Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers Tutorials
Filters / Noise Reduction pt. 1
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Subtitles of the Movie (Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers / Filters / Noise Reduction pt. 1)
Noise can be a problem in some images that are taken at high ISOs and-or long exposures, particularly if the image has been underexposed and is lightened. Some newer cameras have significantly less noise at higher ISOs and longer shutter speeds than in the past, but if the image is underexposed when it's lightened it's very likely that Noise will appear. Noise occurs in two forms: Color Noise and Luminance Noise. Let's zoom in to this image to at least 100 percent. Color Noise are the unexpected areas of blue, green, or magenta blobs that appear in areas that should be particular colors. Luminance Noise are unexpected areas of tonal variation in areas that should be tonally smooth. In some ways it looks a bit like film grain, and we can see a little bit of both kinds of Noise in this area. Photoshop has some Noise Reduction tools in Camera Raw. While doing a little Color Noise Reduction in Camera Raw is OK, I don't recommend doing Luminance Noise Reduction there because it operates by decreasing tonal contrast in the image and that can soften the details. It's more effective to apply Noise Reduction just in areas with less detail which means using it as a Filter or Smart Filter on a Layer where you can apply a Layer Mask and control what areas are affected by the Noise Reduction and which aren't and that will lead to the highest quality image. Photoshop has a Noise Reduction Filter. Although I personally prefer to use third-party Noise Reduction programs such as those by NIXQ Software and Imagenomic. It's worth taking a look at what Photoshop offers. Make sure that you're on a Smart Object Layer or have converted your Background Layer to use a Smart Filter, then come up to Filter, Noise, Reduce Noise. As it's processing you'll see the little line appear under the 100 percent. By default, it's already applying both Luminance and Color Noise Reduction. The reduced Color Noise Slider does just that. It reduces the Color Noise. If we back this off to zero and we back off the Strength Slider to zero as well then we can see some of the color Noise reappear as well as the Luminance Noise. On this particular image somewhere around 30 percent seems to decrease the Color Noise acceptably. The Sharpen Detail Slider balances out some of the loss of detail by applying the Noise Reduction. The amount that you need to use will vary by each image.
Tutorial Information
| Course: | Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers |
| Author: | Ellen Anon |
| SKU: | 34036 |
| ISBN: | 1-935320-74-2 |
| Release Date: | 2009-09-23 |
| Duration: | 8.5 hrs / 112 lessons |
| Work Files: |
Yes |
| Captions: | No |
| Compatibility: |
Vista/XP/2000, OS X, Linux QuickTime 7, Flash 8 |
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