Today Topaz updated DeNoise AI to version 3.1.2 and through 6/4 is offering free upgrades for current users, $20 off new purchases and an additional 15% off using coupon “plugsnpixels” here.
A $50 discount and extra 15% off also applies to the entire Topaz Image Quality Bundle (DeNoise AI, Sharpen AI and Gigapixel AI) for an even better deal.
In my recent blog post I introduced the latest version of DeNoise AI with an overview. Today I’d like to continue the experience, using the brand new 3.1.2 update to salvage some scans of my old 35mm negatives and slides.
First, here’s what’s new in the 3.1.2 update:
Fixed app not being able to open on older hardware
Fixed crash when memory usage was not set correctly
Fixed crash when writing CFA EXIF tags in TIFF/DNG images
Fixed Severe Noise not allowing 0 on the sharpness slider
Fixed previously proced image appearing in background of fully zoomed out image
Fixed slider not matching mouse position
Fixed masking brush not matching drawn strokes
Changed estimated time remaining so it doesn’t jump around as much
Added support for transparency masks in DNG output when input is 4 channel image
Now let’s scrape through the barrel of my clarity-challenged old stock photos shot on 35mm film back in the ’80s and ’90s and see what DeNoise AI can do to make them presentable and usable in the present. (Open any image in a new tab or window to view at 100%.)
First up, an early ’90s photo of what seem to be seagulls flying in formation along a Florida beach. In the original (negative) film scan, the grain is sharp and heavy (especially against the blue sky) and makes the photo pretty unusable at anything but a small size. Using the Standard AI model in DeNoise AI, not only does the grain disappear but the detail in the seagulls increases!
Maintaining the bird theme with an Alfred Hitchcock moment, we now travel to Victoria BC, also in the early ’90s and also on negative film. Using the Clear module in DeNoise AI, you’ll notice the sky is brightened from dull gray to a very light blue, the individual birds stand out better and the architectural features of the building are cleaned up. The same is true in the antenna section of the image:
Traveling to Europe in the summer of 1985, we escape the birds but not the grain… The source image is a 35mm slide. The noise and softness problems are the same as before, as is the solution: DeNoise AI, using Clear mode once again:
•The recently updated DeNoise AI is a free upgrade for current users, $20 off new purchases though 6/4 and an additional 15% off using coupon “plugsnpixels” here. A $50 discount and extra 15% off also applies to the entire Topaz Image Quality Bundle (DeNoise AI, Sharpen AI and Gigapixel AI) for an even better deal.
Let’s get out of the city and back to nature. This 1982 color slide of a rose in the City Of Roses (Pasadena CA) was plagued with noise throughout, but DeNoise AI in Severe Noise mode solved that problem quiet effectively:
What I especially like about this Moon over Colorado shot from the early ’90s is the way DeNoise AI not only cleared up the galaxy of grain but actually restored lost detail to the trees!
Speaking of celestial objects, when you spend most of the night hiking up Mt. Sinai in Egypt (in 1985) you hope to come away with great photos of the sunrise, not a bunch of film noise! DeNoise AI finally made that wish come true, using Low Light mode:
Back in 1985 I was walking through the mountains of Switzerland taking my scenic snaps, and unfortunately the mountains and sky were all washed out in the film scans. Burning in that area in Photoshop fixed the tones but of course made the grain look like a blizzard, though not in an Alps kind of way… DeNoise AI in Severe Noise mode restored the scene to its original beauty:
Shooting distant scenes with a zoom lens through the haze at the Grand Canyon (early ’90s) leaves one with grain that has nowhere to hide. DeNoise AI (again in Severe Noise mode) cleaned this mess right up:
I hope you’ve found my results when using DeNoise AI on older film-based images encouraging enough for you to dig out your own rejected and oldie moldy shots to see if you can make good use of them!
Don’t miss the current sale on DeNoise AI and the entire Topaz Image Quality Bundle which ends today, though of course you can ALWAYS save 15% on any Topaz purchase at the Plugs ‘n Pixels Discounts page.