

Despite the stacking, a fair degree of noise remained in the dark sky background.
#TOPAZ MASK AI MANUAL ISO#
This partly defeats AI’s promise of one-click processing.įor this example I used a stack of eight 8-minute exposures of Orion shot with an Optolong L-Enhance filter, using a red-sensitive Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 3200. While the Auto button might work, to avoid the issues I show below I found I had to fiddle with settings trial-and-error. There is no way to take settings you’ve found that work well and save them as “user favorites.” You always have to start from scratch when editing an image. It reopens with the last settings you used anywhere, not with the settings you applied to that image you are re-editing. Unlike most smart filters, it does not save the unique settings applied to that smart object. If the image layer has a mask, DeNoise AI refuses to apply, giving an error message, even if the mask is blank with no content.

In testing the plug-in version of DeNoise v3.0.3, I discovered several deficiencies:
#TOPAZ MASK AI MANUAL WINDOWS#
Stand Alone App – Topaz DeNoise AI can run as a stand-alone app for Windows or MacOS, and can export its processed images back out as raw DNGs if desired, for further processing. I prefer that workflow as it allows DeNoise AI to be reopened at any time to change its settings.

I ran all my tests on it out of Photoshop, applying DeNoise as a non-destructive “smart filter” to image layers that were smart objects.
#TOPAZ MASK AI MANUAL INSTALL#
However, when you install DeNoise it also installs as a plug-in for Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. After it processes images, it can export files back out as raw DNGs, or as JPGs, TIFs or PNGs. As such, it can be fed a folder of images for batch processing, perhaps for a time-lapse set. The issue was not so much wiping out stars, but adding unsightly artifacts in place of the random noise it was smoothing.ĭeNoise AI can run as a stand-alone program capable of opening JPGs, TIFs, and many formats of raw files.

The artificial intelligence isn’t yet smart enough to fully understand astrophotos. I’ve found it works especially well cleaning up noise in high-ISO nightscape images.īut, as the results below show, if you are not careful DeNoise AI can ruin your images. Even users of specialized programs such as PixInsight have found DeNoise AI a useful tool late in the processing workflow of deep sky astrophotos. Leading the trend to AI is Topaz Labs, with a suite of popular programs: Gigapixel, Mask, Sharpen and, tested here, DeNoise. AI promises to take much of the guesswork out of photo editing. A filter trained with artificial intelligence calculates and applies its effect automatically, based on what it “knows” has worked well on thousands of other images similar to yours. “AI” is the current hot feature in image processing software. Who Is It For? Deep sky and nightscape photographers contending with noise at the final stage of processing. But does it work on astrophotos?Īll images by Alan Dyer ( ) Topaz DeNoise AI is a hot and popular product for cleaning up noisy images. DeNoise AI is most effective at smoothing noise in high-ISO nightscapes, while also providing some sharpening to ground details.
