Beyond the Basics - RAW 101: Better Images with Photoshop and Photoshop Elements - page 77

Color Noise Reduction doesn't have the same problem with affecting the sharp-
ness of the converted image that Luminance Smoothing does, but you'll still want to
keep your adjustments to the minimum acceptable here. (If you're using Photoshop,
this slider is on the Camera Raw Details tab.) I suggest starting at the control's default
setting of 25 and going from there. Again, watching the preview area as you make
adjustments, watch for the splotches of color to begin to blend away as shown in
Figure 4.9.

Figure 4.9
Moving the Color Noise Reduction
slider to the right begins to blend
the green and magenta color
spots into the surrounding tones,
making the image look less noisy.
For this image, I've raised the
slider to a setting of 42.

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As you can see in the before and after (Figure 4.10) images, the green and
magenta problem areas are much less visible in the shadows of the image.

Figure 4.10 (left) Before color noise reduction is applied, there are noticeable problems with noise in the shadows of this image.
(right) After the Noise Reduction slider is adjusted, the splotches of color are much less noticeable. This has allowed other minor
image adjustments to contrast and brightness to be made as well.