How to reduce noise (Photoshop)

In this tutorial, you'll learn how all the noise reduction sliders in Photoshop ACR (or Lightroom) work so that you can get expert noise reduction results. These techniques are great for high ISO images like night skies or for cleaning up noise that shows up in the shadow detail of your photos.

Key segments:
0:00 Intro
1:33 Deconvolution sharpening
2:11 Luminance noise reduction
6:03 Color noise reduction

[ottersphotography]

As always Greg, very informative. I appreciate the fact you explain what is actually happening instead of just giving slider/setting numbers.

[AndrewThomas]

Excellent video, if your into milky way / stars photography, without a doubt the best investment is a portable sky tracker, they cost half the price off a decent fast lens, and produce 100% better image than any camera and lens alone can ever achieve.
The only offset is additional editing, but at a wide angle, a 4 minute exposure is completely possible with no star trailing, at ISO 400 stack a few of them and you get an amazing milky way image.

[JeffClay-clayhausphotography]

super tutorial...clear and lucid...thanks!

[kreygscott]

Thanks for sharing this Greg. Really appreciated mate.

[jeremybuscay]

As always, great tutorial, simple explanations, awesome photo!

[Mglow]

great explanation of what the slider accomplish! Thanks

[carmenspratt]

Enjoyed listening to the podcast with Jeff Harmon on 8/1 and it couldn’t have come at a better time! have been trying to get rid of noise from a Milkyway image I’ve been asked to enlarge that I also took at ISO 6400. Not liking the results of tutorials I’ve come across so far. Can’t wait to give this a go - Well done video!

[Jona]

Thanks for the video. Even though I have Adobe CC 2019 ( + Lumenzia), when it comes to Noise Reduction, i prefer DxO PL.

In my opinion PRIME noise reduction is just superior compared to ACR/Lightroom. And in most cases you just have to pull one slider.

[petehenshaw]

Here's a question: You can add a camera raw filter to a smart object, or you can double click a smart object to go back to a raw image and camera raw-to add a raw filter. Is there a difference in the result? Yes, I love this tutorial.

[SteveMillerhuntingforfood]

An excellent description of those tools. I use luminance NR frequently, but if I have the images, I'll use Starry Landscape Stacker. I've got very good results from that program and it's stupid easy to use. Especially with a well defined horizon/sky boundary.


What I really want, is to become proficient at using lum masking and apply those NR tools to just the darks of the image. I have your tools and the same from TK, but I've have not mastered their use.


Thanks for a great tutorial.

[rgarlinyc]

Hmmm... well whaddya know! Great *new* to me insights here, thanks GB!

[MikeHeller]

Thanks for these awesome tips Greg, I always learn something interesting. Two quick questions:
1. You are sharpening and adding NR on the final edit. Do you have a preferred workflow for this in the grand scheme of an edit? I read that adding deconvolution sharpening and NR on the raw is better, before other processing steps. Then do sharpening for output with highpass, unsharp mask, or smart sharpen at the end for final detail.
2. Would it make sense to use a luminosity mask for the sky so you are only applying NR to the darker part of the image?