No doubt that noise reduction software are the best tools we've got to remove noise from our images. A few years ago we only had PictureCode's Noise Ninja and Neat Image as the best noise reduction tools for minimizing noise digital images. Today we can find many competitors which are doing a great job in removing digital noise from. In this article I want to go through the top leading Noise reduction software (ie. Standalone, plugins) and see which are the best noise removal software/plugins out there.
So why not use a lower aperture f-number or slower shutter speed instead? - well, all three influence the amount of light that reach the sensor. In some cases, we either already using the maximum settings (lowest f-number and minimum shutter speed) or we have too shoot the image in a specific shutter speed / aperture settings in order to achieve the desired results. So the only option for photographers is to increase the ISO sensitivity, which stressed up, it leads to pronounced noise that can be seen as uneven scattered dost ("fine-grained") in the image.
Noise is more of a problem with Point and shoot cameras that have smaller sensors, compared to digital SLR camera that have a larger sensor. Even so, in different high ISO settings, both will suffer from noise that should be removed in order to preserve the visual quality of the image. Whether you shoot professionally or not, you can take advantage of noise reduction software to enhance the quality of your images and even save images, that at first looked unusable, even for small prints.
That were noise reduction software and plugins comes int, to fight camera noise. The whole idea is to make this process easy and fast for photographers, by allowing them to completely eliminate any trace of digital noise from images. Some utilities are doing a good job, while others are doing a much better job. They all includes sophisticated mathematical and statistical data that scan the image at several frequencies in order to figure out what is the image and what is noise. Then they apply specific algorithms to reconstruct those noisy areas and remove camera noise, while keeping most of the details untouched, as much as possible.
Note: Digital cameras have noise cancelling algorithms embedded in the imaging sensor of the camera, but they algorithms used are much less powerful than the one found in desktop software. The reason for that is that sophisticated code reacquires a lot of processing power in order to complete in a short period of time. That's the reason why photographers doing most of their NR work in desktop software.
I can't just point to one noise reduction software that I think it's the best. Some of them are more robust than the others, while other want to stay simple and provide non-professional photographers or graphic editors to remove images without being a computer geek. Nik Software Dfine 2.0 and Topaz DeNoise will probably be a pick of enthusiast and professional photographers. Dfine also works with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, which will find its way to many photographer's computers.
I made my choice, what is yours?
Why do we need a Noise Reduction software?
There are times that photographers need to capture a photo, but can't achieve good results unless the image is shot at high ISO. They use high ISO sensitivity levels in order to increase the sensor's sensitivity to light. Each increment of ISO stop doubles the amount of light that is being captures by the recording media, the sensor in this case.So why not use a lower aperture f-number or slower shutter speed instead? - well, all three influence the amount of light that reach the sensor. In some cases, we either already using the maximum settings (lowest f-number and minimum shutter speed) or we have too shoot the image in a specific shutter speed / aperture settings in order to achieve the desired results. So the only option for photographers is to increase the ISO sensitivity, which stressed up, it leads to pronounced noise that can be seen as uneven scattered dost ("fine-grained") in the image.
Noise is more of a problem with Point and shoot cameras that have smaller sensors, compared to digital SLR camera that have a larger sensor. Even so, in different high ISO settings, both will suffer from noise that should be removed in order to preserve the visual quality of the image. Whether you shoot professionally or not, you can take advantage of noise reduction software to enhance the quality of your images and even save images, that at first looked unusable, even for small prints.
That were noise reduction software and plugins comes int, to fight camera noise. The whole idea is to make this process easy and fast for photographers, by allowing them to completely eliminate any trace of digital noise from images. Some utilities are doing a good job, while others are doing a much better job. They all includes sophisticated mathematical and statistical data that scan the image at several frequencies in order to figure out what is the image and what is noise. Then they apply specific algorithms to reconstruct those noisy areas and remove camera noise, while keeping most of the details untouched, as much as possible.
Note: Digital cameras have noise cancelling algorithms embedded in the imaging sensor of the camera, but they algorithms used are much less powerful than the one found in desktop software. The reason for that is that sophisticated code reacquires a lot of processing power in order to complete in a short period of time. That's the reason why photographers doing most of their NR work in desktop software.
What are the best Noise Reduction Software for Windows/Mac?
Many new noise removal software and plugins has been introduced from 2009-2011. No doubt that the competition in this niche software market is very tough. Even so, some software companies have proved themselves as being the leaders in that field. Here is a list of the best and most popular noise reduction software which are available today.- ABSoft NeatImage 7.0 - Comes as a standalone application or a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop. Still is one of the most popular noise reduction software which helps reduce noise, JPEG artifacts and film grain from scanned film and prints. Have support for both 32-bit and 64-bit environments. The latest version 7.0 has support for NVidia SPUs (ie. NVidia GTX 470) and Intel latest i7 and i7 processor. Has multi-CPI support, improved user interface and much more. It also support the latest camera profiles.
Type: Plugin (for Adobe Photosop and Apple Aperture), Standalone version
OS: Mac / Windows / Linux
Price:
Plugin - Demo (free), Home plug-in ($39.90), Pro Plug-in ($79.90)
Standalone - Demo (free), Home ($39.90), Pro ($69.90)
See NeatImage in action
- TopazLabs DeNoise - This is probably one of the most successful new kid on the block. Topaz DeNoise is a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop that offers helps to target those spotty images with smart algorithms that removes existing noise while minimizing the destruction of fine details. It also fixes pattern and random noise, horizontal and vertical banding noise (sometimes very hard to get rid of), restores tone and clarity to your images. Even wanted that your ISO 1600 images will look like they have been taken with ISO 100 - no problem, Topaz DeNoise can do that for you. Topaz DeNois is one of my favorites, it really does a great job!
Type: Plugin
OS: Mac / Windows
Price: $79.99
Note: you can buy a whole bundle of TopazLabs plugins (including DeNoise) for a discount price.
Highly Recommended!
How to eliminate noise with DeNoise video presentation:
- Nik Software Dfine® 2.0
- Now it's much easier to remove noise from images while maintaining lots of details and sharpness. Nik Software Dfine 2.0 utilizes U point® technology and uses control points to allow photographers to achieve better selective precision on where they want their noise to be removed. It means that you can remove noise by targeting specific color ranges so you can easily remove chroma noise in specific areas of the image without touching others.. A unique and innovative approach for noise reduction. Just read what Amazon customers have to say about it "Very Effective", "Awesome!", etc.
The new version supports automatic profiling, improved UI, Adobe Photoshop filter compatibility and it works as Adobe Lightroom 3 plugin too!
Type: Plugin (Adobe Photoshop CS3 through CS5, Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 through 9, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3 or later, Apple Aperture 2.1.x or later)
OS: Mac / Windows
Price: $88.95 (on Amazon)
Highly Recommended!
- ImageNomic NoiseWareTM - High performance noise reduction plugin for Adobe Photoshop (both for Mac and PC). Support 16 bits/channel (Professional version), Custom filter presets, bracketing, batch professing, self-learning noise profiles and much more. It can process 8-megapixel files in under 4 seconds in 16-bit mode according to their official website. ImageNomic NoiseWare have various tools for fine-tuning the noise removal effect by combating noise. It helps to remove noise by automating the noise removal process across a batch of images. NoiseWare also won the American Photo Editor's Choise award in 2006.
Type: Plugin (Adobe Photoshop CS3/CS4/CS5)
OS: Mac / Windows
Price:
Trial: Free
Standard plug-in: $49.95
Professional plug-in: $69.95
- PictureCode Noise Ninja
- Favorite noise reduction software among professional photographers. Also an American Photo EC award winning software. It was designed by a former professor of computer science. No doubt that PictureCode Noise Ninja as among the most successful and popular choices out there. Although many other excellent products emerged in the past couple of years, still, Noise Ninja still remains the best options for many professionals. It's easy to use and the results are awe-inspiring, some even call it "Magical". This highly recommended noise removal software is being offered as Photoshop plugin and as a standalone application for both Mac and PC.
Type: Photoshop Plugin, Standalone
OS: Mac / Windows
Price:
Trial: Free
Pro Bundle: $79.95
Pro Standalone: $69.95
Home Bundle: $44.95
Home Standalone: $34.95
Which One is the Best?
I've been using both NearImage, Dfine 2.0 and Topaz DeNoise and found those two to be the most effective and less time consuming than the others. It doesn't mean that the other options aren't good, but for me, NeatImage and Topaz DeNoise provide the best results, functionality and ease of use. Before DeNoise came out, I used only NeatImage for removing noise from my images. It did a great job. Even so, I think that TopazLabs DeNoise has given me the same great results and better fine tuning functionality.I can't just point to one noise reduction software that I think it's the best. Some of them are more robust than the others, while other want to stay simple and provide non-professional photographers or graphic editors to remove images without being a computer geek. Nik Software Dfine 2.0 and Topaz DeNoise will probably be a pick of enthusiast and professional photographers. Dfine also works with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, which will find its way to many photographer's computers.
I made my choice, what is yours?
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