Updated August 2023
I’ve gotten a lot of questions about Adobe’s new Noise Reduction feature (referred to the rest of this article as NR) in Lightroom and Camera Raw. It’s a great feature and one of those much needed ones since this is a pretty common 3rd party plug-in that most people purchase. Now, we get it built right in to the software we use. Enjoy!
Q. Wait… What happened? Adobe released something new?
A. Yes in April of 2023 Adobe released a really great noise reduction feature to Lightroom and Camera Raw. Watch this video to see some of the new features added to Lightroom and Camera Raw.
And you can watch this video to see a deeper look in to the workflow and how the new noise reduction works.
Q. Is the DeNoise feature in Photoshop too?
A. Yes and no. Adobe Camera Raw is considered part of Photoshop so yes. But if you’re talking about the Photoshop interface with layers and all that, no. It’s not a filter. It’s something that you’ll find only in LR Develop and Camera Raw (which are basically the same thing).
Q. Is there a specific order or workflow now that we have noise reduction?
A. Yes. Adobe recommends you do your NR early. I’d say even first. But definitely before any masking or healing. Again, I’d say just do it first, or at the first sign of noise if you happened to have raised the Exposure or Shadows and noticed a lot of noise. And if all else fails and you’re not sure… try it and see what happens. Your image won’t delete itself and your computer won’t blow up if you experiment.
Q. The new Noise Reduction feature is really really REALLY slow – or it crashes on me. What gives and is there anything I can do to change it?
A. I hear this a lot, but then again I hear from more people that it’s really fast too. I can’t help you with this one. It is very intensive on your hardware and especially your graphics card. So even if you have a 2-3 year old computer, but maybe you unintentionally skimped on the graphics card (or didn’t even know that was an issue), you could be facing some prohibitive processing times of 5, 10 or even 20+ minutes. Best I can suggest is going to your Lightroom Preferences and messing around there as well as reading this article from Adobe.
REQUEST: Please don’t flood the comments with how long it takes you. I get it and I know it’s frustrating, but there’s nothing I, or anyone here can do for you.
Q. Matt, can you help me speed things up?
A. No I cannot. I can teach you how to use LR – and if things don’t work well I have nothing to point you to other than Adobe’s website support or Google searches.
Also, if there’s a question I missed here and you’re thinking of asking and it has the word “crash” or “doesn’t work” in it, guess what. See my answer above 😉
Q. I noticed that the new NR creates a new duplicate DNG file, and doesn’t actually edit my raw file. What’s up with that?
A. That’s just the way it works. You can’t change it.
Q. The new DNG file is huge. That doesn’t seem right?
A. It is big. However, if you used certain plug-ins, that always forced you to create a new file. For example, my Topaz workflow was to reduce noise last, which created a large TIFF. That TIFF is actually bigger than the LR DNG file that is created. Either way, as the popular saying goes… It is what it is.
Q. Will Adobe ever change this so that it doesn’t have to duplicate the file?
A. I read an article from Adobe’s website and he mentioned that they may do that one day. But I have no idea when.
Q. The new Noise Reduction feature isn’t available for me. Why?
A. If you’re 100% positive you’re using the new version of LR and/or Camera Raw (12.3 and 15.3) then the file type may not be supported. You can read this for more info.
Q. Can I use this on a JPG?
A. No… see above.
Q. Can I fool Adobe and convert my JPG to a DNG and use it?
A. Nice try. With all of the AI and milestones in computer technology, do you really think that the engineers who made this stuff, won’t know it was a JPG to start with?
Q. Can I batch process the Noise Reduction?
A. Yep. I did a video about it right here. In short, Go in to Library Grid mode. Select the photos you want to batch. Then right click and choose Enhance and it will apply to all of them. Just be aware that it takes time and a lot of disk space since the files are large.
Q. Can I use the new NR with the masking tools in Lightroom / Camera Raw?
A. Nope. However I did a video that shows you a workaround. Click here to watch it.
Q. Will Adobe come out with a sharpening tool too?
A. They already did years ago. It’s called Enhance Details and it came out in 2019. I was never a big fan of it, but it seemed to help with certain types of raw files. Whether or not they update it or do anything else, I don’t know – but I wouldn’t hold your breath any time soon.
Q. DeNoise seems like it’s actually doing a little sharpening too. Is that true?
A. Adobe’s DeNoise is also applying the Enhance Details sharpening feature, so yes – you’re getting noise reduction and a little sharpening too.
Q. Should I sharpen more after?
A. Totally up to you. It depends on the photo, what you’re doing with it, how soft it was to begin with etc… Give it a try and see how it looks. As always, let the photo – and your interpretation of it – tell you what it needs, not some middle aged 50 year old dude, with a really long last name, on the internet who isn’t at your computer and can’t see your photo 🙂
Q. I didn’t watch your Lightroom video. Just how good is the noise reduction?
A. I think it’s absolutely fantastic! Over the years, I’ve watched Adobe come out with Enhance Details, which is a sharpening enhancement, and I didn’t think it was that great. I also saw the Super Resolution upsizing feature, and didn’t think it was any better than using the “Image > Image Size” menu in Photoshop. So I figured they’d come out with Noise Reduction one day, but I wasn’t holding my breath on how good it would be.
Boy was I wrong. It actually took me by surprise and a week later I still don’t know what to make out of it. But all I can say is that it works great and far surpassed my expectations.
Q. On the topic, now that Lightroom has great noise reduction are you going to switch from Topaz?
A.
AUGUST 2023 UPDATE: I now mostly use Lightroom’s Noise Reduction for my photos and don’t find I use Topaz anymore. However, I do find Topaz’s Photo AI Sharpening feature to be pretty good for “slightly” soft photos. So if I’m already going to go in to Topaz Photo AI for some sharpening, then I’ll just do the noise reduction there to save time. In short, they’re both good. Use whatever is convenient for you and don’t think anyone in the world (besides you) will ever know.
To be honest I’m not sure. I’ve recommended Topaz for 2 years now and it’s a significant part of my wildlife high ISO workflow. I like the results. I can predict the results. I feel good about using it and I can look at a photo in my camera while shooting, and almost know how it will come out in the end because I have 2 years of editing experience with it.
Now that there’s something else that, to my eyes is pretty much as good (sometimes better, and sometimes not), I just need more time and editing to figure it out. I don’t make recommendations to people easily, so I’m taking the 5th amendment on this right now 😉 I don’t want to recommend something one way or the other, before I really have some time with it.
That said, I’m not going to make a career out of comparing the two either. They are both good and getting down into the weeds on this one is pointless for me. I’ve committed to editing only with the new NR in Lightroom for the next month or so. If I’m happy with the photos and my results, I’ll probably make the switch since it’s just simpler this way.
The best I can suggest is that if you have a plug-in, spend some time doing tests to see what you think. If you don’t have a plug-in for noise reduction, I don’t know that there’s a need to run out and buy one right now. You just got best-in-class NR as part of the money you already pay to Adobe.
I love teaching and photography... In that order. I feel that enjoying photography, and photo editing can get WAY too complicated. So my personal mission (and favorite thing to do), is to create education that simplifies the process of taking great photos, and how to edit them to get the results you’ve always wanted.
Matt, your comments & advice are dead-on, accurate & timely! Keep up this great service that you provide to the “photographic community!”
Except for the somewhat sharp comment about middle aged 50 year olds who may well be part of your clientele.
When the “middle aged 50 year old dude with a really long last name” you’re talking about is yourself, you’re allowed to write it 🙂
On the topic of slow and/or crashing. I had several crashes and slow reduction on the 2nd or 3rd run. Using Window to check on the GPU driver version, it said I had the latest one. But I went to the manufacturer’s website and found out there was a more recent one. I downloaded it and the app to manage the drives. After the installation, the crashes stopped, and multiple reductions did not slow down. The manufacturer’s app, a few days later, automatically downloaded an even newer driver version. Reduction then improved another 50%. The point to remember is that drivers are often the reason there are performance issues (gamers know this), so going to the source to check out driver versions is well worth it.
thank you for pointinf me in the correct FAQ. I hope both Adobe and Topaz can find a way to get smaller files when processing Denoise from lightroom or Topaz Denise!
My thoughts on initial testing on interior shots with available light taken with Canon 5D mark IV. Processed with Adobe NR set at 50 compared to Topaz AI photo on Autopilot settings. To me Topaz took it too far and looked false and lost detail whereas the LR enhanced the detail but kept some noise, but not enough to be noticeable under normal viewing, yet to test printing.
LR NR does not bake in settings already applied, only transfers the applied settings to the new Dng and can be adjusted or reset the image to as taken albeit with the NR applied.
As for processing time, on my laptop with 6GB on the graphic card 40sec and desktop with 12GB 15 secs.
For workflow I would probably do it after and transforming, cropping and basic adjustments at which point you can assess if it is needed, but before any adjustments that sharpen such as clarity or texture.
Thank you, Matt. I like your direct and frank responses. We need to try it and see how we like the results.
I do not see what type of image types this new noise reduction works on. Does it work on PDF files? What is a DNG file? How do you create a DNG file?
Hi. If you check the FAQ there’s a question and a link to what types of files it works on. Thanks
Great review.
I had something odd happen when I used the new NR feature. It took about 2 or 3 minutes and the result was really impressive ! However, after it was finished I could use my arrows to move to new photos in the filmstrip but nothing else. I could not change to my library or other modules. I could not select more photos in my library. In the upper menu the “close” command was greyed out. Weird. I finally had to close LR with the red dot which I hate to do. Was this my fault? did I do something wrong? Appreciate your comment.
( late 2015 iMac with AMD Radeon R9 M395 2 GB graphics.)
I don’t work with LR; only with Camera Raw, for editing my photo’s. Where can I find the workflow to use the new NR in CR?
Hi. Workflow hasn’t changed so whatever you did before will work now. Thanks.
Hello Matt,
I’ve been using Topaz AI Noise Reduction for my noise reduction and until now, it was the best noise reduction tool around. Then I tried both Topaz Noise reduction and the new LR noise reduction on a very noisy and highly cropped photo of a robin. Topaz did a pretty good job but in many places the feather detail was lost. To my surprise, the LR noise reduction did an almost perfect job of rendering the feather detail.
On the issue of processing time, it really is very computer and video board dependent. Until I upgraded my computer a few weeks ago, the LR enhancement function was taking in the order of 6 minutes per photo, and all of the Topaz Ai programs were taking at least 3-4 minutes to process a photo. My upgraded computer has 3 times as much RAM and a super fast gaming video board (which is actually overkill for photo applications). Now both the LR enhance function and the Topaz Ai programs process a photo in under 10 seconds. But there are some LR functions that haven’t sped up much, i.e., photo merge panorama and HDR.
Where does dxo pure raw 3.0 fit in vs Adobe denoise.What is the equivalent Denoise setting ie 50 to what is applied in pure raw 3.0 is it more or less aggressive? Does the sharpening applied in pure raw 3.0 make it superior to abdobe denoise
Hi Lou. I don’t use DxO so I won’t be comparing. The best thing to do is compare them yourself if you do.
Great Q&A – I really like this new feature
But……..would it be better to remove the +40 sharpener which gets applied in Lightroom before taking into denoise/ enhance?
I always fine +40 too strong for my Olympus/OM raw files and revert back to the old standard of +25 when I remember
Your thoughts please Matt?
Hi Sue. I’d say try it and see how it looks with or without. For me it’s not a problem. Thanks.
Thank you for this! I learned a lot by reading it.
Very helpful. Let me ask you this: if you were to use Lightroom’s NR, how would you rate the sharpening in Lr (using the masking feature to show precisely where and how much sharpening you’re doing)? I ask because of the ease of use if already using denoise in Lr. Let me know your thoughts on sharpening in Lr.
Hi. I don’t find LR good at sharpening, but then again, I don’t sharpen too much. For me, the photo is sharp coming out of the camera or it’s not. If it’s not, no amount of sharpening will make it sharp. If it’s sharp… then any sharpening method will work fine.
Question: If I first do some edits in the Basic panel, find that I have noise that needs to be removed and run Adobe Denoise I create a new DNG file. Are my Basic panel edits functional in the new DNG? Or, are they baked in?
Hi. Probably, but the best learning tool is to try things like this and see what happens. It’s free, and won’t hurt anything so give it a whirl and let us know if the edits are preserved.
Matt
Above you mention that older computers may not have capability to effectively run the NR program. Mentioned 2-3 years old. I am a Mac user, my I Mac is 5-6 years old. I have done some up dates, new solid state HD, has 16MB. I know you use Macs, if I were to get a new Mac, what would you recommend?
Thanks
I can attest to the amount of time it takes for LR to process a large file. I ran some test files of 37mb noisy bird photos through the denoise process and each one took 6 minutes. I have an I-7 processor with a 4Gb GPU. Obviously a GPU with LOTS of memory is the way to go. But with that said, the results were great! So now I just batch process in the background and do other things while it’s running.
Oh, BTW each cameras RAW FILE is proprietary. 3rd party RAW editor engineers reverse engineered them
IMHO if and when you change the Bits in your RAW file it is no longer a RAW file. And the destructive POLICE be after you.
DNG is a version of RAW.