Great Blue Heron - NeatImage Mistake

NeatImage has it's limits. It doesn't do a good job on large crops. I was trying to clean up #1 a bit, then decided to use NeatImage on it to see what would happen this time, #2. These are the default settings.

#1.

Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

Heh, heh. I have done that to faces before

No, NeatImage just has a built-in artistic feature. It knows when you want a shot to look artistic, and automatically does it for you. It looks like it's working fine to me...

JK. NeatImage isn't bad at larger crops, you just need to know how it works. It has a minimum size in order to create a noise profile. If them minimum size is too large (ie, includes grass/waves/etc), then it sees that as "noise," and tries to clean it up. You can download noise-profiles for your camera model and ISO setting, and then it doesn't have to generate it's own profile, so you can use it on larger crops. Or, just use photoshop's noise removal. It works well in situations like these.

You need to download the profiles for your camera.

I thought it looked neat, sort of Japanese watercolor.

Where do I get the profiles?

OK, found them.

http://www.neatimage.c​om/profiles.html

Thanks Jason, I got them, but not sure how to use them. I can find them in the Profile dropdown, but then what, just Apply?

Yep, load them and run the defaults. Should be enough for ya.

Got it, thanks. I can see I need to practice with this program some more.

Run the sharpen tool over just the bird. It will look great. Looks quite ok now.

I've found that if you set your own noise profiles on neatimage by moving the little square to a spot devoid of clutter you can get good results with NeatImage despite it's limitations. Great program I highly recommend to anyone who hasn't downloaded the demo. Sometimes it just won't work on certain pictures, but usually it's a great help.

Generally tells you that it can't find a clear area to sample when it does that for me.

The auto profile used a square over the water ripples, but without any warning. Probably thought the ripples were the worlds worst case of noise.

And dont forget the "FADE" button Mitch. It does help in some situations with Neat image.

I did use the Fade once, just to check that it worked with the plugin. I think what I need to do is to make a selection on the bird itself, run NI so it doesn't over do it, then run it again on the background selection.

What I really need to do is to read the instructions. Again. I went through them once or twice, but it's all greek to me and just moving sliders randomly can mess you up fast.