grain.

Single Pixel Used to compensate for stuck or Use in moderation. Most useful for
dead pixels that can occur long exposures or if there is a stuck
especially on long exposures or dead pixel.

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My Recommendations for Settings in Capture One
While for the most part, the default settings for sharpening and noise reduction in Capture

One will give you a descent quality image, in my opinion, you can get even better results if

you change a few settings. If you do nothing else to your image, and don’t want to fuss

around with more complex settings, then in most cases the changes outlined below will

give you a touch more detail when working with RAW files in Capture One.

These suggestions are only for input or capture sharpening, and are the minimum level of sharpening
needed as part of the RAW conversion process. They are not part of any additional creative
sharpening.

Here’s what I suggest you change and why:

Step 1: Reduce the Threshold

The first thing to change is in the sharpening section. As mentioned previously, for the most

part, the defaults are ok, however, in my opinion, the Threshold is too high, and for low to

medium iso images (200-1600) you don’t really need this turned up at all, so I set this to

zero. The difference can be subtle, but it adds a little crispness to the texture of your image.

If you find it’s sharpening the background noise too much you can raise it again to the

point where you feel it is better, however reducing or turning this off will often bring back a

degree of fine detail.

One of the other issues with the threshold is that its algorithm can sometimes lead to

artefacts. Again it's subtle, and if this is confusing don’t worry about it, it’s not something

you really need to deal with normally. Just set it to zero for the most part, and raise it for

higher iso values or if it’s too low.

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Step 2: Change the Radius for 16mp Cameras
If you’re using one of the first generation X-Trans cameras (such as the X-T1, X-Pro 1 etc)

with a 16 megapixel sensor, then I suggest setting the radius to 1.0. this allows for a better

definition of detail in the scene. For 24 and 26mp cameras I suggest leaving it at 0.8

Step 3: Reduce the Luminance Noise Reduction

The second thing you should change is the Luminance noise reduction slider in the noise

reduction section. This, again, is too high for typical low to normal ISO images. For ISO

200 - 800 I suggest turning this off altogether. You may get a little grain in you out of focus

areas or solid colours, but you will also have more details in areas of fine textures. You can

start to raise this again if you find it’s too low and there's too much noise. For higher ISO

images you can leave it at the default. For very high ISO you may need to raise the settings

even further, but for the defaults, I suggest turning it off.

You shouldn’t really need to change the colour noise reduction unless there is a lot of

colour splotches in your images, but this rarely occurs on Fuji files.

That’s the two settings that I recommend changing. If you’re happy with these you can then

set them as the default settings for sharpening and noise reduction as outlined in Chapter

2, or create presets to apply on import (or use the bonus presets included with this guide)

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Suggested Settings Ranges

Here is a table with some suggested settings ranges which work best for Fuji Cameras. For

instances where there is some different recommendations depending on the ISO of your

image, I have created three options, based on the ISO (some settings will be the same

regardless of ISO). These are just suggestions and you should always use your own

judgement as the needs of images vary depending on the individual photo, and the tastes

of the photographer.

Setting ISO 200 - 640 ISO 640 - 1600 ISO 3200 +

Sharpening Amount 140 - 180 140 - 180 140 - 180

Radius 0.8 - 1.0 0.8 - 1.0 0.8 - 1.0

Threshold 0 - 0.5 0-1 0.2 - 1

Halo Suppression 0-20 0-20 0-20

Luminance Noise 0 - 20 10 - 50 50 - 100

Reduction

Details 0 - 50 0 - 50 25 - 100 (Raise if NR

higher)

Colour 50 50 50 - 100

Single Pixel * Use for Long exposure Use for Long exposure Vary by visual testing
only only

Nose Reduction in Capture One 20

In Capture One 20 the noise reduction technology was changed, and the noise reduction

algorithms are now better at both reducing noise and maintaining detail. Because of this

you can get away with a higher amount of noise reduction without sacrificing detail. If

you’re using version 20 you may find that the default value of 50 is acceptable for most low

to mid ISO ranges. You should still experiment with your own images and decide if you

prefer to lower the amount or not.

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Fixing Moiré [PRO]

While the special pattern of the X-Trans colour filter was designed so that the sensor could

capture images without an anti-aliasing filter and not suffer from moiré, it can still occur in

certain circumstances. You’re most likely to come across it on very fine repetitive patterns.

For those not familiar with the term, moiré is a colour artifact that can occur on images

when the frequency of the detail in the scene and the frequency of sensor elements line up

in a certain way, so that it produces a false colour pattern. If you’re old enough to

remember the days before flatscreen TVs you would often see moiré on Television if a

presenter wore a checked or stripy shirt. The pro version of Capture One comes with a

dedicated tool for reducing Moiré and you can find it in the Detail tool tab, below the noise

reduction settings.

How to reduce moiré:

1. Ensure that you have zoomed in to 1:1. The moiré adjustment may not display properly

when zoomed out, so be sure to zoom in when adjusting the controls.

2. Go to the Detail tool tab

3. Go to the Moiré tool.

4. Adjust the Amount slider while checking the results in the image.

5. If this isn’t fully resolving the issue, adjust the Pattern slider also.

In most cases you will probably never have to worry about this, as X-Trans is pretty good at

avoiding moire in the first place. It is a little more prevalent on the original 16mp X-Trans

cameras than the newer models. If you do need two adjust it, do it in small increments. The

techniques used by Capture One seem to employ some kind of chroma blurring, and

raising the level too high will result in colour bleeding and desaturation of the image. This

tool should only be used when necessary and the value should be kept as low as possible.

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Bonus Tip: Use Layers to separate Input Sharpening and Creative
Sharpening [PRO]

If you want to structure your workflow a little better, then one suggestion is to use Capture

One’s layer function to separate your input sharpening from creative sharpening. Use the

base layer for your input sharpening, and then add another filled layer and use that for any

additional sharpening that you wish to do, whether it's for missed focus or purely creative

purposes. Here’s what to do:

1. Go to the detail tool tab

2. Make your normal changes to sharpening or use the defaults if they are to your taste.

3. In the layers panel, click and hold on the + menu and select “New Filled Layer”

4. You can now do additional sharpening on this layer.

5. If you wish, you can use the brush tools to paint away areas that you may not want to

have additional sharpening.

The advantage of this technique is that it allows sharpening at two different radius settings.

It also allows you to control the flow of adjustments, as sharpening on a separate layer, will

be performed after any adjustments on the base layer. Finally, you can fade the sharpening

out with the layer opacity slider, which will give a different effect to just lowering the

amount

Summary
In this chapter we looked at sharpening and its importance in the raw conversion process.

The guide offered suggestions for changes to make to the Capture One defaults. We also

looked at noise reduction, and I suggested a suitable range of values for working with X-

Trans files in Capture One. Finally we looked at how to reduce moiré in the rare cases

where it occurs in Fuji raw files.

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Conclusion
In this guide we looked at the features of Capture One you most need to master in order to

optimise your results when shooting with Fuji cameras and processing RAW files in the

software. We covered things like sharpening and noise reduction as well as how to set the

Fuji film simulation modes and more.

Capture One is a powerful and high end piece of software, with lots of depth and

functionality that goes way beyond what is covered in this guide. We have only touched on

some of that functionality here, and there is a lot more to learn. I cover the software

regularly on my blog as well as on my YouTube Channel where I have a dedicated Capture

One playlist.

Written by Thomas Fitzgerald. For more by the author, visit his website at: http://

blog.thomasfitzgeraldphotography.com

More information

For more information on Capture One visit Phase One at http://captureone.com

For more information on Fujifilm and its X-Trans camera range, visit:

http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital_cameras/x/

This document, and its contents are Copyright © 2019 Thomas Fitzgerald. No part of this document may be

re-produced in any way or this document may not be re-sold. You may print your own copies for personal use

All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Every effort has been made to ensure that this document is error free. If you find any typographic errors, or

other mistakes please let the author know by visiting the errata page for this publication and using the contact

form.

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Appendix A - About the Bonus
Presets
Here is a description of the included presets and their intended usage. To best get an idea of how these work,

it is recommended to try them for yourselves on your own imagery so you get a good idea of how they will

work for you. The descriptions below are only a guide and they don’t have to be used in those scenarios.

Sharpening Presets

Preset Name Description

FUJI-RAW-TF-Defaults This is based on the recommended settings from the

sharpening chapter. You can use this as a starting
point for creating your own defaults.

FUJI-RAW-TF-MED-SHARP For images that require a higher level of sharpening,

this uses a higher sharpening amount and a small
threshold to avoid over sharpening background noise.

FUJI-RAW-TF-HIGH-ISO-SHARP For higher ISO images this preset has a slightly higher
sharpening amount (as higher ISO images tend to be
softer) and a higher threshold so as not to sharpen the
noise levels too much.

FUJI-RAW-16mp-Simple (three versions) This is a set of three presets designed for older 16mp
X-Trans cameras and uses a radius of 1.0. There are
three strengths, low, medium and high.

Note: while this is designed for 16mp sensors, you

can use it on newer cameras too if you like the look.

FUJI-RAW-16mp-Superfine (three versions) Another set of presets designed for older 16mp
cameras which uses a smaller radius for images with
a lot of fine detail. As above, can be used with newer
cameras too.

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Noise Reduction Presets
Below is a description of the included noise reduction presets. These mostly change the

Luminance and Details sliders. In most cases you shouldn’t need to change the Colour

noise reduction amount.

Preset Name Description

Fuji-TF-Default My default settings from the chapter on noise

reduction and sharpening. You can use this as a
starting point for creating your own defaults.

Fuji High ISO A high level of noise reduction and higher details for
images taken at medium to high ISO

Fuji Low A very small amount of noise reduction with no details

(more suited to 16mp cameras)

Fuji Low with Detail A low amount of luminance noise reduction with a
small amount of details (more suited to 16mp
cameras)

Fuji Smooth Higher luminance noise reduction with lower details.

For images that may have more noise in large areas
of solid colours.

Fuji Smooth with Details As above but with a higher level of details.

Fuji Medium This has a small level of luminance noise reduction

(25) and a low level of Details. Suitable for medium
ISO images or images with a medium amount of noise

Fuji Medium with details As above but with a higher level of details.

Note: The presets with lower details may be better suited to older 16MP X-Trans cameras, as on occasion a

high level of details can cause some artifacting, although this phenomenon is rare in the current versions of

Capture One, but they are included for completion.

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