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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Roy C" data-source="post: 1496136" data-attributes="member: 18798">Rhod, This is how I would do it in CS2, I guess Elements would not be a lot different. If you are already familiar with masking with the paint brush tool then you are half way there already.Open the layers window (Window > Layers)Create a duplicate layer (Layer > Duplicate Layer) I accept the default name 'background copy'Run Neat Image as per normal (you can afford to be quite aggressive with the noise reduction if you want because it will not effect the bird)Apply a layer mask (in the layers window there is a add layer mask icon near the bottom of the window) hold down the Alt key while clicking on the add layer mask iconYou will now see the results of your noise reduction disappear because it has been masked out, don’t worry it is still there underneath the mask.To reveal the noise reduction just on the parts of the image you want (e.g. background) paint over the applicable area with a white brush. If you make a mistake and paint over part of the bird just use a black brush to re-mask that area.In practice I find it best to quickly paint the whole image with a large hard White brush and then just use a black brush on the bird (zoom in if necessary) to mask just that area.When you are finish just flatten the image (Layer > flatten image)This technique can be used on a wide variety of actions for selecting just part of an image like: Sharpening, Highlights, Shadows, Levels etcHope this helps.</blockquote>

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