Install & Activate

The PixelTools Installer, OFX Plug-ins tab, with Film Emulsion ready to install

Two things get Film/Emulsion™ running: download the PixelTools Installer, then click Install. Activation happens during the install. The plugin lands in the system OFX folder and the license is written for you, so there is nothing to drag into a hidden directory and no serial number to type. The four sections below add the checks around those two steps.

Before you start

DaVinci Resolve 20 or later. Resolve 21 is the recommended version and the one tested against most. Resolve Free and Resolve Studio both load OFX plugins, so either edition works.
macOS: the current release and the two before it (today that is macOS 26, 15, and 14), on Apple silicon and Intel.
Windows 10 or 11, x64. 32-bit hosts are not supported.
A GPU. Macs render on Metal. Windows renders on CUDA on supported NVIDIA cards. Without a supported GPU the plugin renders on the CPU, which is slower but gives the same picture. AMD cards on Windows use the CPU for now.
Admin rights. The plugin installs into a system-wide OFX folder, so expect a permission prompt on both macOS and Windows.
Quit Resolve first. Relaunch after any install or update so Resolve picks up the new version. Activation is different: if Resolve is already open when you activate, it picks up the license within a few seconds without a restart.

1. Download the installer

The PixelTools Installer is one desktop app that installs, updates, and licenses every PixelTools plugin you own. Download it once and keep it.

macOS: PixelTools Installer (.dmg)
Windows: PixelTools Installer (.exe)

On macOS, open the disk image and drag the app to Applications. On Windows, run the installer. The installer app installs per-user; Windows asks for admin permission later, when the plugin is copied into the shared OFX folder.

The first time you open the app it asks you to sign in. Enter the email address you used at checkout and the installer sends a short code to that address. Type the code and you are in. There is no password to create.

Sign-in screen: email address, then the emailed code

2. Install the plugin

The OFX Plug-ins tab lists every PixelTools OFX plugin on your account. Find Film Emulsion (the installer and Resolve both list Film/Emulsion™ under that label) and click Install.

The installer writes the plugin bundle to the standard OFX location, the one Resolve reads from:

macOS: /Library/OFX/Plugins/PixelToolsFilmEmulsion.ofx.bundle
Windows: C:\Program Files\Common Files\OFX\Plugins\PixelToolsFilmEmulsion.ofx.bundle

You only need these paths if support asks for the bundle. Every other PixelTools OFX plugin installs into the same folder.

3. Activate your license

A successful install activates the license on its own, so most people never click anything here. If the Film Emulsion card shows an Activate button, click it. You will see that button when install-time activation could not finish, when a license has expired, or after a machine was deactivated. Either way the installer writes a license file to your user account and the plugin picks it up on its own:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/PixelTools/license.dat
Windows: %APPDATA%\PixelTools\license.dat

There is no key to paste into Resolve. The plugin re-reads that file while it renders, so if Resolve is already open with a demo instance on a node, the watermark clears within a few seconds of activation. You do not need to restart Resolve or re-add the node.

OFX Plug-ins tab after activation: Film Emulsion showing Activated

Machines and seats

An Individual license includes three seats, so you can run Film/Emulsion™ on three machines at once. Each machine you activate takes one seat. Activating a machine you have already registered does not take another. Add-on seats are available if you need more.

When you retire a workstation or move to a new laptop, open Settings → Machines in the installer and Deactivate the old machine, from any machine where you are signed in. Deactivating the machine you are sitting at also uninstalls any PixelTools DCTL tools on it and deactivates the OFX plugins, which stay installed but drop back to the demo watermark. Only do that when you mean to clear it. Signing out while online frees the current machine’s seat as well.

If you have lost the old machine and cannot deactivate it, write to support from the email on your account.

Studio licenses are sold per seat and are meant for facilities: offline license management, priority support, and arrangements for facility infrastructure and large productions. Write to support to set one up.

Working offline

On an Individual license, activation needs an internet connection once. After that the plugin keeps grading without one. Open the installer on a network from time to time so it can refresh the license; if the license goes too long without a refresh, the watermark comes back until it gets one. A machine that can never go online needs a Studio license. Write to support for an air-gapped setup.

4. Confirm it loaded

Launch Resolve and open a project. On the Color page, open the OpenFX panel on the right. Under the PixelTools group you should see Film Emulsion. Drag it onto a node and the plugin’s tabs appear in the inspector.

Resolve’s Preferences → System also lists every OFX plugin it found and whether it loaded cleanly.

Plugin still missing?

Resolve was open during the install. Quit Resolve fully and relaunch.
macOS blocked the install. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to the bottom, and allow the PixelTools Installer if it is listed there. Run the install again.
Windows blocked the plugin folder. Run the installer again and accept the Windows permission (UAC) prompt. That prompt is what lets it copy the plugin into the shared OFX folder.
The plugin is listed but grayed out in Preferences. Send us a diagnostic bundle and we will tell you why.

Updating

Open the installer and look at the OFX Plug-ins tab. Any product with a newer version shows an Update button. Quit Resolve, click Update, and relaunch. Your license and existing node settings carry over. You do not need to uninstall first.

Demo vs licensed

The demo is the full plugin with a watermark on the output. Activate, and the watermark clears on the nodes you already built, and LUT and preset export start working. From Demo to Licensed has the detail; the product page has current pricing.

Getting help

If something breaks, send us a bug report with what you did, what you expected, what happened instead, your Resolve version and edition, your OS, and your GPU. Attach a diagnostic bundle so we have the logs: in the installer, open Settings → Diagnostics and click Save bundle to Desktop. It collects installer logs, helper logs, the plugin’s own logs, crash history, system information, a redacted install ledger, and license state in one archive. It does not include project media. The plugin also has its own Export Diagnostics button in the Plugin Info group, which writes a text file to the Desktop. Include that file too if the problem is inside Resolve. Send it all to support.

Next: Resolve Quick Start takes you from a fresh timeline to a graded film look in about five minutes.