Silver, physically modeled film emulation for Apple Photos
Film, simulated from first principles.
Silver renders real halide chemistry, optical halation, and per-crystal grain, right inside Apple Photos.
The Idea
Three controls. No black box.
Most film apps hand you a color-matched filter and call it a stock. Silver derives the color, the grain, and the glow from an actual model of how a negative develops. A stock looks the way it does for a reason, not because someone eyeballed a swatch.
Film Stock
Layer sensitivity, dye yield, coupler chemistry and base masking. All modeled per stock, not sampled off a photograph of one.
SPECTRAL CROSSTALK · H&D CURVES · DYE MASKING
Halation
Light reflects back through the film from the backplate. First red layer and then green. Creating a warm glow and a signature film look.
LINEAR-LIGHT BLOOM · THRESHOLD / RADIUS / TINT
Grain
Millions of silver-halide crystals, sized to the stock’s real ISO, tested against your image’s own exposure. Live on your GPU.
BOOLEAN / POISSON FIELD · PER-CHANNEL · LIVE
WHERE IT LIVES
It lives where your photos already live.
No separate library, no re-import, no exported copies scattered on disk. Silver edits the photo you already have, in place, non-destructively.
01
Select a photo
In Photos, edit any image and pick ··· → Silver.
02
Tweak settings
Film stock, halation, grain. That’s the whole interface.
03
Non-destructive
Silver never touches your original.
So you can always go back.
Version 1.0 is Mac only. iOS version is in the works and will be released later – free for everyone who has bought the Mac version.
THE ROSTER
Four manufacturers. Every stock has a lineage.
Silver’s built it stocks come from four fictional manufacturers, each with its own house chemistry, era, and design language, the way real film always has.
Albion
EST. 1879
Black-and-white minimalist. The oldest house. Still rates its stocks in ASA.
Vekta
EST. 1936
Industrial-chemical, heavy masking. An unmistakable teal-and-orange cast.
Ambra
EST. 1948
Warm heritage color. The stock everyone’s first camera was loaded with.
Verda
EST. 1962
Cool precision color, fine grain, a clinical color balance built to prove itself.
However, you are not limited to the built-in film selection: the software contains tools for you to make custom stocks and even create new brands!
Marketplace
One darkroom. Then everyone’s.
Every stock you build in Silver: chemistry; grain; and brand identity included, is a file you can share. Browse thousands of community stocks, or publish your own.