Noise Reduction-what stage to use it ? (1 Viewer)

Astrokev said:

I have the free Neat Image. To selectively apply noise reduction -

copy the image
apply noise reduction to the copy
open both images in Photoshop
copy the second image as a layer onto the first image
use layer masks as described by others.

Easier and quicker to do than it is to explain in words!

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Julian H said:

Buy a noise reduction plug-in and I've used it after my RAW conversion (as recommended by the software) but typically, I don't have alot of noise in my images until I rez-up. Then I use it after sharpening. Depends.

One way to get detail back after applying a noise reduction filter is to make the history brush active and then paint detail back in selectively.

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Thanks for the replys, I'll give them a try.

I use the imagenomic noiseware photoshop plugin, and I have been really happy about that and about the service of the company; they even sent me an email at one stage to tell me to download for free their new and improved versions (without having to pay again). The noise reduction and sharpening happens at the same time, so if you think you need both, do it both in one step. As a photoshop plugin, you can select the area you want the plugin to work on. There used to be a free standing, (almost) fully functional version for download (no grid pattern to make the results unusable). http://www.imagenomic.com/

Niels

Astrokev said:

I have the free Neat Image. To selectively apply noise reduction -

copy the image
apply noise reduction to the copy
open both images in Photoshop
copy the second image as a layer onto the first image
use layer masks as described by others.

Easier and quicker to do than it is to explain in words!

Click to expand...

I also have the free edition of Neat Image, but i cant use the copy button. So i guess i have to purchase the full version?

Dave, I'm pretty sure that Astrokev meant copy the image in photoshop and then apply NeatImage to the copy and then continue with the rest of his workflow. At least that's what I used to do before paying for NeatImage.

Neil

Option1 said:

Dave, I'm pretty sure that Astrokev meant copy the image in photoshop and then apply NeatImage to the copy and then continue with the rest of his workflow. At least that's what I used to do before paying for NeatImage.

Neil

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I had a feeling it was something like that. Im new to using photoshop, so im just finding myself around it at the minute. So...so much to learn!:t:

Marcus Conway - ebirder said:

I tend to sharpen and then use Neat image. I would assume doing it the other way round would remove details that could then not be restored? Plus you can always apply another very light USM or try some sharpening in Neat Image after the reduction.

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In general, it is a good idea to run noise reduction BEFORE any sharpening or scaling of the image. Running sharpening before noise reduction will increase the overall impact of the noise. It also makes it more difficult for the noise reduction program to accurately profile the noise.

For bird shots, if NR is causing detail loss, one thing you can try is to apply a lesser degree of noise reduction to the subject (e.g. the bird) and stronger noise reduction to the rest of the image. Even though it is possible to do this using the "copy image" technique described earlier, paying less than what a decent UV filter costs to for an excellent program like NeatImage to get the PhotoShop plug-in version is worth. This way, you only have to use the selection and refine edges commands in PhotoShop before you apply NeatImage. It is also much easier to undo and try again if you don't like the results.