Reduce image noise

Image noise is extraneous visible artifacts that degrade image quality. Image noise includes luminance (grayscale) noise, which makes an image look grainy, and chroma (color) noise, which is usually visible as colored artifacts in the image. Photos taken with high ISO speeds or less-sophisticated digital cameras can have noticeable noise.

View full size graphic
Moving the Noise Reduction Luminance slider to the right reduces grayscale noise (upper right), and moving the Noise Reduction Color slider to the right reduces chroma noise (lower right).

  1. (Optional) Zoom in on the photo to at least 1:1 to better see image noise and the effects of the sliders.
  2. Drag the 1:1 image preview in the Detail panel of the Develop module to see the area of the photo that looks grainy or displays colored artifacts.
  3. In the Noise Reduction area of the Detail panel, adjust one or both of the following sliders:
    Luminance
    Reduces luminance noise.

    Color
    Reduces color noise.

To turn off noise reduction, set the Sharpening Amount slider to zero or click the Detail panel On/Off icon .