Best way to reduce this noise?

[The_JinJ]

Hi all

Working on restoring an old photo and want a good way to reduce the noise in the pic but keep good detail.

I tried adding a blurred mask layer and unpainting the skin but didn't really give good results
Also Neat Image done a good job but not perfect.

Using Gimp 2.3.12 so no access to PS filters

New to this so be gentle lol.....any good tips for this?

Cheers!

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/the_jinj/face.png

[The_JinJ]

Farting about a bit with Neat Image - I may have been too hasty - tweaking the controls more has helped....pity it only saves as jpg

[CJ Swartz]

Hmmm, I think of a baby's skin as soft with little detail -- I think you could get away with softening the image with even a median filter (despeckle in GIMP?) and bringing back the eyes, nose, ears etc. with a mask. This image is so damaged that the original details are certainly hidden or eliminated -- but the expression (eyes/nose/mouth) is there. Bringing back that smooth chubby cheek look will do a lot for the image.

[Daviskw]

Hi there

I ran the picture thru a noise filter but it did not help too much so I used smudge and healing brush to blend the noise.

I experimented with adding a little shadow over the eye and along the nose by applying black on a soft light layer.

Then I added back a noise layer of 3 pixels of noise and a small amount of blur.

Butch

[The_JinJ]

Thanks guys - think I'm getting the hang of it!

[chillin]

I used:
ImageJ “A trous filter”
ImageJ “ij_half_median light”
“Neat image”
Add some noise
Selective blend of smoothing
Some “Focus Magic (1 at 50%)
I don't think it is the best way to do it.

[crazyfly1]

Cute baby, did you notice she has earings?
I started with levels as they were way off.
Then neat image, then unsharp mask with a high radius to bring out contrast.
Then noisware pro (tried that first but it couldn't get the job done, worked well after neat image did most of the work).
then then I added back a slight amount of grain, then unsharp mask again and then smart sharpen. Oh, and somewhere in there I took the liberty of a slight shadow dodge over the eyes.
I almost think I like it better with a little more grain added back in at this point, but as we were trying to get rid of grain I left it alone.