Best way to remove noise and artifact - CS3

[Jan_C....@adobeforums.com]

Hello folks,

Currently I'm struggling with a stock agency on a few images where the rejection is for "Artifact" and "Noise". First, let me ask - are these the same? They sometimes list these problems independently. They state that "camera setting and RAW processing are the likely cause". I don't "think" my camera settings are the problem - 100 ISO, 16.7mp RAW's.

So the question is this; how do I tell if I have these issues in a file? They are inspected at 100%.

Next, if I have these issues, what is the best way to fix them? I know of the noise reduction filter, however, not sure of the best settings. Or, should I be considering 3rd party software?

Thanks for any help!

[J_Ma...@adobeforums.com]

Post some 100% samples to pixentral.com

[KatW...@adobeforums.com]

have you over-sharpened them in ACR?

[Jan_C....@adobeforums.com]

KatWomen, no, I don't process in ACR, I process in Canon DPP. As for sharpening (in Adobe CS3), I only do up to 125% max for the stock agency - they are critical as I always find out.

J Maloney, I will post a full size to skydrive.live, and post the link for you. The area that they state is bad is the forground, however the background is the focal point - a mountain!

Thanks to both for helping me!

Jan

[Jan_C....@adobeforums.com]

J Maloney, here is the full size link.

<https://cid-094cac38e20906b7.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Sample?link=1>

Jan

[Denn...@adobeforums.com]

I see two particular things in your pic that could be considered "artifacts":

- You have several sensor dust spots that show up in the sky. These should be cloned or healed out.
- You have pretty high edge sharpening applied to this image. What sharpening setting are you using in DPP? You need to be careful with DPP sharpening because it can be deceiving. Even a low amount of sharpening in DPP is the equivalent of fairly high USM sharpening in Photoshop. The difference is that DPP uses a threshold that applies the sharpening only to edges.

Regarding noise, I don't see much if any. In fact, it looks to me that a fair amount of noise reduction, possibly in DPP, has been applied that is smearing the detail to some extent. Check the noise reduction settings you are using in DPP. For an ISO 100 image, you should be able to get away with almost zero noise reduction unless you are having to push the exposure.

Finally, and please take this as constructive criticism, the composition of the image leaves a little bit to be desired. My first reaction was "this would be a fantastic image if it wasn't for those trees and buildings". I mention this because that may be playing an indirect role in the rejection - they may feel that the minor defects are enough to disqualify a less-than-compelling image. If you have the pixels and it meets their submission guidelines, I would suggest cropping the image to include only the mountains and the tops of the trees (without the buildings). That might help you along also.

Hope that helps.

[Jan_C....@adobeforums.com]

Dennis, thanks for your comments. As for the sharpening, this was done in CS3; Sharpening - 110% - Radius - 1.0 - Threshold - 1.

I didn't apply any noise reduction (that I remember).

I know there are 2 areas I need to get help on - "Noise Reduction" and "Sharpening". I needs some leads on these subject areas.

As for the composition - no problem, I agree, however, I was looking at getting as much horizontal with as little sky as possible, thus the trees. I will crop - good sugestion.

Jan