How to Reduce Color Noise

Color Noise on a Photograph

"Color noise," colors that should not be there appearing on parts of the picture, can make a photograph look unprofessional. Often showing up in red and green, it is obvious to the viewer and takes away from the photograph. But color noise doesn't mean you have to take another picture. There is a quick way to reduce this in the photograph using Adobe Photoshop.

Things You'll Need

• Adobe Photoshop

Instructions

1. Open Adobe Photoshop and choose the photograph you want to remove the color noise from.

2. Choose the "Image" menu from the top and select "Mode" and "Lab Color." This will place a check mark beside "Lab Color" to show you have selected it. You'll change this back to "RBG Color" at the end.

3. Choose "Window" from the top of the screen and click on "Channels" if it does not already have a check mark beside it. On the right side of your screen, look for a tab about halfway down that says "Colors." It will be close to the "History" tab. Click the "Color" tab. A section should appear below it with the labels "Lab," "Lightness," "a" and "b."

4. Select color channel "a." Choose the "Filter" menu from the top and select "Blur" then "Smart Blur." A small window should open.

5. Change the "Quality" setting in this new menu to "High." Set "Mode" to "Normal" if it is not already. Adjust the "Radius" and "Threshold" to eliminate some of the color noise. This is based on trial and error. Watch the part of your picture you can see in this window as you change the "Radius" and "Threshold" settings until the color noise is gone or less noticeable.

6. Click "OK." Your photo should look better. If the color noise was very obvious, it may not eliminate it completely, but should help to blend it out so it won't be as obvious to anyone viewing your picture.

7. Select the "Image" menu from the top and choose "Mode" and "RBG Color" to change your settings back to what they were before you selected "Lab Color" in Step 2.

References

• Reduce Color Noise