Author Topic: fixing a photo in PhotoShop (Read 9756 times)

sandbox · « **on:** July 30, 2007, 02:25:25 PM »

This photo has what I call, a grainy appearance. What I don't know is what tools I would use to fix it, if at all.
Anyone know how I could clear it up? I think it was a lack of light or a low ISO setting that caused this result.

Thanks

Paddy · « **Reply #1 on:** July 30, 2007, 03:40:17 PM »

Some good suggestions here:

Tips on removing noise from digital image

I played around with it for a few minutes - tried various options under Filters->Noise, including Despeckle and Remove noise, both of which helped somewhat and worked better than Dust and Scratches. Also used Gaussian Blur which helped reduce stubborn black speckles. Then applied Unsharp Mask.

Since this is probably only a portion of the photo, it's hard to judge the overall effect, but you should be able to improve things a bit. As someone in that thread noted, it's easier to avoid noise in the first place than get rid of it later, but sometimes in low-light situations it's hard to avoid.

dboh · « **Reply #2 on:** July 30, 2007, 05:35:54 PM »

You might want to try applying the Blur filter to each channel separately. There may be more noise in the red channel than in the blue or green, and you could more selectively correct. Then use the Unsharp Mask (you may only need to sharpen the red channel).

Texas Mac Man · « **Reply #3 on:** July 30, 2007, 07:10:20 PM »

I tried several variations, but could only make a slight improvement.

Was this picture made using a digital camera or a film camera?

If film camera, was the picture posted made from scanning a print (or scanning a negative)?

If scanned, is the picture you posted enlarged?

krissel · « **Reply #4 on:** July 30, 2007, 10:07:18 PM »

Hey, I wouldn't change a thing!
It's a really nice pointillist composition. I like it as it is.

sandbox · « **Reply #5 on:** July 30, 2007, 10:38:47 PM »

Kris,that was just part of a Larger photo.
Paddy there seems to be some good answers in there but I can't tell what they are.
dboh, thanks for the pointers i'll make a duplicate and try to adjust it.
Tex, I took it with a digital in very odd light. I used 3:2 formatting and set the ISO to Auto.
This is the original. It doesn't look bad at 50% but at 100% it's a mess.

Paddy · « **Reply #6 on:** July 30, 2007, 11:45:41 PM »

From Gordon Cheung's post:

1. global fixes - do level/curve, color balance fix first. These operations exaggerate filtering artifacts if done after filtering, so it's best to be done first.

2. isolation - try to isolate the noisy area so the rest of the picture retains its original quality. All noise filters soften the picture to some degree, it's best to apply it to only where it's needed. How to isolate? for shadow noise, you can use color select to mask out the brighter area and leave only the shadows. For long exposure noise, use the threshold adjustment in Dust and Scratches filter to isolate the salt and pepper. Once you identify the noise, then you can find the right tool for the job.

3. filter - use filter to remove noise. Dust and scratches filter is a median filter with a threshold setting. It's a non-linear filter that does a little better in terms of removing noise without too much softening. Gaussian filter is another popular choice. It's best for occations where bluring is not a problem.

4. sharpen - since all filters soften pictures, sharpening is a must after filtering. Unsharp Mask does the best for sharpening with minimal amount of typical filter artifacts. Keep the setting low and run multiple passes to boost edges and maintain smooth textures.

5. crop and print - not required, but a well cropped picture can often save the composition of a photo. Afterall, you are only looking at 95% of the picture when you frame it on the view finder. Pictures that I care enough to print, I would like to try to crop and improve the composition.

Paddy · « **Reply #7 on:** July 31, 2007, 12:26:44 AM »

SB, I had a go at it again (the entire photo this time) and this is what I did:

1. convert to PSD - don't want to work on a JPEG, since it's a lossy format
2. Filter->Despeckle
3. Filter->Reduce Noise
4. Filter->Despeckle
5. Filter->Despeckle
6. Filter-> Unsharp Mask (89%, Radius of 1, Threshold 11)
7. Save as JPEG

This was after a bit of fiddling and trying other things, including a filter plugin called Neat Image. (Didn't like its results as much)

I didn't adjust anything else, although you probably should have a go at the color balance etc. before applying the filters. See 2nd image (without grid)

Despite what some will tell you, removing noise from a photo without seriously affecting other aspects (sharpness being the main one) is difficult.

I then tried one other commercial plug-in, Noise Ninja. Liked its results much better than Neat Image. See first image (with grid - I'm not about to pay $45 just to try it!) http://www.picturecode.com/

Thomas S. England · « **Reply #8 on:** July 31, 2007, 05:45:41 AM »

QUOTE(sandbox @ Jul 30 2007, 11:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Tex, I took it with a digital in very odd light. I used 3:2 formatting and set the ISO to Auto.

Despite your first comment that you thought a "low ISO" might be the problem, the real key is that you used Auto ISO, which left the camera free to boost the ISO to deal with the low light situation.

The camera chose a high ISO, resulting in a classic example of noise.

It also looks underexposed (I'm at a disadvantage here since the larger versions are not revealing themselves on my machine). That will make the noise even worse.

I have found Noise Ninja to be the best of the noise removal software, although it can be overdone, resulting in a very plastic, artificial look. If the image is important to you, let me know. You could send it to me & I will use Noise Ninja on it for you.

Gregg · « **Reply #9 on:** July 31, 2007, 07:46:41 AM »

I have a similar need - to remove a car from a digital photo of a covered bridge.

Not having PhotoShop, or any experience using it, I'm not sure where to turn.

Are there such services available commercially somewhere?

sandbox · « **Reply #10 on:** July 31, 2007, 07:55:51 AM »

Wow! You guys are great.

I'm going to busy trying the tools, though I had found the Despeckle and noise reduction without great success.

Here's another example.

Tom I don't know why your browser won't open the photo, but in Firefox and on my iBook it opens the photo at 50% first and the cursor turns into a magnifier that will increase the photo to 100% with just 1 click.

Paddy · « **Reply #11 on:** July 31, 2007, 08:21:20 AM »

Interesting that my trial and error resulted in the same conclusion as Thomas has obviously long ago reached, that Noise Ninja did the best job! However, I think you should take him up on his offer SB, as though I'd be happy to fix 'em for you, I don't think you want a grid on top.

I'm hoping I won't feel a compelling need to buy it, but you never know. There's always some major goof-up possibility or the possibility of photos that can't be redone and must be fixed, so it's nice to know that there IS something that seems to do a better job than just mucking about in Photoshop. And there are still those 1000+ photos from Europe still awaiting editing....

kps · « **Reply #12 on:** July 31, 2007, 12:22:13 PM »

One could spend hours trying to fix these issues and it'll never be good enough.

I've had my own goofups with noise and the best I found was to keep playing around with it until I can't do any more.

I start with:

1-Levels --to get the image to an acceptable and viewable level
2-curves --to reduce the dominant color and to boost the RGB (input 128, output 128+)
3-Filter -Despecle
4-duplicate layer
5-apply median or dust and scratches to reduce the pointilization, but this will soften the overall image.
6-adjust the transparency of the duplicated layer to an acceptable sharpness.
7-keep playing with the controls, adjust contrast, hue, saturation, etc. Reducing saturation will go a long way, but it'll make the image flat.
8-merge the layers when done

The image bellow is a little too red, but it can be corrected further. I did it rather quickly.

Thomas S. England · « **Reply #13 on:** July 31, 2007, 03:17:06 PM »

QUOTE(sandbox @ Jul 31 2007, 08:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Tom I don't know why your browser won't open the photo, but in Firefox and on my iBook it opens the photo at 50% first and the cursor turns into a magnifier that will increase the photo to 100% with just 1 click.

Here's what I could do in a couple of minutes. Ironically,Photoshop isn't nearly as handy as reducing redeye as some of the imaging editing programs designed for consumers, or, at least, I've never gotten that great at it. I try not to have it be a problem to begin with.

can somebody teach me how to do these reduced size thumbnails of images?
[attachment=502:index.jpg]

kbeartx · « **Reply #14 on:** July 31, 2007, 05:33:35 PM »

FWIW, and pls note that my Photoshop skills are rudimentary so every time I try to something fancy-schmancy with it, I'm more or less flying blind, but I have found that the image adjustment tools provided by iPhoto [Tiger version] are rather good at compensating for over- or under-exposed pics, to my amateur eye, at least...

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Author Topic: fixing a photo in PhotoShop (Read 9756 times)