Quartz 07 Vibrant Bold | Cross-Processed Film Preset for Lightroom Mobile & Desktop

Q7 is for fashion and creative photographers whose work explicitly uses bold colour as a primary visual element — where the vivid shifts of Q7 are the intended aesthetic goal and not a side effect.

For photographers who have worked through the Quartz Archive and want the most vivid, most bold cross-processed expression available.

The boldness is the point. Q7 does not restrain its cross-processed character — the vivid shifts are the entire aesthetic and they are applied at maximum.

It references the peak of cross-processed fashion photography. Q7's character is the specific visual language that made cross-processing the dominant aesthetic in fashion editorial photography during its height.

It produces work that is impossible to confuse with anything else. Q7's colour is uniquely distinctive — photographs edited with Q7 have an immediately recognisable character.

1 × Q7 Vibrant Bold DNG file — for Lightroom Mobile
1 × Q7 Vibrant Bold XMP file — for Lightroom Classic
Installation guide
Lifetime access

This preset captures the aesthetic of high-latitude cinema think Scandinavian noir and modern minimalist films. It is the professional answer for photographers who want a look that feels "expensive" through its restraint. By emulating the clean, cool-bias and the characteristic "flat" highlight roll-off of professional cinematic stocks known for their ability to render overcast light with profound depth Q7 ensures your photos feel like a curated gallery piece. It transforms digital files into frames that look like they were pulled from a 35mm motion picture shot in the heart of winter.

Step 1 — White balance first. Cross-processed film had unpredictable white balance responses — set Temperature to 5,000-5,400K as a neutral starting point. The colour shifts of cross-processing are built into the preset's calibration rather than the white balance, so a neutral starting point gives the shifts the most consistent foundation.

Step 2 — Assess starting material carefully. Q7 requires strong, well-exposed subjects. The vivid shifts amplify both qualities and problems — well-composed, correctly exposed photos with compelling subjects produce the most powerful results. Flat or poorly-exposed photos will have their problems amplified.

Step 3 — Apply Q7 Vibrant Bold. Reduce to 76-78% strength. At full 100% strength, Q7's maximum vibrancy may over-apply on most photos — 76-78% maintains the bold character while keeping results usable.

Portrait photography with Q7: reduce to 70-72% strength. Add Orange Luminance +10 and reduce Orange Saturation -5 after applying. Q7 is primarily for fashion and creative photography rather than natural portrait work — deliberate use only.

On phone photos: 73-76% strength. Phone cameras add computational colour that interacts unpredictably with Q7's maximum vibrancy — significant reduction in strength is needed.

Is Q7 suitable for professional photography? Q7 is calibrated for creative and fashion contexts where maximum colour boldness is the deliberate aesthetic. For professional photography where natural or subtly editorial colour is expected, Q1 through Q4 are more appropriate.

What is the difference between Q7 and Q10 Experimental? Q7 is the most vivid and bold preset within a cohesive cross-processed framework. Q10 pushes further into experimental and unexpected territory — colour shifts that go beyond the predictable directions of Q7. Q7 for maximum vivid boldness, Q10 for genuinely experimental and unexpected character.