About Noise Reduction
Noise Reduction is a plug-in for Photoshop to reduce several types of digital image noise.

Disclaimer: This software is provided "as is". No warranties of any kind, expressed or implied, are given. Not even to its functionality, use and applicability. Read the License agreement for further information.

Contents of this Read-me file:
1. Installation
2. Preview
3. Size
4. Reduction
5. Mid Tones
6. Colors
7. Known issues and incompatibilities

1. Installation
Move or Copy the filter plug-in to your Photoshop filters folder, (re)start Photoshop, then the filter should be available under:

filter --> Digital Imaging Tools --> Noise Reduction...

2. Preview
Noise Reduction does not currently support image zooming. In order to judge the noise reduction effectively a 1:1 preview is necessary. This can be achieved by selecting a 320 x 240 pixels rectangle within the image which is representative of the noise to be removed.
TIP: To help in quickly assessing the best values you can reset values to the last used setting by holding the alt-key while selecting cancel.
To reset values to the initial defaults, hold both the alt-key and shift-key while selecting cancel!

3. Size
Noise in digital images can appear as noise in luminosity, and noise in color. The former usually consists of small random darkness dots, the latter as cloudy, fluid color differences. The size parameter designates the size of the luminosity noise, and should be set to a value that is just 1 or 2 pixels larger than the size of the noise.
If you set the Reduction slider to 100%, then the size slider can easily be set to a value where the noise seems to disappear.

4. Reduction
The reduction of noise can be set using the reduction slider. It should be set at the point where the noise disappears, but the image seems to retain its sharpness. First set this slider to 100%, then adjust the "size" parameter to the level desired, then move this slider all the way to the left. You should now see the original noise. Now slowly move this slider to the right until you reach the desired result.

5. Mid Tones
Digital images usually suffer the most noise in the dark tones. Hence, the noise reduction plugin primarily corrects the darker tones of the image. If the noise is quite severe, it may also affect the mid-tones. These can be set separately using this slider.
Note that this slider has no effect if the "reduction" parameter is set to zero.

6. Colors
Because color noise is usually very different from noise in luminosity, a separate slider is available that controls color noise independently from all other parameters. Use this slider for any color noise artefacts, including mild color fringing problems.

7. Known issues and incompatibilities
If you find anything not working as you would expect, let us know at dnr@theimagingfactory.com

Questions, suggestions, comments and other issues regarding this product can be send by e-mail to dnr@theimagingfactory.com. For general information regarding our products you can visit our web-site at www.theimagingfactory.com or e-mail us at info@theimagingfactory.com.