Digital noise can ruin a great photo. Thankfully though, Luminar has built-in noise removal tools to help combat it. Whilst it won’t completely save and clean-up every image flawlessly, it will go a long way to making your photos a lot more presentable.
Noise removal in Luminar 3
Having noise in your photos is often the result of your camera’s ISO speed. The higher that speed, the more noise will show up in your image. But often we have to boost our ISO to get the shot we want. Luminar has an easy way to reduce noise in your photos, and whilst a lot can be dependent on your camera model and particular ISO settings, the advice below will give you a good introduction to the techniques required to create well-balanced noise reduced photos
First, add a new adjustment layer to the image you want to edit. Then go to the Add Filters tab and locate the Denoise filter. You’ll see that it comes with a few sliders which are displayed as:
Luminosity – This controls the amount of noise reduction applied across the photo. The higher the value, the less the noise.
Colour – This reduces the colour noise that appears in your image which is something that can materialize when you’re shooting at very high ISO speeds.
Boost – This slider will control the overall effect, giving a “boost” to your edits and accentuating them if needed.
What type of noise te remove first?
You should always start with the Luminosity slider. Be aware that this slider is sensitive and a small adjustment can often result in a big change. A lower value will sometimes remove the majority of the noise in your picture and save the quality. If it’s particularly noisy though, you may find that you need to increase your adjustment higher. Zoom in and use your eye to make this adjustment until you’re happy with the results.
However, you should be careful not to go to push things too far. There is always a trade-off. You may have to settle on having a small amount of noise, otherwise, the image could degrade and you’ll just be left with a very soft photo.
You should only use the Colour slider if you’re seeing coloured spots in your image. These will likely manifest as red, blue and green in colour. Otherwise, you should leave the slider untouched at a value of 0.