When to use de-noising software?

canon400d · August 30, 2011

I have receently purchaed Noiseware Pro and I was wondering at which point I should use Noiseware in Photoshop. On occasions I always leave the shapening to the last so do I continue to do this and if need be then use Noiseware? Or does it not matter?
Cheers
Bob

BinaryFx · August 30, 2011

Bob, I believe that noise reduction should be done as early as possible, either up front in the raw processor or when first brought into Photoshop.

Best,

Stephen Marsh

canon400d · August 30, 2011

BinaryFx wrote: »

Bob, I believe that noise reduction should be done as early as possible, either up front in the raw processor or when first brought into Photoshop.

Best,

Stephen Marsh

Hi Stephen,
Thanks for replying. I use Photoshop CS4 and after using ACR I go into Photoshop. If need be I will use Noiseware first and continue to sharpen if necessary at the very end as usual,
Cheers
Bob

arodney · August 30, 2011

Noise reduction prior to capture sharpening(in photoshop).

In LR or ACR, doesn't matter, the edits are applied optimally automatically.

canon400d · August 31, 2011

arodney wrote: »

Noise reduction prior to capture sharpening(in photoshop).

In LR or ACR, doesn't matter, the edits are applied optimally automatically.

Thanks Andrew for replying.
Cheers
Bob

basflt · August 31, 2011

i think it does matter , but not direct after loading
some options like "fill light" enhance noise

best practice is the order as in the tool colom in LR
light , tone , curve , sharpening , noise reduction
then some additional sharpening

at least that my most used method

MarkR · August 31, 2011

Best choice is to do NR in your raw converter software. That way the NR will be put in the right order in the render pipeline, regardless of the order in which you applied the NR.

Once you are into rendered pixels (i.e. Photoshop), it's like algebra: order of operation matters! See this link from TopazLabs: http://www.topazlabs.com/blog/image-noise-reduction-workflow-tip/ for some details.

basflt · August 31, 2011

MarkR wrote: »

Best choice is to do NR in your raw converter software. That way the NR will be put in the right order in the render pipeline, regardless of the order in which you applied the NR.

Once you are into rendered pixels (i.e. Photoshop), it's like algebra: order of operation matters! See this link from TopazLabs: http://www.topazlabs.com/blog/image-noise-reduction-workflow-tip/ for some details.

that is weird
if noise reduction in ACR was that good , we would not need Topaz or Noiseware

MarkR · August 31, 2011

basflt wrote: »

that is weird
if noise reduction in ACR was that good , we would not need Topaz or Noiseware

ACR is that good, but sometimes having NR in the rendered pipeline is necessary, for example, to apply selectively using a mask, or to touch up areas where noise has been introduced do to some other pixel manipulation.

And of course, sometimes I screw up and take a shot at ISO 25600-51200. In which case, if I was smart I'd toss the file, but since I'm not, I find Topaz Denoise has just that little extra oomph in cleaning it up.

basflt · August 31, 2011

MarkR wrote: »

ACR is that good, but sometimes having NR in the rendered pipeline is necessary, for example, to apply selectively using a mask, or to touch up areas where noise has been introduced do to some other pixel manipulation.

And of course, sometimes I screw up and take a shot at ISO 25600-51200. In which case, if I was smart I'd toss the file, but since I'm not, I find Topaz Denoise has just that little extra oomph in cleaning it up.

correct

but original question was ; when to use Topaz / Noiseware

i say anywhere you please , but not as first , and not as last either

canon400d · August 31, 2011

basflt wrote: »

correct

but original question was ; when to use Topaz / Noiseware

i say anywhere you please , but not as first , and not as last either

Hi Bas,
So you are saying I should not use Noiseware at the beginning and also not at the end after sharpening but anywhere in the middle of using photoshop. From the aforementioned posts it would appear each and everyone has a different view on this as when to use it.
Can you please tell me where abouts in Adobe Camera Raw is the Noiseware tool?
Cheers
Bob

basflt · August 31, 2011

not
you cannot start noiseware from ACR
just do the normal processing in PS as normal
once all is fine , then use Noiseware and after that only apply small minor changes , including [ little bit of ] sharpening

canon400d · August 31, 2011

basflt wrote: »

not
you cannot start noiseware from ACR
just do the normal processing in PS as normal
once all is fine , then use Noiseware and after that only apply small minor changes , including [ little bit of ] sharpening

Thanks for that Bas I appreciate your kind help.
Cheers
Bob

arodney · August 31, 2011

basflt wrote: »

that is weird
if noise reduction in ACR was that good , we would not need Topaz or Noiseware

Its usefulness becomes less all the time. In LR3 (PV2010), NR is quite good, the need for such products is greatly reduced.

Peano · August 31, 2011

Footnote: When noise is a problem, you're well-advised to use an edge mask when sharpening. In fact, it's a good idea for most sharpening, noise or not.

canon400d · September 1, 2011

Peano wrote: »

Footnote: When noise is a problem, you're well-advised to use an edge mask when sharpening. In fact, it's a good idea for most sharpening, noise or not.

Thanks Peano,
Can you briefly tell me how I go about using an edge mask>
Cheers
Bob

Peano · September 1, 2011

canon400d wrote: »

Thanks Peano,
Can you briefly tell me how I go about using an edge mask>
Cheers
Bob

Sure. There are lots of tutorials and various ways to build an edge mask. Bruce Fraser explains a standard way here:

http://www.creativepro.com/article/out-of-gamut-thoughts-on-a-sharpening-workflow?page=0%2C1

You can record an action to capture all the steps in a single keystroke.

EDIT: Here's another ...
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/tip-making-edge-mask.htm

canon400d · September 2, 2011

Peano wrote: »

Sure. There are lots of tutorials and various ways to build an edge mask. Bruce Fraser explains a standard way here:

http://www.creativepro.com/article/out-of-gamut-thoughts-on-a-sharpening-workflow?page=0%2C1

You can record an action to capture all the steps in a single keystroke.

EDIT: Here's another ...
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/tip-making-edge-mask.htm

Thanks ever so much Peano, as that is a first class tutorial and very easy to follow. I really appreciate what you have done.
Cheers
Bob

When to use de-noising software?

Comments