64 Better Available Light Digital Photography
One of Adobe Photoshop’s most useful features is an open archi-
tecture that lets it accommodate small software applications—
called plug-ins—that extend the program’s capabilities. The
use of plug-ins lets digital imagers increase the functionality of
graphics programs, and allows them to customize their software
to match whatever kind of projects they’re working on. Don’t
let the name fool you. You don’t need Adobe Photoshop, or even
Photoshop Elements, to use compatible plug-ins. Adobe Systems
defi ned the standard, but compatible plug-ins can be used with
many other image-editing programs, including Ulead Systems’
PhotoImpact, Corel’s Painter, PHOTO-PAINT, and Paint Shop
Pro. No matter which program’s menu they appear under, the
interface for the plug-ins that you see in this chapter remains the
same. Here’s a look at several kinds of noise-reduction power
tools that you will fi nd will allow you to put together an indis-
pensable toolkit.Got noise?
Noiseware (www.imagenomic.com) removes high and low ISO
noise and JPEG compression artifacts from digital fi les as well as
grain from scanned fi lm. The interface is intuitive and you’ll get
superb results without reading the Help fi le. Noiseware has a self-
learning mechanism that automatically calibrates a noise profi le
and chooses the optimal noise-removal ettings without requiring
camera-specifi c profi les. The latest version allows detected noise
levels to be adjusted by tonal and color range. It preserves image
detail based on tonality range and processing to guard against
excessive alteration. Noiseware is available for Mac OS and
Windows as a plug-in or stand-alone product. Both use heuristic
programming that continuously perfects processing. What this
means to you is that every time you process an image, Noiseware
learns more about your camera or acquisition device.Adobe Photoshop’s Reduce Noise
fi lter (Filter > Noise > Reduce
Noise) is not a bad way to get
started in noise-reduction soft-
ware. If you already own Photo-
shop, the fi lter is already there,
waiting to be used. If you feel
the need for specialized and
more-robust noise reduction,
you’re going to need a power
tool. © 2005 Joe Farace.