next »

Total Members: 1577
New This Month: 6
New This Week: 0
New Today: 0

Tommy

Sarah Vous

ShepherdB_B&A

Boy with ball

[Mhayes]

Hi Everyone,

This is a continuation of the discussion that started under: "let’s all join hands." I was really impressed with the picture John posted using Neat Image. I did some further research to see what kind of reviews this software got and whether it was worth getting. It would be nice to hear from those who use this software and their thoughts. I am going to post the software link and a link to a review that seem to cover all bases on using it. After reading the review, I'm wondering Hannie what you and the others thoughts are on this. On the company's site is also downloads for whatever camera that will be used in shooting. The only downside that I came across was the slow speed of doing a batch download.

http://www.neatimage.com/index.html
http://www.creativepro.com/story/howto/22283.html

Margie

[schen]

I went to http://www.neatimage.com/index.html and downloaded the free version and installed it as a stand-alone.  I am still running PS7 and not quite sure it will work as a plug-in.

I tried a few pictures and it worked very well with the grainy texture of the digital photo at high ISO setting.  When I used it on a couple of my most grainy restorations, it did well eliminating the grains but also some of the textures.  I don't have a grainy picture with sharp edges and I could not see the blurring of the edges.

I will have to take a few pictures in low light and see how it goes.

[Hannie]

Hi Margie,

Good idea to make a new topic, now it will be easy to find for anyone interested!  I had a look at the review site, thanks for posting that link.
I use Neat Image occasionally with great results.  My hesitation lies in general use of the program.  There is always loss of detail, sometimes more than other.  Working in a nondestructive way is high or maybe on top of my priorities list when it comes to photo restoration so I will always try to avoid using this filter  if I can.
End of my sermon! 

Hannie

[schen]

Here is one experiment:
I took a picture of a ceramic vase on a chintz sofa under daylight with curtain drawn.  The camera was my little point-and-shoot.  I push the ISO to 400 to get a grainy picture.  The picture size was 2272x1704 and I cropped to 1024x768.




I used Neat Image and auto profile sampling on the neck of the vase.  It greatly reduced the grainy noise. 
The vase looks fine but the sofa lost the fabric texture.




The next picture is from my DSLR with similar focal length and same aperture/shutter/ISO setting.
I wanted to feel good about the money I spent on the camera.   

[Hannie]

Great experiment Chen! 
I first looked at the 3 photos without reading your comments.  Of course nr.3 jumps right out, brilliant colors and detail, fantastic!
I immediately disliked the second version, it is flat, lacks detail and the color seems to have a milky finish to it.  I wasn't surprised to to find you used the Neat Image filter on this one.  The first one really is better than the second, despite the grain and all.
Love these experiments! 

 

Hannie

[klassylady25]

I use Neat Image.  Though I don't use it on all projects I do use it and it does a great job.

[Mhayes]

Schen,

Thanks for the great examples. It really was a big help on the vase and as you said it did lose the texture on the sofa. This could be solved by duplicating the original layer and using Neat Image on it. With that layer, masking out the sofa would leave the texture intact. I'm also curious if the noise was more on one channel, could the filter be applied to that channel--example being the blue channel?

Bet you feel a lot better about your expensive camera! It was interesting to see the difference in color and the handling of the reflection.

Margie

[truckersau]

MarCat,
Ok. I just read your post and tried an experiment. The answer is yes, Neat Image will run on a seperate channel if required.
Your idea of running it on a duplicate layer and masking out any parts you want intact is how I use it, if need be.

[schen]

I have been told numerous times that the little point and shoot does as good a job as the DSLR.  For the purpose of snapshots in the well lit conditions they are close.  I was horrified to find all those missing pixels while trying to get a grainy picture in low light high ISO.  From now on, I will be lugging my 4 lb. camera gears a lot more often.

[Hannie]

Chen, there is no comparing the two cameras when I look at the images of the vase!
I have been doing all this research, reading up and practicing the settings of Neat Image and what happens? 
The  program refuses to work any more, every time I start Neat Image and get to the point where I have to apply the filter it disappears and freezes Photoshop.  Tried everything, uninstalling, reinstalling and whatever, nothing, grrrr.
Well it is late, time to go to bed here in the low lands. 
On a happier note: tonight my daughter had tickets for us to go to the Shlomo Mintz 50th Birthday concert in the Concertgebouw, this guy is unbelievable, 24 Caprices by Paganini...wow...

Hannie

[schen]

I ran Neat Image stand-alone.  It had no chance of freezing up Photoshop.  Or at least, haven't done that yet.
 

[Hannie]

So I am not the only one with this problem it seems?
I can run Neat Image stand alone just fine but then it will not accept PSD files! 

Hannie

[Mhayes]

Hannie,

Check out this link on Neat Image's website and see if it might help: http://www.neatimage.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6429&sid=d4bed422d3d1836c4a1dd7fa2c810972 On that page, see the 2nd post from the NITeam and there is a link under "this page." Hope this helps.

Margie

[Hannie]

Hi Margie,

Thank you for taking the time to look that up for me!  I tried it but it doesn't work.  My Neat Image plug in will open, let me make a profile bur then when I click "apply" it disappears and freezes up Photoshop.   

Hannie

[Mhayes]

Hannie,

Have you tried sending an email to their tech support to see if they can help?

Margie