Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
If you shoot using the raw format, you can correct a fair amount of noise right in the Raw
Converter (
The Raw Converter
)
. But the Converter may give you unpredictable results if you
use it on JPEGs. And even raw files may need further noise reduction once you've converted
and then edited them.
Elements' Reduce Noise filter is (not surprisingly) designed to help get rid of noise. To run
this filter, go to Filter→Noise→Reduce Noise, and Elements opens a dialog box with a pre-
view area on the left and settings on the right. To apply the filter, first use the controls below
the preview to set the zoom level to 100 percent or higher. (You need to see the individual
pixels in the photo so you can tell how the filter is changing them as you tweak its settings.)
Then adjust the filter's three sliders:
▪
Strength
. This controls the overall impact of the filter, which reduces the same kind of
noise as the Luminance Smoothing setting in the Raw Converter (
Choosing Bit Depth
).
The higher this setting, the greater the risk of softening your photo.
▪
Preserve Details
. Using noise reduction can soften a photo and make it look blurry. This
setting tells Elements how much care to take to preserve details.
▪
Reduce Color Noise
. This control adjusts uneven color distribution in the image. You
can set this slider pretty high without harming your photo.
The Remove JPEG Artifact checkbox tells Elements to minimize
JPEG artifacts
—the un-
even areas of color caused by JPEG compression (see
About JPEGs
)
. A mottled pattern in
what should be a clear blue sky is a classic example of JPEG artifacting. Turn on this check-
box to help smooth things out.
For each setting, move the slider right if you want it to have more of an impact or left if you
want less. Watch the effect in the preview area to see the changes. (You may notice a little
lag time before the preview updates.) When you like what you see, click OK to apply the fil-
ter.
The Reduce Noise filter does an OK job on areas with a small amount of noise, like the sky
in many JPEG photos, but it's not one of Elements' best tools. If your camera has major
noise problems, you may need special noise-reduction software to tackle it. Some of the most
popular programs are Neat Image (
www.neatimage.com
), Topaz (
www.topazlabs.com
), and
Noiseware (
www.imagenomic.com
), which all have demo versions you can download to try
them out. If you do a Google search for “noise reduction software,” you'll get a variety of
other options as well, including several free programs.
