Nik Software Dfine
Nik Software has produced a very popular, well known suite of Photoshop plugins which we all see advertised in our favorite imaging magazines (along with Alienskin, onOne… etc). Installation is simple, although on my x64 system, I was annoyed that I could only install this plugin for the 32-bit version of Photoshop. Naja… so ist das Leben.
Documentation
The literature for Dfine is substantial, including a 47 page pdf guide and a healthy help menu accessible from within the plugin. I’d like to see a concise workflow guide, and the information reads like a stereo manual, but there is plenty of information there for anyone willing to use it.
The Interface
Nik Software Dfine 2.0 screenshot in Photoshop CS4, click to enlarge.
As you might expect from such a popular software maker, the interface looks very slick… more like it was crafted with Flash than with a traditional programming language like C++. It’s safe to say that from an aesthetic perspective, this is the nicest looking Noise Reduction plugin that I’ve seen.
Functionally, the interface is unlike the others as well. The default view is pretty annoying, with the only comparative view to be found in half of the small window in the bottom right corner. There are, however, two others: a split view in the main window and a side by side view. Both of them have their strengths, and although I still prefer the ability to click on the image to see the before/after views, I can see how some might be attracted to these options.
The Split-Screen view in Dfine
If Noiseware was a bit complicated with 10 sets of sliders, Dfine is a bit simplistic, with only 1 set of adjustment sliders, plus some selection controls. Clicking on the “Reduce” tab reveals it, one slider for luminance noise (called contrast noise) and the other for chroma noise (called color noise).
Operation : Automatic
This plugin screams to be used in full automatic mode. In fact, the only manual controls (other than loading manual profiles) are hidden by default. That said, I was not favorably impressed with the operation of the plugin in with an automatic profile; it left some noise in areas that should have been smooth while blurring more fine detail than I’d have hoped.
Operation : Manual
Manual operation is actually not much different. A camera profile can be loaded, and the two sliders can be adjusted. Further selections can be made on the image to help refine the profile as well. Otherwise, this is a quick, simple plugin.
Unique Features
One of the points of interest with Dfine is how it handles layers. Unlike all of the other plugins that I’ve tried, Dfine begins by creating a new layer and applying the noise reduction only to the new layer, so that all operations are essentially non-destructive, which is a great idea. This procedure also allows Dfine to utilize a “Noise Brush” tool of its own. Essentially, if you click on the Brush button in the main plugin window, the plugin applies the noise reduction to the new layer, creates a black layer mask over that image, and provides you with a white paint brush to “brush in” the noise reduction. Again, this saves some steps, but because the selective NR is taking place outside of the Dfine environment, you do not get a choice of brushing in (or away) chroma or color noise separately, as is possible with Noise Ninja.
It is also worth mentioning that, because of the way that Dfine handles images as separate layers, Dfine is the only program in this group that can de-noise a CMYK image (rather than a single channel). Since most people will want to only de-noise the K channel in a CMYK file anyway, this may not be a major concern, but its nice to know that the capability is there, especially for images with heavy chroma noise.
Chapters: | Previous | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Next |
