Listening to the Voices in My Head

I have used many different noise reduction programs, starting way back when NoiseNinja was all the rage. Noise reduction software has improved immensely. Here are the ones I have used.

Define, by NIK and Google, and finally DxO: The results are good , but I have found it would either smooth things too much, and leave behind artifacts. You can use the brush tool to 'paint' the areas you want noise removed. It is a bit slow to process the image.

On1 NoNoise; Wow. Yes, it removes noise but you also have the options of regaining some detail, or sharpness, or how strong the noise removal has to be. It's not just fast to show you, it is fast. Any changes made you instantly see. I have found that when I use NoNoise, I don't need any sharpening on the image.

Topaz DeNoise: If you started this program without me seeing the splash screen, I would have though it was On1 NoNoise because of the layout and tool arrangement. That's where the resemblance stopped. Topaz DeNoise is Slow. Slow to process any change in the pre-processing window, even if you want to just center the photo. Slow to update changes. Detail recovery is slow, and clumsy. Use of any of the sliders makes the program crawl.

I'm sticking with NoNoise.

Because On1 no longer uses the same authentication service, some really great OnOne tools that didn't make their way into the latest versions of On1 PhotoRaw could no longer be installed. 

This really sucks because OnOne Focal Point was the best DOF plugin I had ever tried.  And this is coming form someone who has AlienSkin Bokeh 3!  So, even though I have Windows 10 up and running properly (so far so good) I can't install the OnOne suite that had Focal Point on the Win10 boot drive.  Nor could I install PhotoTools Professional on the Win 10 boot drive.  Good thing for me I have them installed on the Windows 7 boot drive.

But here's the conundrum: One the Windows 7 drive, there is something in the latest On1 plugins that won't let the older plugins work.  If I pulled the On1PhotoRaw plugins out of the Photoshop plugin directory, the older OnOne plugins worked.  So, it became a case of trial and error juggling these four OnOne/On1 products between Adobe CS6E and Adobe CC:

On1 PhotoRaw 2019
Perfect PhotosSuite 5.5.4
Perfect PhotoSuite 9
PhotoTools 2.6 Professional.

This is what I finally got.

Adobe CS6E: I can use Focal Point 2, PhotoTools 2.6, and just On1 PhotoRaw 2019 Develop plugins.  Doesn't matter I don't have the On1 Portrait or Effects plugin, because when you launch the Develop one, you can just click on over to Effects, Portrait, or Local adjustments.  But I can't use any of the Resizing plugins.  That's ok, I can use AlienSkin BlowUp.

Adobe CC:  I can use Focal Point 2, PhotoTools 2.6, On1 PhotoRaw Develop and Effects plugins.  BUT I can also use all the Perfect PhotoSuite 9 plugins, including Perfect Resize.  Yay, go me.

Now, this is if I am using Adobe Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw. Yes, even though On1PhotoRaw is wonderful, I import the finished image into Photoshop, and there are plugins/tools I have there that On1PhotoRaw just doesn't have.

Part of me wants to upgrade my Win 7 boot drive to Windows 10 just to see if those plugins will still work, but, I am going to err on the side of caution (even though I have a clone of the Win 7 drive as a back up) and since it ain't broken, I'm not going to fix it.  If I have to stay with Windows 7 to do photo editing, so be it. 

Nerdz Ruul!

Easier way to use On1PhotoRaw 2018 with Photoshop CS5.

Yes, still install trial version of CC, but don't subscribe , and leave it on  your system, as the TOS says nothing about removing it if you aren't going to use it. (I know, I read the entire boring thing) Install On1PhotoRaw 2018. It won’t install the plugins to CS5, so you have to copy all the plugins from CC plugins directory to the CS5 plugins directory..


Don't even bother with Adobe Bridge. This way you will avoid the "can't open javascript missing" error I posted about earlier, thereby using all the On1 Plugins. Use On1PhotoRaw only. If you really want to use Bridge, open it by using a short cut. But you won't really need to.

Instead, using On1PhotoRaw as you would bridge. It will open on Browse module. Go into the develop, do whatever you want or need to do, then go to the bottom right corner of On1 and select EXPORT. It will automatically default to the folder/directory the RAW image was opened. Don't bother with any of the presets at this time, with the exception of may not having it open the directory it was saved to. Export it as a full sized, high res JPG.

Go back to the BROWSE module. Right click on your JPG, select SEND TO OTHER APPLICATION, and navigate to the CS5 Photoshop.exe file. Do this once, and CS5 will be listed in the drop down menu. Then when you click on Photoshop CS5 12, select ORIGINAL image, because you've already done all the edits. It will open in CS5, and you can use all your familiar Photoshop tools and plugins, and use all the new On1photoRaw plugins too, although I do have a problem when I try to use the RESIZE plugin in CS5.

So, your CS5 Bridge might not be able to read the newer Camera Raw formats, but On1PhotoRaw can.

This is for CS5 and CS6 users who want to use Bridge in their workflow, but want to launch On1PhotoRaw* as their default Camera Raw editor. (Was asked, so I'm providing the work around)

If you follow these steps, which sound a bit complicated, but aren't, this will work for you.

First, download and install trial version of CreativeCloud. I have gone over their TOS and it says nothing about uninstalling if if you aren't going to use it. Keep it there, for reasons that will follow.

Install On1 PhotoRaw. It will automatically find CreativeCloud, and install the plugins. Go to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CC\Plugins. Copy the On1 plugins from that to the Photoshop CS5\Plugins folder. On1 will install in your CS6 directory.

Go to Adobe Bridge. Open up Edit Preferences and select which ever raw format your camera shoots in, click on SELECT, and navigate to On1 folder and choose the on1 photoraw 2018.exe. Click on Ok, then save.

In CS5, I don't know why, but I can't double click on the RAW files to get it to launch. BUT I can right click, and select OPEN WITH and choose the now default On1PhotoRaw. CS6 users, once you have made On1photoRaw2018 your default Raw Editor, it will launch from Bridge.

You will notice it opens the RAW image in Layers module, but just click on Develop and process your Raw image, then either let On1 save it as a PSD, or export it as a JPG. To prevent ON1 from making a PSD after you've exported it, go back to layers module, File/Close and discard changes made. On1 will then just shut down.

And since you have the trial version of CC on your computer, navigate to C:\Program files\Common Files\Adobe\Plugins\CC\File Formats. You will see CC and CS5 (or CS6). Rename CameraRaw8li that is in CS5 (or CS6). To CameraRawCS5.8li. Copy The CameraRaw.8li from CC into your C:\Program files\Common Files\Adobe\Plugins\CS5 \File Formats or CS6. This way you can at least view the image files you want On1PhotoRaw to edit in CS5 Bridge.

*You can also do this method to use Skylum Luminar as your default RAW editor.