User Guide
User Guide Neat Image
Copyright © 1999-2003 by ABSoft. All rights reserved.
3 20-Nov-03
1. Introduction
1.1. Overview
Neat Image is a digital filter application designed to
reduce visible noise in digital photographic images.
Neat Image detects, analyzes, and reduces image
noise. The filtration quality is higher than that of other
methods because Neat Image takes into account
specific characteristics of particular image acquisition
devices, making the filtration more accurate. You can
train the program to adapt to almost any input tool
(digital camera, scanner, etc.). Access to the rich
control set allows you to easily achieve your desired
level of noise reduction.
In addition, Neat Image can make images look sharper without any degradation of
image quality (which is usually inevitable with noisy images). The combination of
the sharpening and noise filter makes such an effect possible.
Neat Image is currently produced in four editions: Demo, Home, Pro and Pro+.
Demo is a free edition of the software with slightly-limited functionality. Home is the edition of Neat
Image for home users. Pro is the edition of Neat Image for professional users. Pro+ additionally
includes the Photoshop-compatible plug-in version of the filter.
1.2. Features
Noise Reduction and Image Sharpening
• Advanced noise filter to reduce the level of noise in digital images
• Complete control over the filter settings to achieve the desired level of noise reduction
• Smart sharpening filter to make images look sharper without amplification of noise
• 16-bit image support to fully utilize capabilities of modern image acquisition devices
• Photoshop-compatible plug-in version of the filter
Device Noise Profiles
• Rich set of free ready-made device noise profiles in the profile library
• Easy building custom device noise profiles for your camera or scanner
• Profile Matcher for automatic matching of device noise profiles to images
Queued Processing
• Queued processing / batch processing of image series
• Background processing (images are processed as you prepare a new one)
Preview
• Embedded preview of filtration results for a selected area of the input image
• Preview of filtration results for each image channel and frequency range
• Variant Selector for easier filter adjustment
• Full-size comparison of original vs. filtered images
Some features are only available in certain editions of Neat Image. Detailed feature map, page 47,
explains the differences between Neat Image editions in details.
N
oise is a serious problem that hinders high-
quality digital image processing. In digital
photography, the consumer- and prosumer-level
cameras produce images with an easily noticeable
noise component. This component is especiall
y
strong in images taken at high ISO rates. The
noise reduces the visual quality of digital images
and resulting printouts. Some image processing
operations, like sharpening, make quality of noisy
images even worse.
See examples
of Neat Image
noise reduction.