When you like the settings you've used on a picture, you can add them to the handful of provided presets. The Edges Tab gives more control over edge detection than we have seen in much more expensive programs, including Photoshop.īy combining Simplify and Edges, or applying them separately, you can end up with cartoon-like images, abstracts, charcoal drawings, textured oil paintings, and all kinds of other art styles. This makes for some interesting colour styling.
The Adjust Tab provides traditional brightness, contrast and saturation sliders, plus a Saturation Boost, which strengthens only the already strong colours. The variety of effects you can get from playing with those sliders is quite large.
The Simplify tab has seven different sliders that gives the user full control over just what details are removed and which ones are retained. Topaz Simplify has a tabbed interface with three main sections: Simplify, Adjust and Edges. Or, when using edge detection instead of simplification of detail, you can end up with what appears to be a line drawing. A new Debanding control gives you the ability to correct for this type of problem with both vertical and horizontal correction options.At the core of Topaz Simplify is the basic principle upon which all such programs operate: As you reduce the amount of photographic detail in a picture, it appears to become more like a painted canvas, with blocks of colour.
A Reduce Blur control will enhance the contrast of edges in the image, and if your image starts to take on an unnatural smoothness, you can add a bit of grain with the Add Grain control.īanding noise is very obvious when it's present in your image – parallel lines with strong color patterns. Luminance noise reduction frequently softens contrast in the image, which can be recovered with the Recover Detail slider. Next, you'll use the Detail Adjustment options. A new Correct Black Level control allows you to correct for this type of issue, restoring blacks to their correct levels. Noise reduction can often lead to a problem with the black levels, taking away from the true blacks in your image and replacing them with a haze that looks unnatural. DeNoise gives you control over both luminance noise and color noise with separate controls for shadow, highlight, and for the red and blue color channels – the two channels most affected by noise problems. To start with, you'll want to work on the noise reduction settings. The actual controls that are provided with Topaz DeNoise 5 are broken into three sections – Noise Reduction, Detail Recovery, and Debanding. Along the right side are the preview navigator window and the actual adjustments. Tabs at the top of the window let you quickly swap between the original and the adjusted version. The center panel takes up the bulk of the window and is your preview area.
On the left side of the window are all the available presets, which are quick adjustments that can be applied and used as is, or as a starting point for your adjustments. The UI for DeNoise 5 is similar to other Topaz plug-ins, like Simplify and Adjust. The latest release, 5.0 has added significant improvements in the output quality and the processing speed and warrants a fresh look. There are a number of options available for reducing noise in your images, including favorites such as Imagenomic's Noiseware, Noise Ninja, and Neat Image.Ī slightly newer option from Topaz Labs is DeNoise, a plug-in for Photoshop and Lightroom.
Although digital cameras have improved dramatically in their ability to handle high ISO and noise, there are still times when the level of noise in an image is bad enough to be a distraction.Īnd, if you're using an older camera, this problem is more pronounced, even at lower ISO settings.įinally, with point and shoot type digicams, noise can be a factor even at ISO 400, in part because of the very small photosite size on these smaller sensors.