Neat Image

I'm not one for using Photoshop extensively on my images. A lot of times, I will simply use the application to resize my images and edit out a speck of dust that I can't seem to get off of the photograph or scanner. More rarely, I'll decide to change an image from color to black and white if I think that the color version of the image is too cluttered or distracting.

One image editing tool that I have used frequently enough as to make purchasing it worthwhile is Neat Image. Neat Image is a shareware application that helps eliminate a lot of "noise" from a picture. In a few images that are coming up, I've used it when my film was underexposed, either due to my misuse of the film or the photo lab's poor development, in order to eliminate a lot of the graininess in a photo. In the past, I used it on a couple of images (example 1 , example 2, example 3, top image only in Example 3) in my Allaire (beginning here) project to give the shot a soft feel.

I've relied on Neat Image to do things that I probably could do within Photoshop. It's a more intuitive, user friendly interface. It also works as a plug-in within Photoshop, Photoshop CS, and Photoshop Elements, for those that don't want to switch between applications.

I've noticed that a lot of photographers are coming out with Photoshop plug-ins that make the application more user friendly. I think this is a good thing, although it probably points to Adobe's need to work, on its own, on Photoshop's interface and instruction manuals. Here's another one, OptikVerve Lab's Virtual Photographer. I haven't used this one, but did come across it on the Photoblogs.org group blog, a site worth checking out. I'm probably going to download and give Virtual Photographer a shot. The intent behind this application is to create Photoshop plug-ins that are particularly intelligible to film photographers (i.e., make the picture look like it was taken on ISO 1600 film when it was taken on ISO 400 film, create a tintype effect, etc.).

Comments

[Da Goddess]

very cool tool! Just downloaded the demo version. Have to play with it this weekend!