Reducing noise in software

14When shooting in raw, and at high ISO settings, you’ll need to remove or reduce noise manually during post processing. The controls available for noise reduction are exactly the same in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) and Lightroom, with other raw-processing software offering similar controls. In ACR and Lightroom, the Detail panel has two adjustments for noise reduction - Luminance (light and dark) and Color. Color Noise reduction has the amount set to 25 by default, and even for high ISO images this can be reduced to 15 or 20 to remove coloured specks and flecks. Luminance Noise Reduction is turned off, so you have to apply it only when required. This control is extremely useful for reducing graininess, but if you push it too far image detail begins to look ‘waxy’. Keeping Luminance below 40 is often a safe bet.