In this lesson Maxim Basmanov will tell you how to remove noise from a photo in Photoshop. This will be the easiest way for beginners, since most novice photographers allow noise in their photos, because they incorrectly set the settings on their camera, well, or they just take pictures with a phone or ordinary "soap dishes". Yes, there are more professional ways to achieve the same effect, but in this lesson we will analyze the simplest and, in the author's opinion, the most effective way to remove noise in Adobe Photoshop.
Let's open the photo that we will be working with today.
If you look at the photo up close, you will notice that there is a little noise in it. There are both color and simple monochrome. All in one pile, as is usually the case in photographs of this kind.
Of course, when printing on some small photos or if you post the photo on social networks, where the photo size is small, the photo will look fine. But if you have a need to use enlarged areas of the photo, then this noise will be visible.
Let's start with you to remove this noise. First of all, create a copy of the layer using the Ctrl + J keyboard shortcut.
After that go to Filter -> Noise -> Reduce Noise (Filter -> Noise -> Reduce Noise).
There are two ways here: Primary and Secondary. An additional method allows you to remove noise in certain channels. This is useful when you have a lot of color noise in your photo and one color predominates.
But we're not going to delve into the more complex selection of noise and everything else, so in the "Advanced" mode, go to the "On top" tab, set all settings to zero and figure out what we can do here.
We start working with the "Intensity" slider. Increase the value of the setting until the noise merges and removes its hard edges. The noise becomes a little blurry, but does not disappear anywhere. There is still a lot of color noise in the photo.
Next, work with the Reduce Noise Colors slider. We begin to move the slider to the right. In our case, we increase the value to 90%. With this setting, we ensure that the noise remains, but the color disappears.
Now we have removed the color noise, but the usual noise remains. Now create a copy of the layer we are currently working with. Standing on a new layer, go to Filter -> Blur -> Blur on the surface (Filter -> Blur -> Surface Blur).
Now we will blur the noise that remains. But before doing this, you need to know that not always in this way we can save all the elements in the photo. It is important to understand that the noise has already killed most of these elements and therefore we need to at least just make it smooth so that the photo looks better than it is now.
In the "Radius" filter settings, increase to a small size. Of course, it all depends on your photography, but you shouldn't get too carried away here. In our example, it will be 4 pixels. "Isogelia" - also do not make too large numbers, as the photo becomes very blurry. In our example, the author uses a value of 15 levels.
Photo noise is a perennial problem faced by beginner photography enthusiasts and professionals alike. Digital noise appears as individual dots of light, dark, or color that can fill entire areas in a photo. Mobile phone owners who shoot in low light with their gadgets are well aware of this problem. However, owners of advanced SLR cameras are often faced with the fact that contrasting points appear in the photographs, which spoil the overall impression of the pictures. In this article we will talk about how to reduce the influence of noise on photos when shooting, as well as how to eliminate such minor image defects with software.
Reducing noise in the photo when shooting
It should be noted right away that there is always noise in digital photography, and this is due to the peculiarities of the photosensitive matrix, which is the basis of any digital camera. However, in most cases, the noise level is so low that the human eye is unable to see image defects. But in some situations, especially when shooting in low light conditions, digital noise in the picture is already clearly visible. There are several ways to reduce the effect of noise when shooting:
- Do not use high sensitivity valuesISO
Perhaps the main reason for the appearance of noise in photographs is too high ISO sensitivity set by the photographer. When shooting in low light in the absence of a flash, you have to increase the sensitivity of the matrix to make the photo brighter. However, increasing the ISO value in the camera settings too much will make the images too noisy.
The influence of the ISO value can be estimated using an example, in the area of the photo inside the red oval (clickable):
Noise reduction
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While photographic equipment manufacturers are currently working hard to reduce noise at high ISO settings, you shouldn't recklessly use the wider ISO range. It is better to choose the lowest possible or average ISO value, and only after test photos make the appropriate conclusions about the need to increase the sensitivity of the matrix. Therefore, increase the ISO value only when really necessary.
Try using fast lenses or flash in low light conditions. As for the optics, the wider the aperture is opened, the faster the shutter speed can be. All this will allow you to take better quality photos in low light without the need to seriously increase the ISO sensitivity and, thereby, increase the risk of noise.
- Shoot with a tripod
To reduce noise, it is advisable to use a tripod or monopod on which you can mount your digital camera. This is especially true for situations where you are shooting any kind of static subject in low light conditions. Using a tripod will allow the camera's sensor sensitivity to be set to its lowest setting, which in turn will reduce the likelihood of digital noise appearing in pictures.
- Preventing the camera from overheating
It is no secret that digital noise begins to manifest itself more strongly when the sensor of a digital camera heats up. A simple rule applies here - the higher the temperature of the matrix, the more noise in the photo image. In this regard, try not to shoot for a long time in conditions of heat, high humidity and direct sunlight, and also do not use too long exposures unnecessarily.
In addition, take into account the fact that when using LiveView mode in digital SLR cameras, the light sensor works not only during the exposure of the frame, but also a little longer, which can lead to additional heating. Therefore, do not overuse shooting in this mode, give the sensor of your camera time to cool down.
- Shooting inRAW
Shoot preferably in RAW format. This format contains more information than JPEG, so you have more opportunities to get a high-quality picture. In addition, you will be able to reduce the noise in the photo image already when converting RAW files using the image processing software.
Modern digital cameras are equipped with various noise reduction functions, but the software algorithms used in them are far from perfect and do not always suppress noise correctly. Often, using such a function leads to the loss of fine image details. In addition, if your camera has already removed some of the noise, this can complicate the subsequent processing and fine-tuning of the photo on a computer.
How to remove noise from a photo in Photoshop
Using the capabilities of one of the graphic editors, you can safely remove digital noise from your photo. In Adobe Photoshop, this procedure is usually performed through the standard Reduce Noise filter (through the menu Filter - Noise - Reduce Noise). Before processing the image, you need to open it in Photoshop and duplicate it (Layers - Duplicatelayer). Thanks to this, at the end of the noise removal work, you can always compare the original with the processed image. After opening the Reduce Noise filter, you start working in the (Basic) mode, where the following options will be available:
- Intensity or strength (Strength). This parameter reduces the luminance noise - the more to the right you move the slider, the more the noise will be attenuated. The main thing here is not to overdo it, so that various small details do not disappear from the photo along with the digital noise.
- Preserve Details. By adjusting this slider, you can restore the disappeared small details of the photo, but keep in mind that noise will also return in the photo. Here you have to find the optimal balance between leaving the fine details of the photo and resigning to the presence of a certain level of noise, and in order to completely eliminate the noise, resigning to the loss of some details.
- Reduce color noise (Reduce Color Noise). This option is used to remove color spots from the photo.
- Sharpen Details. With this option, you can try to restore the sharpness of the photo image, which naturally deteriorates with decreasing digital noise.
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ISO 25600 - after noise reduction
Experiment with the settings, and then go to the additional mode of the same filter (Advanced). Here you can reduce noise in a single channel thanks to the Per Channel tab. For each channel, you can change all of the above-mentioned parameters "Intensity" and "Save details".
Find the optimal filter settings for your particular photo image. If you need to get rid of the so-called luminance noise, that is, from small elements in the photo that have differences in brightness, then you can start with the following settings: Intensity - 9 - 10, Preservation of details - 3 - 6%. If you are dealing with chromatic noise (the presence of colored spots in the photo), then you can set the following value of Reduce Color Noise - 70 - 100%.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the degree of the problem of digital noise in photographic images is often exaggerated by the photographers themselves, who simply do not want to see any "defects" in their photographs. However, it should be remembered that when viewing a picture at 100% scale on a computer monitor, you will see noise that is several times larger in area than in the same photo posted, for example, in an online photo album. In addition to this, no general-purpose noise removal algorithms currently exist. This means that suppression of noise or its elimination by software means one way or another leads to a partial loss of small details, deterioration of color accuracy and sharpness of the photo. Therefore, you do not need to strive to always completely remove noise in your photographs, in most cases it will be enough to simply reduce it to an acceptable level. Although if you plan to engage in commercial or stock photography, then you will have to be more strict with the technical side of the images and similar minor defects in photographic images.
Photos with noise are a kind of defect resulting from poor lighting. A large number of washed out color spots are distributed throughout the image, greatly reducing its quality. This article describes how to remove noise in Photoshop. There are several options for solving the problem.
Instructions
The best way to deal with grainy noise is to prevent it from occurring. Poor quality shots are obtained in low light conditions when the photographer has to increase the ISO values a lot.
Already at an indicator equal to 400, extraneous elements appear on the images. If the ISO is increased to 800, then the noise cannot be avoided. The quality of the photo is greatly reduced due to blurred spots. You can remove defects using the tools built into the image editor.
How to remove noise in Photoshop using a filter
What if the photo is not in RAW format? How to remove noise in a photo in Photoshop if they were not removed at the stage of converting the file? To do this, open the picture in an image editor. Then you need to open the "Filter" section in the main menu. Next, go to the "Noise" tab.
The first filter to be tested is located here. It is required to select the "Reduce noise" line. Next, you should proceed with the settings. The Strength and Preserve Details sliders are responsible for removing or reducing luminance noise. If you increase the first indicator to the maximum value, you will notice that the defects in the photo will be eliminated, but the text in the picture will become blurry.
The problem is that the fight against luminance noise causes a decrease in the sharpness and detail of the image. Attentive users will notice that a second slider has been added to the program so that the photo does not lose quality. After increasing the indicator, sharpness and detail appear, and with them noise. If there are no small elements in the image, then you can leave the second slider untouched.
Other settings
How to remove color noise in Photoshop? To do this, move the Reduce color noise slider. At the same time, the sharpness of the text will not decrease, the noise will disappear, but small details will lose their saturation. Users will notice that a colored halo has formed around the red spots. In rare cases, such changes may not be acceptable for the snapshot. For this reason, the minimum squelch values should be set. If the shooting was set to ISO 6400, then removing all defects in the image using the filter will fail. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid the high sensitivity of the matrix.
How to remove noise in Photoshop using the Adobe Camera RAW filter
First you need to download and install the plugin. Then you need to run the "Photoshop" program and go to the menu. After that, you need to mark the line "Open" in the "File" section. In order for the photo upload window to appear, you can press the CTRL + O keys. Next, you need to select a picture with noises. To the right of the File Name line, type Camera Raw. The snapshot will immediately open in the program filter.
Then you need to go to the settings. After that, you need to open the "Filter" section in the menu. Next, you need to mark the line Camera Raw. The filter window will appear. It can also be opened using the SHIFT + CTRL + A keys.
Plugin setup
How to remove noise in Photoshop using this filter? First, the user needs to configure the plugin. Check the box next to the "Checkout" item. When working with a filter, the user can immediately see the changes in the image. Next, go to the "Detailing" tab. It's the third icon from the left. You can change the scale of the photo using the slider in the bottom corner. It is necessary to increase the indicator to 300%. This is necessary so that the user can see the changes made.
Removing defects
How to remove noise from photos in Photoshop using a plugin? To do this, find the "Color" slider and move it to the right. You should not try to remove brightness noise at this stage. It is enough to remove the color dots. After completing the task, you can begin to reduce the luminance noise. To do this, you need to find the "Luminosity" slider and move it to the right. It is necessary to simultaneously observe the photograph. In each case, the value is determined individually. It is important to keep in mind one rule: the luminance index should always be greater than the chromaticity value.
As a result, the sharpness of the photo will decrease. To make the image clearer, you need to move the "Effect" slider to the right. You can also increase the value for Brightness Information. To save the result, click on the "Ok" button.
conclusions
When working with bitmap images, it is not recommended to use the built-in filter of the Photoshop program. The main reason is the appearance of color halos around bright picture elements. It is very difficult to remove luminance noise from smooth surfaces without losing the sharpness of small details. The Camera Raw plug-in allows you to increase ISO up to 6400 even for commercial shooting. The user can remove luminance and color noise while retaining fine details.
In the first part of this lesson, we examined the causes of the appearance of noise in photography, its components, and what to do in order not to provoke their appearance. In this tutorial, we will learn how to reduce noise in Photoshop, Capture One, Digital Photo Professional and Lightroom... All of these programs have a tool for reducing noise in photography, referred to in photographer jargon as “ shumodav».
- At this stage, you need to understand that:
- If during shooting there are only two alternatives: to make a frame without noise (low sensitivity of the camera matrix) but not sharp, or with noise, but sharp, then I choose the second option. Because you can't get rid of blur, but you can still fight noise.
- It is not always necessary to completely remove noise in a photo; often it is enough just to reduce its level to an acceptable level.
- Luminance and chromatic noise are removed differently.
- At 100% scale of the image on the monitor, we see noise that is several times larger in area than they would be on a print, in a printed publication or an online photo album.
In this tutorial, you will find large photos that are automatically scaled if your screen size is smaller than what you need. When this happens, a button will appear in the upper right corner of the photo to enlarge to 100%. Only this scale will allow you to accurately estimate the strength and size of the noises. To see those parts of the illustration that are hidden, drag the image with the mouse by its central part. Press Esc to close the photo and return to the article.
Initial conditions: all noise reduction devices are disabled in my cell, shooting is in progress RAW format, the sensitivity is set at 3200 units (I still admit this value in my filming) and 6400 units (see if I can use this sensitivity in an emergency). For control, a frame was taken at a matrix sensitivity of 100 units. All shots were exposed to +0.5 stops. This slightly increased the level of noise in photographs, but during shooting errors in exposure occur, so this correction is closer to a practical situation for a photographer. ( photo 1): a) a fragment from the Shnyr's food packaging (to control the sharpness of the text and color distortions); b) a scale with fields of different lightness (control of the strength of noise in different tonalities); c) a fragment of the body of the mythical creature Gava (for greater beauty). On photo 2 we see that with increasing sensitivity, noise spots grow in all target fields, which is quite natural and expected.
Photo 1: test photo.
Photo 2: increasing the sensitivity of the camera sensor leads to increased noise.
Photo 3: Reducing luminance noise reduces the sharpness of fine details in the picture.
How to remove noise in Photoshop (Photoshop).
Ah, pranksters, did you shoot in non-RAW format, or did you forget to remove noise at the stage of converting a RAW file? Sometimes it happens. Open our photo in Photoshop, then go to the menu: Filter> Noise> Reduce Noise ... (Filter> Noise> Reduce Noise ...). Here is our first tested noise reduction device.
Brightness noise. It is the first two sliders (Strength and Preserve Details) that are responsible for decreasing it. If we drag Strength to the right, we will see that the brightness noise decreases, but the text becomes more blurry ( photo 3). The main evil of brightness noise: combating them leads to a decrease in the sharpness and detail of the photo. The attentive reader will notice that the Preserve Details slider is designed to ensure that the image does not lose quality. Move the second slider to the right and you will see the sharpness and detail return. But with it, the noises also return, it turns out "changed the awl for soap." The settings I used for ISO 3200: Strength - 9, Preserve Details 6%. If there are no small details in your photo, like text, texture, then Preserve Details can be reduced down to 0. For ISO 6400 these settings turned out to be rather weak, so I increased Strength to 10, and Details was reduced to 3%, somewhat to the detriment of text sharpness ( photo 5).
Chromatic (color) noise seems like the lesser evil. By moving the Reduce Color Noise slider to the maximum value ( photo 4) the sharpness of the text does not decrease, color noise almost disappears, but small objects lose their color saturation (look at the red and blue field). Also note that a colored halo forms around the red patches. Sometimes, such discoloration of fine details can be critical and impossible to capture. Therefore, you should try to apply noise reduction to a minimum degree: for ISO 3200 I applied the Reduce Color Noise value of 70%, and for ISO 6400 - 100%.
On photo 5 and 6 you see the result of the noise reduction in Photoshop. If for ISO 3200, after noise reduction, noises manifest themselves at a tolerable level and there is still some reserve for their greater suppression, then for ISO 6400 they are already excessive for some shooting, and I would try in every possible way to avoid using this sensor sensitivity.
Photo 4: Reducing color noise can result in reduced color saturation in details and color halos.
Photo 5: Reduced noise in Photoshop, ISO 3200.
Photo 6: the result of applying Photoshop noise reduction for ISO 6400.
Conclusions: Reducing brightness noise is impossible without reducing the sharpness of the photo. The use of noise reduction makes it possible to use the sensitivity of 3200 units, but the sensitivity of 6400 may not be suitable for increased requirements for photo quality. If you take photographs for the Internet or for printing a small size, then I can use a sensitivity of 6400 units. By reducing luminance noise in photography, we do not get rid of chromatic noise, and vice versa.
Reducing chromatic noise in photography can sometimes go unnoticed by the viewer. But if the accuracy of color reproduction in small details is important when shooting, then excessive use of noise reduction settings in Photoshop is unacceptable, for example, when subject shooting or in food photography. The "softer" the noise reduction settings we use (not only for Photoshop, in general any), the better is our image after processing.
Digital Photo Professional
The second I chose for this tutorial Canon Digital Photo Professional(hereinafter referred to as DPP). This is a very simple RAW converter for Canon cameras and it is with it that I am introducing photography to beginner students to the power of RAW. In order to get to DPP noise reduction, select the NR / Lens / AOL tab on the Tool Palette. Naturally, we are interested in the Noise reduction block, which contains only two sliders: Luminance ... - to reduce luminance noise, and Chrominance ... - for chromatic ( photo 7). As in the case with Photoshop's noise reduction, I tried to apply such settings in DPP to maintain a balance of quality for small details and smooth surfaces. For ISO 3200, the following parameters were used: Luminance - 7, Chrominance - 12 ( photo 8). For ISO 6400 - 12 and 20, respectively ( photo 9). The result is very similar to that obtained in Photoshop's noise mode.
Setting the noise reduction in DPP. I have noticed that with noise reduction disabled in my camera, DPP applies its own noise reduction to RAW files. It is not convenient to turn off noise reduction in photos every time, so you need to make sure that DPP does not apply it by default. To do this, go to DPP settings (Ctrl + K keys), go to the Tool palette tab, turn on the Set as defaults switch, set all sliders to 0, click OK, and restart DPP ( photo 10).
Photo 7: Canon Digital Photo Professional noise reduction.
Photo 8: DPP noise reduction for ISO 3200.
Photo 9: the result of applying the same noise reduction for ISO 6400.
Photo 10: DPP noise reduction settings.
Capture One
Capture One is my main RAW converter to date. As in the case of DPP, its noise reduction ( photo 11) is not disabled and is applied to the RAW file regardless of camera settings. Moreover, even when there is no need to reduce noise, for example, at low sensitivity. I did a little research on the noise reduction algorithm in Capture One, and it interested me so much that I decided to read the help file of this RAW converter. Alas, I did not find any useful information on the principles of noise reduction in Capture One. Therefore, the following will describe the results of my conjectures, assumptions and research.
According to the Capture One help, the noise reduction of this converter changes its settings after analyzing the file. I confess that over the several years of working in Capture One, I have adjusted its noise reduction settings only a few times. Shumodav works so gently, intelligently, unobtrusively and perfectly in automatic mode that I simply forgot about its existence.
The first thing I checked was how my photo would improve when I removed the noise reduction settings for ISO 100. And nothing happened. That is, if there is no noise, then the noise reduction does not work. Then I noticed that increasing the sensitivity only changed the Color value (the effect on color noise), but not the Luminance (brightness noise). Then I assumed that with the same Luminance value and with increasing sensitivity, the brightness noise will increase in proportion to how it happens in the absence of noise reduction. It was not so. The noises have increased, but not so significantly. I won’t wonder how this happens, but the result of the intelligence of Capture One pleased me.
In the next experiment, I tried to find the minimum noise reduction setting that would satisfy me and compare how much softer my settings are with those offered by Capture One by default. The changes were so minor that they can be neglected: for ISO 3200, Capture One suggested values of 25 and 54 (Luminance and Color), but I found milder values of 20 and 50, respectively, to be acceptable. For ISO 6400, Capture One's own noise reduction settings were completely satisfactory, and I did not touch them (25 and 57).
There are a few more niceties to make noise cancellation even more effective. Surface allows you to reduce large noise spots on low-contrast, smooth surfaces without affecting small details such as text (70 for ISO 3200 and 90 for ISO 6400). Single Pixel allows you to remove single pixel noise (individual knocked out pixels) without losing fine details. True, such pixels appear only at ISO 6400 or when the matrix overheats in Live View. Despite the fact that the sensitivity of the matrix of 6400 units was used in the noise reduction test, I did not use this Capture one setting, since the influence of the main instruments was sufficient.
I am very pleased with the quality and capabilities of Capture One's noise reduction. Unlike the noise filters discussed above, Capture One does not create color ghosting and does not reduce color saturation in small details of the image. Colored noise in shaded areas is also much better suppressed than previous competitors. This indicates the high quality of the color noise reduction algorithm. Surface action also makes brightness noise appear weaker, especially on solid surfaces.
You can see the noise reduction results in Capture One at photo 12 and 13... However, it remains to test a competitor among RAW converters - noise reduction in Lightroom.
Photo 11: Noise control Capture One.
Photo 12: Result of Capture One noise reduction at ISO 3200.
Photo 13: the result of applying the same noise reduction for ISO 6400.
Lightroom and Adobe Camera RAW
I even downloaded the new Lightroom - 4.3 ... In all previous versions of Lightroom, its noise reduction, according to users, was considered a weak link and was not recommended for use. Those. after converting RAW files in Lightroom, noise reduction had to be done in Photoshop. But Photoshop's noise reduction loses at least to Capture One in the quality of work, and I can't recommend this chain (Lightroom> Photoshop) for noise reduction. Out of my ears, I saw a mention on the forums that the noise reduction of Lightroom, starting with the fourth version, has been improved. Wanting to clarify this information with experienced users, I again found myself on the Lightroom forums. And what I read there did not please me in any way: brakes, difficulties in work, glitches, in general, everything is as always with the RAW file converter from Adobe. This completely turned me away from installing Lightroom, and instead of noise reduction, I will be testing a similar Photoshop tool - Adobe Camera RAW. I noticed a long time ago that the settings for these two Adobe products are identical, and produce the same results after processing RAW files. That is, the algorithms for the operation of both programs are the same (it would be strange for one manufacturer to make two versions of the noise control). If I am wrong, and you have good reasons for this, please let me know.
In order to reduce noise in Adobe Camera RAW, go to the Detail tab. This noise reduction has more settings than the noise reduction in Photoshop (photo 14). By default, for files of both sensitivities, Camera RAW offers not to reduce the brightness noise, but to reduce the color noise (Luminance - 0, Color - 25, Color Detail - 50). At these settings, color noise is perfectly suppressed and (as in Capture One) I don't notice color halos. Wonderful. The Color Detail slider helps you adjust (bring back) the color saturation for small details (remember, Photoshop had a problem with this in noise mode). I left the default Color Detail, i.e. 50. But the basic Color setting I reduced to 15 (for ISO 3200) and 20 (ISO 6400).
Luminance spots on smooth surfaces remained distinguishable but unobtrusive at Luminance values of 55 (for ISO 3200) and 70 (ISO 6400), but produced a slight decrease in text detail. Therefore, I chose a compromise Luminance Detail value of 40 (for ISO 3200) and 50 (ISO 6400).
I loved how Adobe Camera RAW ( photo 15 and 16) that I was thinking about the acceptability of wider use of 6400 sensitivity on my camera. If we added the Surface setting to this noise reduction as in Capture One, then it would have no equal. I wonder how the places among the leaders of the noise controllers will be distributed at the end of this photography lesson.
Photo 14: Adobe Camera RAW noise reduction (same settings as Lightroom).
Photo 15: The result of applying Adobe Camera RAW noise reduction at ISO 3200.
Photo 16: the result of applying the same noise reduction for ISO 6400.
Noise control test results
The results of the noise control test in photos 17 and 18: the worst are at the top, the best are at the bottom. When shooting at high sensitivities, I do not recommend using Photoshop's Raster Image Noise Reduction and Canon Digital Photo Professional. The main reason is strong color halos around color details in photography. It is also difficult to find a compromise between the level of brightness noise on smooth surfaces and the sharpness of small details in these noise controllers. Capture One, against the background of the first two, looks in a winning position until Adobe Camera RAW noise reduction comes into play. The latter showed that in many cases I can use 6400 for commercial shoots as well: an amazing reduction in luminance noise for smooth surfaces while retaining fine detail and a good job of reducing color noise. What are the complaints of those working in Lightroom I don't understand?
Photo 17: Comparison table of noise reduction for ISO 3200.
Photo 18: Comparison table of noise reduction for ISO 6400.
Photo 19: Enchanting noise.
Conclusion
If you want to use high sensitivities when shooting, then start fighting noise at the shooting stage - shoot in RAW format. Do not shift the process of noise reduction to Photoshop, do it in a RAW converter when correcting photos. Use the converter that, with less loss (and loss is inevitable), will reduce noise in the photo. Use the minimum squelch setting.
If the photo has strong noise, then in some cases you can limit yourself to reducing only color spots. The remaining luminance noise will be very similar to film grain. Sometimes this grain simulation is even preferable to the smooth picture of a digital camera. For example, if you are styling a photo to look like an old one. In other cases, the grain can give a certain charm to the picture ( photo 19). No wonder there are Photoshop filters that create such a film grain. But, this is a topic for another lesson.
PS: In this test we used not the newest versions of Adobe Camera RAW and Capture One. Therefore, it is possible that the noise reduction algorithms in these programs have become even more sophisticated.
PPS: Don't make noise!
A microphone is a device that senses sound waves and converts them into electromagnetic vibrations. Due to its high sensitivity, the microphone can pick up unwanted signals that generate strong interference. Noise and interference in the microphone occurs for a number of reasons that can be a serious problem when recording sound or transmitting voice messages over the Internet. In order to remove interference in the microphone, you must first find out why this happened.
Background noise in the microphone
Microphones are used on stage, in household sound recording and when communicating over the Internet. Each situation may have its own reasons for extraneous noise in the microphone. The following reasons for the appearance of extraneous noise are usually considered:
- Defective or poor quality microphone
- Disturbances in the connecting cable
- External interference
- Incorrect setting
- Bad software
To get rid of the noise in the microphone, you first need to test the device itself. A defective microphone is rarely a source of noise. Usually in this case, severe distortion occurs in the transmission of the audio signal. Sometimes a bad microphone can be a source of extraneous sound. If the receiver of sound vibrations is connected via a cable and a connector, then to check it, it is enough to change the sound channel. In this case, the persistence of noise or distortion indicates a malfunction of the microphone. For high-quality sound recording, you should not use cheap devices. They are unreliable and often fail.
How to suppress background noise from a microphone
If noise comes from the microphone, this may be due to a break in the ground or common wire. In this case, the low-frequency background will be clearly audible in the speakers. To eliminate this cause, you need to carefully check the cable and restore the broken connection. Suppression of microphone noise can be associated with the elimination of poor-quality contact at any point in the amplifying path.
Microphones can be remote or built into any technical device. The removed devices, in addition to violations in the connecting cable, may have external causes causing extraneous noise. One of these reasons can be an overestimation of the preamplifier channel, when acoustic feedback occurs between the devices. In this case, a pulsating tone will be heard in the speakers, which may change when the position of the audio device is changed. To remove buzzing and unnecessary noise in the microphone, you can reduce the level in the audio equipment. To get rid of the noise of the microphone during recording, in some cases, you can simply select a different installation point for the device. It happens that a sound device perceives external noises or sound from operating technical equipment. Then you can eliminate the noise in the microphone by putting on a protective screen on the working part of the device. It is usually made from foam rubber and is most commonly used in outdoor recording applications.
How to completely remove noise from a microphone
Devices for receiving sound vibrations built into household appliances may have other causes of noise. If there are extraneous sounds, you need to know how to get rid of the background noise in the microphone. Many people who use programs to communicate over the Internet often face such problems. Sounds interfere with good sound recording and normal communication. It is possible to remove electrical noise in a microphone, but to do this, you need to know the cause of its occurrence. The causes of microphone noise can be influenced by the following:
- Incorrect program settings
- Outdated drivers
- External interference from electronics
In order to check the microphone of a computer or tablet, you need to perform actions depending on the type and version of the operating system. In older Windows operating systems, right-click on the speaker icon in the lower left corner of the screen and select the "Recorders" line in the list that appears.
Next, on the microphone icon, right-click to open the context menu and select "Properties". Open the "Listen" item and control the operation of the microphone through the speakers of the speaker system. If there is no distortion, extraneous noise is not perceived, but the voice is played too quietly, then by opening the "Levels" item, you can use the slider to adjust the sensitivity level. If the WEB-camera is located far away, then the level can be raised to the required value. This is selected empirically.
If there is strong distortion or extraneous noise, you can check the sampling rate. To do this, open the "Advanced" item and on the tab set "1 channel 16 bit 44100 Hz (CD). If, after all the actions, strong noises in the microphone do not disappear, then you will probably have to replace it. What to do if noise in the microphone interferes with communication through popular services. To check the correct operation of the sound channel in Skype, you need to do the following:
- Enter the program
- Select the section "Tools"
- Open the line "Settings" and "Sound settings"
Mark the line "Microphone settings automatically" and in the "Test" mode make sure the sound quality is normal. If the device is humming and the noise on the background of the microphone does not disappear, you should reduce the sensitivity level of the device. The Mail.ru Agent program also has a "Program settings" item. In the "Voice and video" tab, select the "Automatic sound settings" item. If the sensitivity of the device is weak, you can put a tick in front of the item "Microphone gain". The modes can be adjusted manually, but auto-tuning eliminates the need to rebuild the device with changing recording and playback factors.
If a Linux operating system is installed on a computer or tablet, the methods for removing noise in the microphone will be slightly different. The reason may lie in a low-quality device. In this case, after checking the sound channel, when other reasons are eliminated, it can be replaced. But first you need to use the PulseAudio audio server, which will greatly improve the quality of your audio device.
The audioserver has a noise reduction module that works according to the webrtc or speex algorithm. To do this, run the required program as follows: PULSE_PROP = ”filter.want = echo-cancel” skype. After that, all communication via Skype will take place without echo and extraneous noise.
The next way is to create constant sources and sinks with noise suppression across the entire spectrum: load-module-echo-cancel source name = noechosource sinc name = noe chosinc set-default-source noechosource
You can write these lines anywhere in /etc/pulse/default.pa so that they are automatically executed every time PulseAudio is started.
When using this noise reduction option, you should be aware that the module works both for recording and for reproduction, therefore, when working with voice communication programs, everything will be fine, and problems may arise when recording high-quality sound. When using noise reduction using the second method, you need to make sure that the program plays sound with noise reduction, and not directly into the audio card. When playing music from the computer's built-in player via the noise canceling sinc, the audio files will be played in mono and at a sampling rate of 32 kHz, which is very poor quality.
How to remove noise in a microphone from a computer
This defect most often occurs in laptops, where the small size of the device does not allow far enough to separate the device, which is sensitive to sound waves, and some kind of electric drives. Most often, noise in the microphone can appear from the operation of the electric motor of the hard disk drive or the ventilation cooler. But it so happens that some modes of the computer also cause the appearance of noise in the microphone. If Windows is set to power saving mode, it may cause noise. In order to make sure of this, you need to enter the "Power supply" settings item and switch it from the saving mode to the "High performance" mode. After restarting your computer, the interference may disappear.
Another cause of noise interference can be the connection of incorrect devices to the computer. They are usually connected via a USB port and receive power from there. If the external device is poorly assembled, then the power supply interference will get into the headphones. This is not directly related to the microphone, although some motorized external devices may generate vibration that will travel to headphones or speakers through the microphone channel. You can make sure that there is an external source of noise by sequentially disconnecting all external devices from the ports.
Strong microphone noise
Audio playback may be interfering if the computer is not properly connected to the network. The microphone channel is very sensitive to various network interference. Any household appliances can create them. In addition, 50 Hz low frequency interference can enter the microphone channel if the device is not grounded. Ideally, the computer should be connected to a grounded European power outlet. It is also impossible to include a computer and other household appliances in one extension cord. A separate extension cord with a mandatory surge protector must be provided for it.
