Topaz DeNoise Overview

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Hi, this is Eric, and in this video we'll be looking at a basic overview of Topaz DeNoise, a new-generation Photoshop noise reduction filter.

Noise reduction is an important element of the post-processing workflow. Topaz DeNoise is specifically designed to preserve detail while greatly reducing the noise levels of any image. It's especially handy for processing a photo before you adjust the exposure, detail, and color using Topaz Adjust.

Let's start off by opening this image. This is a 10.1 megapixel RAW file taken from a Canon 40D at 3200 ISO. It's underexposed and if we were to bring it up in Photoshop, it would be extremely noisy and almost unusable. Let's take a look.

Here it is in Camera RAW. An important thing to do before we bring it into Photoshop is to disable all the Camera RAW default noise reduction and sharpening settings so they don't interfere with Topaz DeNoise. To do that, click the third tab here and set the Sharpening and Noise Reduction values to 0. You can save this as a preset that'll apply this to future images, as I have done here.

Now that the image is in Photoshop, I'll brighten it up a bit so we can see how bad the noise is. Let's do a regular Levels adjustment layer and zoom in to 200%. Notice all of the noise around the edges and throughout the image. We'll get rid of these and still preserve the edges by using Topaz DeNoise on a separate layer.

I'll go to Filter, Topaz Labs, and Topaz Denoise. Let's go over a few key features of Topaz DeNoise.

The most important parameter, Noise Suppression, is a value relative to its estimate of the correct amount of noise reduction. You will often need to only adjust this parameter, and sometimes that's all it takes to clean up a photo. Unlike many other noise reduction tool, this is the only parameter that you need to tweak in a majority of images. This makes Topaz DeNoise the easiest noise reduction tool to use - even though it's the most powerful.

This looks about right. However, some of the edges are blurred, so I'll put in a little bit of blur reduction. This parameter is actually very, very useful, and you'll find yourself using it a lot. RAW images like this one aren't perfect even if they are much better than JPEGs. They tend to contain image blur caused by lens imperfections and sensor interpolation. The Blur Reduction parameter in Topaz DeNoise uses a deconvolution method that actually reverses the blurring process and gives you much better results than simple sharpening. I'll go over this in more detail with an example later.

Now, notice the "Auto Bright" feature. It automatically brightens the preview image so you can see the appropriate amount of noise. If you pan around the image the brightness levels may change, depending on how bright the original was. Also, you can save and re-use presets in the same manner as Topaz Adjust, and we've included a few presets that you can start out with.

Here in the Advanced tab we can see several different modes. By default, it's set to the second best mode, which is also the second slowest. For minor noise, Fast or Normal mode should also be fine.

All I do now is click OK, and Topaz DeNoise will start processing. Because of the intensive processing required by Topaz DeNoise, the image will take quite a while to process, but the quality you'll get is second to none. Here's your before, and here's your after. Before... after. Notice that all of these minute details are still preserved in the image, even after all the noise is gone.

Now we can feel free to play around with this photo in Topaz Adjust without having a huge amount of noise ruin the image. Looks like a Photo Pop preset would do pretty well here, so let's try that out. Looks pretty good.

Now I want to go over the Blur Reduction feature in Topaz DeNoise. It's actually not just your typical sharpening slider - it uses true deconvolution techniques to actually reduce blur. Whenever taking a photograph, the limitations of the camera's lens and sensor - in addition to any operator-caused errors like camera shake - may cause an otherwise good RAW image to be a bit blurry. Let's take this photo for example.

I didn't use a tripod when taking this photo. This combined with the sensor limitations on my Canon 40D caused fairly noticeable blur on the details here in the floor. There's also a fairly severe amount of noise throughout the image. Let's bring the image into Topaz DeNoise to see what we can do.

The default setting automatically reduces all the noise. We'll need to increase the blur reduction to eliminate the blur in the details of this photo. As you can see, the details here automatically become much more focused, clear, and crisp - something that simple sharpening will never be able to do. Here's your before, and here's your after.

Let's try another example. In this image we have very large amounts of noise, especially when we bump up the exposure a bit like this. Here, even using the highest noise suppression setting will still leave residual artifacts because of the severe noise. This is when it's appropriate to use the Smoothness slider to reduce the noise to an appropriate level. The Smoothness slider can also create some pleasing effects in people and faces if you creatively overapply it.

We'll press OK and there we go. Here's the before shot, and here's the after.

And that's pretty much it. I encourage you to try all of this out for yourself and to compare Topaz DeNoise with your current noise reduction solution. As always, we offer a 30-day fully functional free trial, available off of our website. Let us know if you have any questions, and enjoy!

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