I ran across this action set... Looks potentially useful.

http://www.2morrow.dk/75ppi/coolpix/actions/

Gobs of tech detail; side-by-side images.

Actions include:
De-noise Deluxe 1.2
Mid-ISO grain
Hi-ISO grain
chromanoise
colour restore
EdgeMask
LuminosityMask
Underexposed
contrast masking
hi-pass sharpening
retrieve L channel

Though not likely you'd run an action during a typical retouch job, I've found that hacking actions helps me better understand filters, filter combos and/or parameter settings I've yet to try. On occasion I stumble on a recipe that's useful in retouch situations. Concepts apply to digital & non-digital images.

Note: These are for PS6; I run 5.5 = I can't test these out.

Feedback, Please! Is this kind of thing worth posting? Too basic? Too mundane? I don't want to clutter forums with what's perceived to be less than valuable stuff.

Thx/DannyR

Danny,

Thanks for the tip. No, it's not too basic. It's good to know that things like this are available.

Ed

Danny
I agree with Ed, this is a very good thing to post on the forum. I downloaded them to try out.
DJ

No, this is great stuff. I use the high pass filter to sharpen facial detail, but hated the 'noise' it makes along with it. The hi pass action uses the despeckle filter after to remove a bit of this which I read on this page. I had been masking out the skin areas and lowering opacity, which made me lose a bit of the affect. The problem I have with this page is that I'd like a more detailed description of the guts of the actions so I could do them myself to see what exactly is happening.

After downloading will I find these actions automatically in my actions palette??

Carrie

Photoshop: I can't load these?? I'm running Photoshop 6, but it says these actions are not compatible??

Carrie
I'm running Photoshop 6 and I had no trouble loading them. I haven't tried them as of yet but they are now sitting in my Actions Palette. Can't see what could be going wrong for you. You might e-mail them and see if they can figure out what's happening.
DJ

Thanks DJ. I don't know what the deal is, I tried several things to get it to load, but no luck. Right now I'm struggling with Painter 7. If you or anyone knows anything about it please read my thread under Software. I'm tearing out hair here.

Carrie
Go to that thread. I gave you some tutorial links. Also there should be a tutorial with Painter 7 on the CD somewhere. There was with Painter 6.

As for the Actions. Try downloading them again. Maybe something happened to corrupt the file while downloading it.
DJ

deleted and redownloaded the thing 3 times, I'll try again later. But Thanks for the Corel sites, I'm scouring then now. smile.

Anytime :)
DJ

Danny - these types of links are worth their virtual weight in gold.

Grain and noise reduction is not easy - if you still require sharpness to the image.

The Photoshop v6 action you mention is very good for a free action - and includes quite a few variables, not just grain reduction.

Another similar, simpler dedicated free grain reduction action can also be found here:

http://www.digitalsecrets.net/secrets/denoiseISO.html

Then there are the commercial actions (not free) from Fred Miranda for specific digicams - plus some free actions too:

http://www.fredmiranda.com

And there are special plugs and applications for grain and other issues such as GrainSurgery, QuantumMechanic and Neat Image.

Regards,

Stephen Marsh.

Thanks for the cool action link Stephen. I downloaded it to try. Now all I have to do is actually try these actions I'm busily downloading. :)
DJ

Thanks DJ, you should be thankful that your images do not require these actions! I like to think of these actions as insurance...I don't want to use them - but at least I know I have an option if I need it.

Since I am into prepress, these actions are not ideal for my workflow. But when the trade off is to reduce visible noise or grain, then loosing the original separation may be less critical.

In other cases, I may dupe the CMYK file and convert this to RGB so the actions can do their stuff - before converting back to CMYK and then perhaps blending key elements of the filtered image into the original separation.

Sadly, I have had to resort to these actions to reduce visible film grain, digicam noise or jpeg luminosity damage in jobs that will go to press in high quality magazine conditions. They also work well for a less 'artifical' retouch cosmetic smoothing of skin than more direct methods. It would be even better to use a dedicated software package over an action, although these actions are very good.

Most users will be in RGB for their scans or digicam shots or whatever, but most of my work is presented to me in CMYK for press output - which can be a problem. I might have to hack these scripts so that I can use them in CMYK, if I ever find the time.

On a side note, the actions at my site are only a quick hack, often to demonstrate the text which were meant to be redone, when I found the time. I hope to redo the existing actions and offer some new ones as well in the near future (as well as update my site and become more active online).

Stephen Marsh.

I also thought that you should be able to convert the actions to CYMK, but since I rarely work in CYMK I wasn't sure if certain filters were grayed out as they are when working in grayscale for instance. It's worth a try if all you work in is CYMK. I will let you know how they do. I did have plans to experiment with them when I get some time to play. :)
DJ

Hi Danny

I just downloaded the actions that you showed us. I havent played with them yet, but some look very useful. I'm looking forward to playing with them. Thanks for the tip.

Jerry :D

Stephen,
I finally got around to giving the action a try and I am totally impressed. It works great. There is a very noticable difference but the quality of the image seems to stay intact. Thanks for letting us in on it.
DJ

ok, what's up with this? I'm doing something wrong (again). I downloaded the denoise action, but I can't load it into actions palette. Anybody know what I'm messing up here?

Carrie, I'm not sure here...Photoshop Actions (scripts, macros) are new to quite a few users, so please forgive me if this sounds like a lecture - with luck this may help others, if not yourself. <g>

Action files need to be decompressed and if on the PC must also end in a .atn filename extension.

Although they are cross platform, some users distribute them to Mac with no .atn extension and sometimes .sit compressed, while PC users may distribute a .zip compressed file with the action having a .atn filename extension. Some users just distribute a .atn extension and .zip archive to serve both platforms.

Actions can reside anywhere, and are loaded into the Actions palette via the Actions palette menu. When loaded into the palette, they are stored in a temp file with your other settings in later versions of Photoshop. If you change an action and wish to save it back to a .atn file, then the save Action command from the palette menu must be used (as the Action is in the temp file and not a live link to the original .atn file that was loaded).

Unlike plugs/filters - .atn files do not tie up memory by simply loading them into the application.

Actions are usually work from older to new versions, but the simple act of saving an older action from a later version of Photoshop will render the action unusable for earlier versions, even if no edits were made to the action (each version tags the file with a code which locks out earlier versions).

More on actions can be found here:

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~binaryfx/PSTV_links.html#A

Hope this helps,

Stephen Marsh.

Carrie,
I may be able to solve your problem. Did you go to that link and drag that action on that page to your file?? I did, because that was what it said to do, thinking that was the action, and of course Photoshop didn't recognize it. Turns out when I went to Explore to look for it, what I got was not the action but a short cut to the action.

Go to that page again and click on that highlighted action and you will get a parent directory of actions. Choose iDeNoiseHilSO2.1.atn from the list and click on it and you will get the download dialog box. Everything should be fine.

It wasn't until I tried to load it yesterday that I discovered there was a problem and then I thought of your problem with it and figured you did the same thing I did.
Let me know if that works for you.
DJ

Ok, I managed to ge the 1st group of actions from the start of the thread, but the DeNoise one I can't open still. I had to extract the 1st one befor it worked. The other...well, I'mstill not sure I understand what you mean DJ. How exactly did you drag it? I don't see the 'parent directory' either.

Thanks Stephen for all the info. My downloaded files do have the extention .atn

C

Just go to the site where the action is. When you see the highlighted action, click on it. That will bring you to the parent directory that holds the actions. Just click on the one I told you in the previous post.

What I did is read the site instructions and it says something about click and drag the action to your desk top. I dragged that link to the actual actions page not the actions them selves.
DJ