Film Recipe - Kodak Gold (Reala Ace)

Kodak Gold: Colour Film Simulation Recipe

Kodak Gold

Kodak Gold was the film of everyday life. From birthday parties to road trips, it coloured a generation’s memories with warmth, vibrancy, and a bit of imperfection. This digital recipe, built around the Reala Ace simulation, echoes that feeling—rich colours, soft highlight roll-off, and a grainy texture that feels tactile, not pristine.

It’s not a cinematic profile. It’s a photographic one. For sunlit afternoons, backlit portraits, family gatherings, or just walks with good light. Kodak Gold is warm, forgiving, and visually familiar in the best possible way.

Fujifilm JPEG Settings:

• Film Simulation: Reala Ace

• Grain Effect: Strong

• Grain Size: Large

• Colour Chrome Effect: Strong

• Colour Chrome FX Blue: Weak

• WB: 5920K

• WB Shift: R:+1 B:-2

• Highlight Tone: -2

• Shadow Tone: +2.5

• Colour: +3

• Sharpness: +1

• NR: 0

• Clarity: 0

NOTE: Some settings may not be available on every Fujifilm Camera

Notes on the Settings

• Reala Ace gives a beautifully filmic foundation—smooth transitions, slightly lifted shadows, and colour depth that never feels overdone. It’s a versatile base that wears the Kodak look surprisingly well.

• White Balance: 5920K + WB Shift R:+1 B:-2 warms the entire image subtly, bringing a golden undertone that flatters skin, sun, and interiors. It never feels orange—just familiar.

• Highlight Tone -2 / Shadow Tone +2.5 shapes a forgiving contrast curve. Details stay visible in both ends of the range, while still holding depth. This mirrors how Kodak Gold always looked approachable, even in tough light.

• Color +3 gives it the pop. Greens glow. Reds hum. Blues stay tame thanks to Color Chrome FX Blue: Weak, which subtly reins them in for a more balanced feel.

• Grain Effect: Strong / Size: Large adds that nostalgic surface quality—especially noticeable in skies and open mids. It’s not clean, but it’s never chaotic. Just like the film.

• Color Chrome Effect: Strong gives deeper colour without over-saturation. Yellows, oranges, and warmer tones feel richer without losing control.

• Sharpness +1 / Clarity 0 / NR 0 leave the rendering natural. Nothing is over-processed. It feels honest, in the way old film scans often did.

Artistic Reasoning

Kodak Gold is about light you remember. Late sun through trees, a warm breeze in a car window, your friend laughing in the background. It’s not overly dramatic, but it’s always alive. This recipe is made for everyday beauty—the kind that’s easy to miss but impossible to fake.

Use it when you want your photography to feel like memory. Not stylised. Not retro. Just familiar.

Kodak Gold: Colour Film Simulation Recipe Film Simulation Recipe (Sample Images)

If you prefer Shooting RAW:

Those of you who prefer to shoot RAW and edit with the more advanced latitude this gives you may be interested in my current set of Professionally designed profile-based Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw Presets.