The Manual

Velop

Experience Darkroom Magic™ 

The Soul of the Process

Welcome to Velop. If you’re reading this, you’re among the few who still Read The Manual (RTM). That discipline excites us.

Velop brings the joy of the darkroom to mobile photography. Using Velop is a deliberate choice to return to the analog film era. Velop is designed to be a clean, functional precision instrument engineered to slow you down and bring deep intention back into your smartphone photography. This manual maps the controls and the temperament of the instrument.

For customer support, app troubleshooting, or inquiries regarding our policies, please reach out to us at: support@velop.camera.

The Velop process is divided into three phases: The Camera (where you commit light to sensor), The Darkroom (where your image emerges as your print), and The Gallery (where your work is displayed).

I.      THE CAMERA

The Camera is where you capture your photos. Every optical and emulsion decision is committed here, before the shutter releases. It is divided into three primary fields:

1. The Settings Button (Upper Left)

Tapping the Gear icon opens Settings. Here, you make your basic settings choices for the app:

A. Camera Settings:

Film Type: Toggle between dedicated Black & White or Color emulsions.

Film Speed (ISO): Names borrowed from classic film stocks—this is a texture and chemistry control, not sensor gain. It steers grain precipitation, emulsion grit, and halide “weather” on the developed frame, the way choosing a high-speed emulsion over a fine-grain archival stock steers the print’s soul. It does not brighten or dim the exposure reaching the sensor; your capture meter stays honest to the scene.

Standard Photo Format: Choose how your Standard Photo is saved. On your device, Apple ProRAW offers maximum editing power; HEIF (high bitrate), Full JPEG, or 50% JPEG help you manage storage and compatibility.

Unlimited Exposures and Exports: For a one-time fee of $1.99, you can unlock unlimited developed exports (no exposure cap).

B. Darkroom Settings:

Red Light Conditions: Toggle the "Safe Light" simulation. This allows you to watch your image develop under the classic crimson glow of a physical darkroom.

File Management: Select which files are saved to your Apple Camera Roll. While the app defaults to saving all three images (the Velop Video,the Velop Photo, and the Standard Photo), you can customize the files you save to your Apple Camera Roll to save space.

Development Time: Choose your development speed on a 2–30 second spectrum, from a quick 2-second peek to a slow, meditative half-minute tray. We believe the default “sweet spot” is 6 seconds.

C. Gallery Settings:

Customize your Velop Watermark Color or purchase the ability to Remove Watermarks ($9.99) to export Velop Videos without the watermark.

Lab Notes (Velop: factory calibration & interface defaults)

Cold launch: On a fresh install, the instrument opens on the 24mm Main lens with Color Base as the era path. This is the factory calibration before you change the turret or the capture tray.

Lens menu: The turret sheet defaults to closed; open it when you are ready to change lenses.

Capture tray: The bottom chemistry tray defaults to expanded so emulsion and contrast choices stay visible at hand.

Location data: If you authorize Location Services for Velop, a location fix is requested at the moment of shutter release, where the frame was committed, not as continuous background tracking. This is for your purposes only. The app does not receive any of your location data.

Mechanical character: Shutter, advance, and tray feedback use wired-in haptic and acoustic signatures. They are part of the tool’s mechanical identity and cannot be toggled off.

2. The Lens Button (Upper Right)

Velop utilizes the elite optics of your device. Tapping this button reveals four primary lens choices:

Front Facing: For self-portraits.

24mm: The wide-angle storyteller—the Main anchor at cold launch and the factory default focal length.

48mm (The Human Eye): A natural standard on the turret—an optical-quality path on the Main sensor (no pinch-zoom interpolation). Many photographers read its field of view as close to a classic “normal” lens on 35mm. Note: We do not use disposable digital zoom; we rely on declared optical paths.

100mm: The telephoto, perfect for intimate portraits or distant details.

3. The Control Bar (The Bottom Grid)

This is where you nominate emulsion character and development chemistry, not a disposable filter stack, but the path the reaction will take after exposure.

Black & White Mode:

Sepia: Toggle this to apply a warm, copper-brownish tint to your monochrome images.

Plat (Platinum): A cool-toned, archival monochrome for high-detail architectural and portrait shots.

Contrast grades: Five steps from Level 1 (Washed/High Key) to Level 5 (Noir/High Contrast). Level 3 is your neutral baseline.

Color Mode:

Base vs. Era: Use "Base" for a neutral, clean color profile before any decade chemistry.

The Eras: Choose from five distinct personas: 50s (Fade), 60s (Cool), 70s (Instant), 80s Neon (Miami-night electric cyan shadows, cinematic highlight bloom, hyper-chrome saturation), and 90s on the tray (the shutter ring reads 90s Fly when that era is active). Editorial Varnish with Medium Format Gloss: a unified editorial curve (inky neutral shadows, stretched highlight sparkle), bilateral optical cream on supported lenses, professional transparency-style micro-grain, and an organic vignette—high-fashion chemistry on glass, not a flat digital overlay. For 50s through 80s, Beauty Core smoothing is lens-gated on front / 24mm / 48mm; 14mm and 100mm stay optically raw.

Strength: With a decade Era selected, choose Base (the era’s identity at 0% develop punch), Soft (30%), or Pop (100%). In Color Base (no Era), only Base applies.

II.    THE DARKROOM 

Once you depress the Shutter Release Button, the chemistry begins. You will automatically shift to the Darkroom.

This phase is the heart of the instrument: a sacred viewing space with the lights lowered, controls withdrawn. This is where the image emerges and time for revelation. There are no buttons here because the exposure is sealed; your role is to witness the reaction. As tones develop from the white field of the paper, Velop commits three artifacts to your device:

The Standard Photo: The straight archival photo, which is the light laid onto the sensor without darkroom romance.

The Velop Video: A video record of the tray sequence: the chemistry made visible in time.

The Velop Photo: The finished print, bearing every era, grain, and contrast choice you locked before the shutter fell.

Patience is a Feature: High-resolution encoding and emulsion math demand seconds. Linger with the red lamp; let the image earn its arrival.

III.  THE GALLERY

The Gallery is the salon wall: quiet and exacting. It serves two purposes:

The Comparison: The Gallery mirrors your archive choices. You can view only the formats you enabled in Settings from Velop Video, Velop Photo, and/or Standard Photo. Your workflow and storage footprint stay intentional.

The Gallery: From here, you may return to capture, replay the development reel full-screen, or pass cleanly into your Apple Camera Roll to use your work.

70s Instant: This era produces a specialized 1:1 square Instant print on a Cooled Bone card. The Standard Photo always preserves the full-frame archival photo.

IV. CLEAN CAPTURE

For moments demanding neutral fidelity to the scene, double-tap the 'Base' button to return to Color Base. You receive a clean optical photo and a developed print grounded in laboratory accuracy—no decade-specific reaction layer.

On the capture tray, that means: with a decade Era active, tap Base once to select that era’s Base strength (0% develop punch), then tap Base again to clear the Era and return to Color Base for a neutral Standard Photo path.

Contact Us: 

For customer support, app troubleshooting, or inquiries regarding our policies, please reach out to us at: support@velop.camera.