user guide.pdf

Neat Image /Win

standalone application and plug-in for Photoshop

To make images look better.

User guide

Document version 6.0, December 4, 2008

User Guide

Neat Image /Win

Table of contents

1. Introduction .. .......................................................................................................... 3

1.1. Overview .. ....................................................................................................................................................................... 3

1.2. Features.. .......................................................................................................................................................................... 3

1.3. Requirements .. ................................................................................................................................................................. 4

2. Key concepts ... ...................................................................................................... 5

2.1. What it can do – functionality of Neat Image .. ............................................................................................................... 5

2.2. When it works – types of input images.. ......................................................................................................................... 5

3. Filtration process overview .. ................................................................................ 6

3.1. Overview of Neat Image filtration process .. ................................................................................................................... 6

3.2. Running Neat Image on a sample image .. ...................................................................................................................... 7

4. Filtration process details ... ................................................................................... 9

4.1. Stage I. Open an input image ... ....................................................................................................................................... 9

4.2. Stage II. Prepare a device noise profile... ...................................................................................................................... 10

4.3. Stage III. Adjust filter settings ... ................................................................................................................................... 11

4.4. Stage IV. Apply filter to the input image... ................................................................................................................... 19

4.5. Stage V. Save the output image ... ................................................................................................................................. 19

5. Device noise profiles ... ........................................................................................ 21

5.1. Getting pre-built noise profiles ... .................................................................................................................................. 21

5.2. Building a profile for a device mode (standard profiling procedure)... ........................................................................ 21

5.3. Preparing a profile set for different device modes.... .................................................................................................... 32

5.4. Using noise profiles.... ................................................................................................................................................... 37

6. Additional tools.... ................................................................................................ 38

6.1. Component Viewer.... .................................................................................................................................................... 38

6.2. Variant Selector .... ......................................................................................................................................................... 38

6.3. Image Viewer Adjustments .... ....................................................................................................................................... 39

6.4. Profile Viewer .... ........................................................................................................................................................... 39

6.5. Profile Converter .... ....................................................................................................................................................... 40

7. Queued processing ... .......................................................................................... 41

7.1. Filtration Queue window.... ........................................................................................................................................... 41

7.2. Creating new image filtration jobs ... ............................................................................................................................. 41

7.3. Editing image filtration jobs.... ...................................................................................................................................... 43

7.4. Removing image filtration jobs... .................................................................................................................................. 44

7.5. Queuing and holding image filtration jobs ... ................................................................................................................ 44

7.6. Starting and stopping the filtration queue ... .................................................................................................................. 44

7.7. Saving output images .... ................................................................................................................................................ 45

8. Using plug-in .... .................................................................................................... 46

8.1. Installing the plug-in into image editor... ...................................................................................................................... 46

8.2. Using the plug-in to process images ... .......................................................................................................................... 46

8.3. Using plug-in in PS actions and smart filters... ............................................................................................................. 48

9. Application options ... .......................................................................................... 49

9.1. General options... ........................................................................................................................................................... 49

9.2. Defaults... ....................................................................................................................................................................... 49

9.3. Profiling options .... ........................................................................................................................................................ 51

9.4. Matching options .... ....................................................................................................................................................... 51

9.5. Filtration options .... ....................................................................................................................................................... 52

9.6. Folders options ... ........................................................................................................................................................... 53

9.7. Output options ... ............................................................................................................................................................ 54

10. Examples ... ........................................................................................................... 55

10.1. Building a noise profile .... ............................................................................................................................................. 55

10.2. Fine-tuning a noise profile .... ........................................................................................................................................ 57

10.3. Filtration results... .......................................................................................................................................................... 58

11. Questions and answers .... .................................................................................. 59

11.1. General questions .... ...................................................................................................................................................... 59

11.2. Filtration-related questions.... ........................................................................................................................................ 59

12. Tips and tricks .... ................................................................................................. 61

12.1. Preventing banding.... .................................................................................................................................................... 61

12.2. Filtration of shadow areas .... ......................................................................................................................................... 61

12.3. Partial filtration.... .......................................................................................................................................................... 61

13. Information ... ........................................................................................................ 62

13.1. Issues and bugs ... ........................................................................................................................................................... 62

13.2. Plans... ............................................................................................................................................................................ 62

13.3. Detailed feature map .... ................................................................................................................................................. 62

13.4. Contacts ... ...................................................................................................................................................................... 62

13.5. Legal information .... ...................................................................................................................................................... 63

13.6. Registration... ................................................................................................................................................................. 64

13.7. Acknowledgments .... ..................................................................................................................................................... 64

14. Index .... ................................................................................................................. 65

4-Dec-08

User Guide

Neat Image /Win

1. Introduction

1.1. Overview

Neat Image is a digital filter software designed to

reduce visible noise in digital photographic images.

Noise is a serious problem that hinders

high-quality digital image processing. In digital

photography, the consumer- and prosumer-level

cameras produce images with an easily noticeable

noise component. This component is especially

strong in images shot at high ISO rates. The noise

reduces the visual quality of digital images and

resulting printouts. Some image processing

operations, like sharpening, make quality of noisy

images even worse.

Neat Image detects, analyzes, and reduces image

noise. The filtration quality is higher than that of other

methods because Neat Image takes into account

specific characteristics of particular image acquisition

devices, making the filtration more accurate. Using

device noise profiles, Neat Image adapts itself to

almost any input device – digital camera, scanner, etc.

Neat Image incorporates the most advanced noise reduction algorithms in the industry.

The rich control set of the filter allows you to easily achieve the desired

level of noise reduction. In addition, Neat Image can make images look

sharper without any degradation of image quality (which is usually

inevitable with noisy images). The combination of the sharpening and

noise filter makes such an effect possible.

Neat Image /Win is currently produced in five editions to meet the demands of various groups of users:

See online examples of

Neat Image noise reduction:

www.neatimage.com

•

Demo is a freeware edition of the software with slightly-limited functionality

•

Home is the edition of Neat Image for home users who have small amounts of images to process

•

Pro edition provides professional users with 16-bit image processing and unlimited queuing /

batching capabilities

•

Home+ and Pro+ editions include the Photoshop-compatible plug-in version of the filter (the

standalone application is included too)

1.2. Features

Noise Reduction and Image Sharpening

•

Advanced noise filter to reduce noise and grain in digital images

•

Complete control over the filter settings to achieve the desired level of noise reduction

•

Smart sharpening filter to make images look sharper without amplification of noise

•

16-bit image support to fully utilize capabilities of modern image acquisition devices

Plug-in and Standalone Application

•

Photoshop-compatible plug-in to selectively apply noise reduction to layers and channels

•

Standalone application to work directly with image files when an image editor is not available

Device Noise Profiles

•

Automatic noise analyzer to build noise profiles for your camera or scanner

•

Batch profiler to automate profiling with the Calibration Target

•

Rich set of free pre-built noise profiles in the online profile library

•

Profile matcher for automatic matching of noise profiles to images

Queued Processing

•

Queued / batch processing of image series

•

Background processing (images are processed as you prepare a new one)

Preview

• Embedded preview for any selected image area

• Preview of filtration results separately for each channel and frequency component

• Variant Selector for easier adjustment of the filters

Some features are only available in certain editions of Neat Image. Detailed feature map (page 62 )

explains the differences between Neat Image editions in details.

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User Guide

Neat Image /Win

1.3. Requirements

Recommended system configuration to process 8-10-megapixel images is:

•

Windows 2000, 2003, XP, Vista

•

Core Duo class machine or better

•

512 MB RAM or higher

•

True color display, resolution 1024x768 or more

Minimum system requirements are:

•

Windows 9x, ME, NT

•

Pentium-II class machine

•

128 MB RAM

•

True color display, resolution 800x600

System requirements for practical use of Neat Image depend on size of input images. The more system

RAM is available the larger the images that can be handled. The processing speed is determined

primarily by the processor number-crunching power and memory speed.

The plug-in version of Neat Image can work with any image file format supported by Photoshop (or

another compatible plug-in host). The RGB and grayscale images are supported by the plug-in.

The standalone version of Neat Image supports the following formats of input images (the same formats

are supported to save output images 1 ) :

•

TIFF (single image, no layers, no alpha channel, no mask)

- 24-bit RGB

- 48-bit RGB

- 8-bit grayscale

- 16-bit grayscale

•

JPEG

- 24-bit RGB

- 8-bit grayscale

•

BMP (uncompressed, Win3x)

- 24-bit RGB

- 32-bit RGB

Color input images are supposed to be in a flavor of RGB color space, like AdobeRGB, sRGB, etc. If an

input image is in some flavor of RGB color space then Neat Image produces the output image in exactly

the same flavor of RGB color space.

Minimum size of the input images is 40x40 pixels; maximum size is usually limited by the amount of

system RAM available.

The plug-in version of the filter is compatible with the following plug-in hosts:

• Adobe Photoshop CS4 (32-bit) / CS3 / CS2 / CS / 7 / 6 / 5

• Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 / 6 / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2

• Corel / Jasc Paint Shop Pro X2 / XI / X / 9 / 8 / 7

• CorelDRAW Graphics Suite / Corel PHOTO-PAINT X4 / X3 / 12

• Ulead PhotoImpact X3 / 12 / 11 / 10 / XL / 8

• Microsoft Digital Image Pro

• Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006

• PhotoLine32

• IrfanView

The plug-in may be compatible with other hosts as well.

1 There are some limitations in the Demo edition. Please see Detailed feature map, page 62, for more information.

4-Dec-08

User Guide

Neat Image /Win

2. Key concepts

2.1. What it can do – functionality of Neat Image

Neat Image is a digital image filter. Its main function is to reduce noise in digital images.

Neat Image can work with images produced by any imaging devices – digital cameras, scanners, etc.

Neat Image can be adjusted to a particular device by means of a device noise profile , which describes

the noise characteristics of the device working in a certain mode.

A device noise profile is built by analyzing featureless image areas that contain no visible (or important)

details. Usually the software can find such areas completely automatically. In a difficult case, you can

assist it and select featureless areas manually. Finding such areas is very easy for human eyes but may

sometimes be a bit difficult for software.

By analyzing featureless areas, Neat Image’s noise analyzer builds a profile which describes the noise

in these areas. With this profile, Neat Image can efficiently reduce noise in the whole image.

When several such profiles for different device modes are available, the profile matcher can

automatically select the profile that matches given input image. In this way, you can skip noise analysis

and simply re-use one of profiles built earlier. Alternatively, a new profile can be built for every new

image using automatic or manual profiling.

The noise filter processes images in three spatial frequency ranges . This makes possible reducing noise

in one frequency range even if details are present in other ranges. The filter can also selectively process

any of the color channels of the input images.

In addition to the noise filter, there is the smart sharpening filter , which only sharpens important image

details without increasing the level of noise. This filter also uses the noise profile to tell noise from

details, so applying the noise and sharpening filters together saves time and produces better overall

results.

2.2. When it works – types of input images

Neat Image is designed to reduce noise in images produced by digital cameras and scanners, and can

also be used to process images from other sources. An input image should satisfy the following

requirements:

•

Noise must be uniformly distributed throughout the image , i.e., there should be no strong

surges of noise intensity in some areas of the image or significant changes of noise characteristics

across the image.

Neat Image works fine, for example, on images with high ISO noise. However, ‘hot’ or ‘dead’

pixels (produced by single ‘broken’ elements of image sensor) do not satisfy the uniformity

condition and, therefore, are not efficiently removed by Neat Image 1 .

Another frequent source of noise is JPEG compression. The JPEG noise is approximately uniform

when high compression quality (low compression rate) is used. However, low compression quality

makes noise non-uniform. Therefore, we recommend using the highest quality levels whenever

possible. Try to avoid visible artifacts ('squares' or ‘blocks’ introduced by JPEG compression) in

input images beginning from the early stages of image processing. If you can, use lossless file

formats such as TIFF or RAW (the latter can be used with the Neat Image plug-in in Photoshop

environment).

•

Noise should be concentrated in high and medium spatial frequencies. This condition is

usually met by images produced by modern digital cameras. This condition may not be completely

satisfied if you use the strong (e.g., x2-x3 and more) digital zoom features of digital cameras.

1 Hot pixel removal is in our development plans.

4-Dec-08

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