Digital Photographer's Software Guide - Bertemes - Net

Dfine 2.0 allows you to apply noise reduction selectively, as it incorporates the vendor’s
ingenious U Point technology. With this technique you select control points on those
objects you want to adjust, and then use the slider controls that are overlaid on the
image. Automatic camera profiling is another feature of version 2.0, making it unnecessary
to purchase camera profiles separately.
The 40-page User Guide is both comprehensive and useful. Among its good advice for
keeping noise at bay, it mentions Four Golden Rules, as follows:
■ Turn off in-camera noise reduction
■ Turn off in-camera sharpening
■ Use flash in low light
■ Avoid above-average in-camera contrast settings
Comments
All software from Nik Software is highly regarded in the industry, especially Nik
Sharpener Pro. This package provides some extremely powerful tools for dealing with
noise, using the most efficient and up-to-date methods. It has been significantly
improved in version 2.0 by the addition of U Point technology. There are one or two
niggles with the interface: a less-than-perfect zoom tool that requires Ctrl> - to de-zoom,
although it zooms to 100 percent and 300 percent with clicks on the image. But minor
points aside, this is a superb tool for denoising those images that need it.
Version: Dfine 2.0 (2008)
Plugs into: Windows Photoshop 7 and up, Photoshop Elements 2–4, Corel Paint Shop Pro and
Painter, Ulead PhotoImpact; Mac Photoshop CS2 and above
OS: Windows 2000, XP, and Vista; Mac OS X 10.4 and later
RAM: 256MB recommended
Supported file formats: As host
Price level: Approx. $100
Address: Nik Software, Inc., 7588 Metropolitan Drive, San Diego, CA 92108, United States
www.niksoftware.com
Kodak DIGITAL GEM
Chapter 17 ■ Noise Reduction 207
Vendor: Eastman Kodak Company
Purpose: Reduces noise in both highlight and shadow areas without sacrificing image detail
Description
Kodak DIGITAL GEM (GEM stands for “Grain Equalization and Management”) is
part of a suite of image-enhancement plug-ins that are sold separately, the others being