

Most of these programs state that better results might be obtainable by using the stand-alone app on original raw files. METHODOLOGYĪs described below, while some of the programs can be used as stand-alone applications, I tested them all as plug-ins for Photoshop, applying each as a smart filter applied to a developed raw file brought into Photoshop as a Camera Raw smart object. The three test images in Adobe Camera Raw showing the Basic settings applied.

To find out, I tested six of the new AI-based programs on real-world – or rather “real-sky” – astrophotos. How well can each program reduce noise without eliminating stars or wanted details, or introducing odd artifacts, making images worse.

The new generation of programs use artificial intelligence (AI), aka machine learning, trained on thousands of images to better distinguish unwanted noise from desirable image content.Īt least that’s the promise – and for noisy but normal daytime images they do work very well.īut in astrophotography our main subjects – stars – can look a lot like specks of pixel-level noise. Over the last two years we have seen a spate of specialized programs introduced for removing digital noise from photos. In a detailed technical blog I compare six AI-based noise reduction programs for the demands of astrophotography.
