Processing Fuji X-Trans Files with Iridient X-Transformer and Lightroom

This guide is designed to help you understand and get the best results from using Iridient’s X-Transformer Software in Conjunction with Lightroom to process Fuji X-Trans raw files. While it may seem like a simple application, the number of parameters available make for a lot of possible options when using it. This guide aims to provide you with a roadmap through those options and provide you with some recipes to get you started with the software.

Details of the chapters, and what’s included

The guide is not too long and is 39 pages, broken down into 3 chapters and an introduction. It also contains a set of bonus Lightroom presets which are designed to work with some of the suggestions included in the book. Here is a breakdown of what’s in each chapter:

Introduction

In the introduction, I talk about the software and what it does.I also provide an overview of how Raw files work, the difference between a Fuji and standard Raw file, and how the DNG format works. This is an important technical basis for understanding how the software is able to do what it does. I also discuss the limitations of the software and what to expect (see extract above)

Chapter One: Using X-Transformer

In this chapter, I provide details of the best way to go about using the software, and I know some important things that you should know about the order in which you should do things when using it. I also provide a section on understanding what each of the settings does. I go through the interface, and explain in as plain English as possible, what each of the various parameters does. Where appropriate, I also note my own observations on what various settings may do to the image.

Chapter Two: Recipes

In this chapter, I have devised 4 sets of “Recipes” for using the software in conjunction with Lightroom. Each recipe is a set of suggestions for parameters to set in X-Transformer along with a set of corresponding settings for Lightroom. The Lightroom settings are also included as Lightroom Presets. I also have a section in this chapter on what you may need to do in Lightroom after processing the images in X-Transformer. I also briefly discuss using the converted DNGs in other software.

Chapter Three: Workflows

In this chapter, I discuss the various ways you may wish to use the software and provide step by step workflows for these scenarios. I discuss converting images form a new shoot and converting images from an existing shoot.

An important note about the guide, and the software:

Here is an excerpt from the guide that explains what you should expect from the software, and by extension, the guide:

When using X-Transformer it’s important to understand what it can and can’t do and to temper, you’re expectations accordingly. It won’t magically make your images super sharp or have them jump off the screen with a massive amount of extra detail. It can’t make images sharper that are soft, to begin with, or fix out of focus images. It’s not going to be a magic wand that fixes all the image problems that they a photo might otherwise have.

Compared to a standard RAW conversion in Lightroom, the differences may be subtle at first, but in my opinion, these differences add up. Images don’t have the edge artefacts or the detail smearing present in direct Lightroom conversions. They also have more natural gradations and don’t show false detail on images of things like concrete or stone or other problematic shots. However, the extent of the differences depends greatly on the type of shot, the lens used and how sharp the actual image is, to begin with.

Why I wrote this guide

This guide is based on my own personal use and opinion. I wrote it because I like the software and personally find it very useful. It is not a guarantee that you will receive results that will satisfy your own needs, nor is it a guarantee of the software or its effectiveness for your workflow. You should try the software yourself and make the determination as to its usefulness to you.

Copyright info

This document and its contents are Copyright © 2020 Thomas Fitzgerald. No part of this document may be reproduced in any way or this document may not be re-sold. You may print your own copies for personal use.

The author has no association with Iridient Digital or any connection with the software in any way. This is not an official guide and this guide is not an endorsement, recommendation or guarantee of the product about which the guide is written. Iridient Digital, X-Transformer and Iridient Developer are all copyright of Iridient Digital.

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

System Requirements

This guide was written for Iridient X-Transformer and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.0 or Lightroom Classic (any recent version). You should have this software in order to use the advice in the guide.

The guide is supplied in PDF format. You should be able to read PDFs before buying this guide. macOS can read PDFs by default. depending on your version of windows, you may need to download the latest version of Adobe Reader.