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Welcome to the filmulator-gui wiki!
Once you compile the program based on the README, launch the program and read the user interface overview to learn your way around the program.
You can also watch this introductory video to get an overview of how to use the program.
When you start processing images, look at the photo processing guide for the recommended approach to photo editing in Filmulator, which is rather different than most editing applications.
Does your new camera have more dynamic range than you know what to do with? Is digital photography leaving you somehow unsatisfied? Try Filmulator, which makes the most of your camera's raw output.
Filmulator is not the typical "film effect filter" that merely copies the outward characteristics of film. Instead of adding the flaws from film into a digital photo, Filmulator gets to the root of what makes film so appealing: the development process.
In film development, the highlights consume more developer than dark regions. This depletes nearby chemicals, limiting the overall brightness of large bright areas, as you see in the above example. At the same time, though, small details remain contrasty because small bright areas take developer away from nearby dark areas. Because of the continuous diffusion of the liquid chemicals during the development process, the transition between these two effects is almost imperceptible. This avoids the classic "HDR" look, with no harsh edges or haloing.
The other difference is the noticeable increase in saturation. Because color film's multiple layers use the same chemicals, the brightest color components in a region will "steal" developer from the less bright color components, thereby increasing the vividness of the image. But because it's rooted in a physical system, this prevents oversaturation, helping the colors stay natural-looking.
Now you may be wondering: How does Filmulator bring these benefits to digital photos?
It quite literally simulates film: from "exposure" of film, to the growth of "silver crystals" within each pixel, to the diffusion of "developer" both between neighboring pixels and with the bulk developer in the tank.
Because all it does is simulate the film development process, it brings all of the positives of film to digital photography, without any negatives. (ha ha ha)