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This noise reduction tool is a kind of rarity now as any further development of it stopped, and users can't expect any new functionality or better algorithms. Let's see though how the tool has done so far.
Noise reduction Pro is a plug-in found in Photoshop filter menu upon installation. The image to be denoised appears in a separate window. The image preview is set on the right with the zoom controls below, and parameter settings are all set on the left.
The plug-in window cannot be resized but the zoom is quite convenient to work with. The preview is renewed every time you change the settings and not partially but as a whole.
The parameters Noise Reduction Pro uses are the same as in other noise reduction tools but here they are "split": in addition to Aperture Radius and Reduction (Level and smooth usually in other programs), for example, Luma noise is operated through Light, Medium, and Dark Tone parameters. Chroma noise also has two independent settings - Chroma R (red) and Chroma B (Blue) - for reducing the two kinds of color noise separately if that is needed. The program allows saving and loading of custom parameter settings.
What makes the initial steps with the program a bit uncomfortable is the absence of help in any form (I even checked the site very attentively). But abbreviations soon make sense to anybody who knows anything about digital image editing, and there's no steep learning curve thus.
Have a look at the Noise Reduction Pro test results:
As you can see, in all the examples color noise goes away quite effectively but images retain a certain amount of grain. The reduction of the latter usually means too much blurring and loss of detail. Noise reduction Pro can be still purchased at 99,95$ at http://www.theimagingfactory.com/.
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