dealing with grainy images

Last weekend, I shot a few photos with my Canon Digital Rebel at a
friend's wedding. The photos were shot in camera raw format. After
adjusting the images in Photoshop CS to improve contrast and brighten
them up a bit, I am very happy with the composition and clarity of my
photos, but a few of them are very grainy. Does anyone know how I can
reduce the grain in my images, either in Photoshop or with a plug-in? I
want to print some of these images and have them framed in order to give
them to the married couple as a gift.

 

SNIP

In print the grain may be less visible than on screen, else use a
noise/grain reduction program like "Neat Image" (also available as a
plug-in):
<http://www.neatimage.com/>

Bart

 

Please. It's not grain. It is noise. Only film has grain.

 

Does anyone know how I can

Another vote for "Neat Image" ....

 

Some people swear by Noise Ninja http://www.picturecode.com/

Does the group have any comments on this software?

jim

 

Jim Evans writes ...

There are at least 3 or 4 programs like this that supposedly do a nice
job. I think most of them have free download trial versions so
probably the best option is to download several and wring them out,
then pick the one that seems most intuitive and cost effective to you.
I have Neat Image and rarely need to use it since I shoot fine-grained
slide film (iso 50-100) for scans and my digital cameras have very low
noise below ISO 400, but when I've pushed the film or when I had to
shoot ISO 800 or higher with the digital bodies then I call up NI and
go to work. So for my extremely modest needs Neat Image, which is
pretty cheap, fit perfectly. You might easily prefer a different
program for any number of reasons ... I've heard good things about
Noise Ninja and Grain Surgery, for example.

Bill

 

I use Noise Ninja and am very happy with it. Reviews that I've read rate
it very close to Neat Image. It's probably 6 one way and half a dozen
the other. Choose by user interface that you like rather than results.

Clyde

 

Another trick for reducing grain/noise is to simply print on matte
rather than glossy paper.

Otherwise, there are the usual suspects already noted. A centralized
review can be found at:

http://www.michaelalmond.com/Articles/noise_print.html

And you already have had the best advice, download the demos and see
what works best for you.

enjoy,

Sean


"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies,
but the silence of our friends."

- Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

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Last Updated 23 June 2005

 

I too vote for NI. Even from a p&s CP5700 at ISO 800, it does an acceptable
job. I've also used it for scanned 4x5 T-64 (6118, pushed +1/2 f) that went to
a 9' poster. NI made it look like Kodachrome 25.

While I've not tried Noise Ninja, or any other noise programs, all seem to
work well, based on the responses on the Usenet. As others have said, grab a
few, play with them, and see which one suits you best. I think you will like
the results of each.

Hunt