Filmgrid

black & white · Kodak · ISO 400

Kodak Tri-X 400

The definitive photojournalism film: gritty grain, deep blacks, enormous latitude.

Kodak Tri-X 400 film emulation applied to a reference photo The same reference photo before any film look is applied Original Kodak Tri-X 400

Drag to compare. 6 renderings of Kodak Tri-X 400 are included.

Try it on your own photo → Download .cube

What this look does

Strong contrast with genuinely black shadows and highlights that hold detail well past where they should. Grain is pronounced and sharp-edged rather than smooth — the texture people mean by "classic black and white".

streetdocumentaryreportagehigh contrast scenes

About Kodak Tri-X 400

Tri-X has been in continuous production since 1954 and shot most of the twentieth century's defining news photographs. It pushes to 1600 and beyond with grace, which is why the +1 and +2 variants here are as authentic as the base rendering. If you only try one black and white LUT, this is the one.

Included renderings

In Filmgrid each rendering carries its own name. The exposure and temperature labels describe how it differs from the base look.

Filmgrid nameRenderingLUT
Crisp Skyline -1 stop .cube
Faded Station base .cube
Cool Spring base .cube
Fresh Playlist +1 stop .cube
Clear Campus +2 stops .cube
Clean Bicycle alternate .cube

How to use this LUT

The download is a standard .cube 3D LUT, so it loads in almost anything: Lightroom Classic (Profile → Browse), Photoshop (Color Lookup adjustment layer), Premiere Pro (Lumetri → Creative), DaVinci Resolve (LUTs panel), Final Cut Pro (Custom LUT effect), Affinity Photo, Capture One and OBS. See the step-by-step guide if you have not loaded one before.

Photographers who work in Lightroom often call these presets. Strictly they are profiles rather than presets, and the difference matters when you want to edit the look further — that distinction is explained here.

If you only want the finished picture, skip the download: open the tool, drop a photo in and export at full resolution. Nothing leaves your device.

Questions

Is Kodak Tri-X 400 still made?
Yes, Kodak Tri-X 400 is still in production. This page emulates its look digitally so you can preview it before shooting a roll, or apply it to photos taken on something else.
Can I use Kodak Tri-X 400 as a Lightroom preset?
Effectively, yes. The download is a .cube LUT, and Lightroom imports those as profiles — Develop → Profile Browser → Import Profiles. A profile behaves like a preset and adds an Amount slider for strength. See LUTs versus presets for what differs.
Is the Kodak Tri-X 400 LUT free?
Yes. Every rendering downloads as a .cube file with no account, no email and no watermark, and the browser tool exports at full resolution for free as well.

Similar looks

Compared with

Two looks described in words is guesswork; two looks on the same photograph is not.

More colour negative film · All Kodak looks · Black & White Looks