EASE THE NOISE
James Paterson shows you how to use Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw AI to fix noisy images and improve quality
If you’re wondering whether artificial intelligence will lead to the death of photography, here’s a good news story – AI is amazing at fixing noisy photos. We tested Adobe’s new AI-powered Denoise function on several noisy, high-ISO images. The bird photograph is a real and proper test – a heavily-cropped, underexposed image shot in a dark forest taken at ISO25,600.
The Denoise tool worked wonders on this and other grainy photos, giving better results than with older manual noise tools. This Adobe tool is particularly effective at preventing colours from bleeding into one another. In our photograph, the original colours were barely perceptible but the tool pulled out the blues and reds in the subject to an astonishing degree. It also cleaned up and revealed details that were almost invisible in the original photograph.
In addition, any noise in the shadows has been enhanced and smoothed out. You can only apply Denoise to RAW files – it’s not currently available for JPEGs. So open up a few high-ISO RAW files and try it out...
DOWNLOAD PROJECT FILES TO YOUR COMPUTER FROM: http://downloads. photoplusmag.com/pp218.zip
SHARPENING ACTIONS
NOISE Reduction and sharpening are two sides of the same coin, so after applying noise reduction, you’ll usually want to sharpen the image. To help you do so, we have supplied 12 free Photoshop sharpening actions. Some are automatic and some give you manual control. If you want a stronger result, simply run an action again to double the effect. If the Denoise command makes things smudgy, you can add a touch of grain.
STEP BY STEP FIX NOISY HIGH ISO SHOTS
Apply Adobe Camera Raw’s Denoise AI early in post for best results
01 NOISY IMAGES
The Denoise tool is particularly effective when used on images shot at high ISOs. The ISO determines the sensitivity of the camera’s sensor to light – a high ISO allows us to shoot in lower light but the higher the ISO, the greater the noise. Our image was shot at ISO 25,600, which causes grainy noise. The image is underexposed, which makes noise more noticeable, as it is amplified in shadows.
02 AMOUNT SLIDER
The Amount slider is a great addition to the tool, giving you a fine degree of control over the noise-reduction effect. Adjust and review the preview to see how the amount affects the results. You can click and hold the preview to
