Free
$0
Every feature and 36 conversions — enough to judge Spool on a roll of your own film. No account, no card.
Your home for film negatives
One app for your film scans: file the rolls, convert them, edit, print test strips and contact sheets, and lay out posts. Every frame is converted from its own film base.
One payment, no subscription. Windows and macOS. The free version converts one roll (36 frames). Older macOS
LightDark
New in 0.9
Out now for Windows and macOS. Everything that changed
One page editor for Print and Publish
Margins, grid, crop, border and type sit on the page and follow what you click. Select several boxes, or change every page at once.
Test strips, mixed
Brightness, warm–cool or black point in bands or copies — or two tests in one grid, every copy labelled. The setting that looked right is kept for every later print.
Proofs at real size
A4 up to 1 × 2 m on one sheet, each with its dpi and the distance it looks sharp from printed under it.
The whole zine at a glance
The sheet in the side panel; open it as printed, or as it reads folded. Print asks for printer and paper first.
Releases
Every update up to version 1 is included with the licence. Full changelog
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0.9.3
October 2026
One page editor for Print and Publish, test strips and proofs you can print from, scanners and cameras you can add
- New Print and Publish (until now Post) share one page editor.
- New Test strips: brightness, warm–cool or black point, in bands of one picture or whole copies, or two tests mixed in one grid, every copy labelled.
- New Proofs at the real size of A4 to 1 × 2 m, several formats on one sheet, each with its dpi and the distance it looks sharp from printed under it.
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0.8
October 2026
Library panel in Lab, several photos per slide, zines
- New Lab has a left panel with your rolls, folders, cameras, films and dates.
- New Several photos on one slide: pairs, triptychs, grids and a mosaic.
- New Text on slides: titles, paragraphs and captions in eight font styles.
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0.7
September – October 2026
Spool for Mac, library sync, new conversion engine
- New Spool for macOS: one download for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, on the same licence as Windows.
- New Library sync between your computers over your local network, encrypted.
- New New conversion engine that measures each frame separately.
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0.6
September 2026
Installer and updates, scanning, Post tab
- New Windows installer, and in-app updates with a list of changes.
- New Scanning with an Epson Perfection V700 from Spool.
- New Camera scanning over USB: live positive preview, click to focus, space bar to take the shot.
Conversion
Why a straight inversion goes blue
The orange mask
Colour negative film carries an orange mask that corrects its dyes' unwanted absorption. Inverted, the mask becomes a heavy cyan-blue cast, and it is not the same strength in the shadows and the highlights, so one set of levels cannot remove it.
Each layer, each frame
Spool reads where each of the three layers starts — the clear film base — and where it ends in that frame's densest highlights, and sets black and white per channel from those. There is no grey to find and no eyedropper to click.
Once per roll
Sample the base once from the rebate between frames and convert the roll. Every frame still gets its own range, so one overexposed frame does not shift the others.
Against Negative Lab Pro, both at defaults
Six camera scans of Kodak Gold 200. Left: Negative Lab Pro in Lightroom Classic. Right: Spool. Each converted at its default settings, nothing edited afterwards. Drag the line; pick a frame below.
Results depend on the scan, the film and the settings. Negative Lab Pro is a product of Nate Photographic; Spool is not affiliated with it.
Library
Frames stay in roll order
A roll is kept as a roll: frames numbered as they came off the film, newest roll first, each with its own frames on the cover and how far its conversion has got. Sort into rolls splits a folder of scans by roll and fills in film, camera and frame numbers. True size shows 35 mm, 645, 6×7 and XPan frames in their real proportions.
- Import
- Next frames go into the roll you are scanning, numbered on from the last one.
- Scanner folder
- Spool watches the folder your scanner writes to and files each frame once the file is complete.
- Metadata
- Camera, lens, film, format, exposure, scanner and place — from the file where possible, editable for a whole roll.
Lab
Convert, then edit the whole roll
Film base, crop and conversion for the negative; light, colour, curves, grain and retouch for the positive. Pick frames and a slider move is added to each of them from its own value, so a roll keeps its frame-to-frame differences. Exposure works in stops on linear light: +1 doubles the light, as it would under the enlarger.
- Dust and hairs
- Paint over a mark and it is filled from the frame around it, grain included. Mark a few specks and Spool finds the rest.
- Film looks
- Stock looks and your own presets apply to one frame or the selection.
- Originals
- Scans are never written to. Edits sit beside them and can be undone.
Print the way a darkroom works
Start with a test strip: brightness, warm–cool or black point, in bands of one picture, in whole copies, or two tests mixed in one grid — every copy labelled on the paper. Pick the band that looked right and every later print of that photo gets it. Then the print: a layout to the millimetre on your printer's paper, a contact sheet of the roll, a proof of the real size of A4 up to 1 × 2 m with its dpi printed under it, or a zine on one sheet with its folds and cut.
- On the page
- Margins, grid, crop, border and type sit on the page itself and follow what you click. Every page together changes the whole layout at once.
- Before it prints
- Print asks for printer, paper and orientation first. Soft proof shows paper white, CMYK and ink coverage with your paper profile.
- Zines
- The whole sheet in the side panel; open it large as printed, or as it reads folded.
Publish
Posts and carousels, laid out by hand
A post at Instagram 4:5, 3:4 or square, a story, 16:9 or Pinterest — or a size of your own. Put frames and text anywhere, snap them to a grid, start from a layout or a template, and fill a saved template with a new roll. Right-click any frame in the library and Publish ▸ starts a post with it.
- Several at once
- Select two texts or two photos and change size, font or colour for both. Every page together does it for the whole carousel.
- Text
- Titles and captions in any font on your computer, aligned to the top, middle or bottom of their box.
- Out
- Every page at full size, numbered in order, ready to upload.
Scan
Scan and shoot into Spool
Scan film on an Epson Perfection V700 from inside Spool — every frame on the glass is found by itself and arrives converted. Or photograph negatives with a camera over USB, with a positive preview live, focus by clicking and the space bar for the shutter. Any other scanner or camera works through its own software: point it at a folder and Spool takes each frame as it lands.
- Your device
- A film scanner or tethering camera Spool does not drive yet can be added: send its report from Spool. Scanners & cameras.
- Hot folder
- A folder Spool watches, made in three clicks; each file is taken once it is complete.
- Files
- TIFF, DNG, camera raw, JPEG and PNG from any scanner or copy stand.
Also in Spool
- Files
- TIFF, DNG, camera raw, JPEG and PNG from any scanner or copy stand. Colour and B&W negatives, slides and instant film.
- Sync
- Computers on one network keep the library, edits and ratings identical — your prints and posts too — directly, end-to-end encrypted, no cloud. A NAS folder works for machines that are never on together.
- Cost per keeper
- Add what you pay for film, and Studio shows the cost per roll, per frame and per frame you kept.
- Cameras and stocks
- Each camera with its rolls, frames, keepers and most-used film, so you can see which pairing works for you.
- Offline
- No account. The internet is needed once, to activate a licence, and then only for updates and Sync.
Free for one roll, then one payment
Licence Early-adopter price
$99 $59 once
Unlimited conversions and Sync on 4 computers, Windows and macOS in any mix. Updates up to version 1.
Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay; checkout by Payhip and StripeVISA PayG Pay
One key activates either system. Already installed? Settings → Licence.
| What you get | Free | Licence |
|---|---|---|
| Every feature — Lab, library, retouch, Print, Publish, export | ✓ | ✓ |
| Converting new negatives | 36 frames — one roll | Unlimited |
| Re-converting, editing, slides, instant film, digital files | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Watermark or smaller export | None | None |
| Sync between computers | — | ✓ |
| Computers | One | 4 at once, Windows and macOS in any mix |
| Updates | ✓ | All of them up to version 1 |
Price in USD; your bank converts it at checkout. Local taxes may apply.
An email when a major version is out
One short email per major version — 0.9, 1.0, Linux — with what changed. Unsubscribe in one click.
Questions
Which scanners and cameras does Spool work with?
With any of them through files: scan or shoot with the maker's software and import, or let Spool watch the folder they save to. Spool also controls some itself, with no other software — the Epson Perfection V700 for scanning and the Canon EOS 6D for tethering so far — and adds more film scanners and tethering cameras from reports people send. See the full list and how to add yours.
What does the free version include?
Every feature, with one limit: 36 conversions of new negatives — one roll. Re-converting a frame, editing, retouch, slides, instant film and digital files, the library, Print, Publish and export have no limit, no watermark and do not expire. A licence adds unlimited conversions and Sync on up to 4 computers.
What counts as a conversion?
Turning a new negative into a positive for the first time. Converting the same frame again, with other settings, costs nothing.
Which scans work best?
Scans that show the film base, in the frame or between frames: a camera scan in raw or DNG, or a flatbed scan saved as a 16-bit TIFF with the scanner's own corrections off. Spool measures the base itself, so an untouched scan gives it the most to work with.
Is it a subscription?
No. You pay once. Every update up to version 1 is included.
How many computers can I use it on?
Four at a time, Windows and macOS in any mix — one key activates either system. To move to a new computer, deactivate an old one in Settings → Licence, on that computer or from the list on any other.
How do I buy and activate it?
Buy on this page; checkout runs through Payhip and the key arrives by email at once. In Spool, open Settings → Licence, paste the key and the email you bought with, and click Activate. The trial limit goes away and everything you have done stays.
What data do you keep about me?
The email you bought with stays with Payhip. The licence server keeps, per key, the computers it is active on — a random device ID, the computer's name and the activation date — so it can count to four. Your photos, library and edits never leave your computers.
Which systems are supported?
Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) and macOS, one download for Apple Silicon and Intel. Linux and an iPhone and iPad app are in development.
Can I sync through a NAS?
Yes. In Settings → Sync choose a shared folder on a NAS — Synology, QNAP or any network drive — and test the connection. Each computer leaves its changes there, so they stay current even if they are never on at the same time.
How do I report a bug?
Click Report feedback at the top of any screen in Spool; it adds the screen and version for you. Or email [email protected]. Every report is read.