FRANZIS DENOISE Projects Professional Review

Even though the noise reduction capabilities of cameras has improved greatly over the last few years, there are still occasions where noise does spoil your shots. When this happens, you can save your images by opening them up in editing software that's specifically designed to remove noise. One such piece of software on the market is DENOISE Projects Professional from FRANZIS but can it really rescue images as well as FRANZIS says it can? We've found a few noisy photos to put DENOISE's algorithms and tools to the test. 

FRANZIS DENOISE Projects Professional Features:

• Smart Pattern Matching Technology
• Applicable for up to 12,800 ISO and higher
• Optimised denoising of RAW and JPEG images
• For Mac and Windows
• Includes Adobe Photoshop plug-in and interface for Adobe Lightroom
• Scratch and sensor error corrector
• 43 Expert filters: sharpen ultra HD, restore details, HD denoising
• 1:1 Magnified view to compare image quality and for complete control
• Batch processing with fully automatically optimised denoising
• Complete RAW converter including distortion correction

FRANZIS DENOISE Projects Professional Performance:

FRANZIS DENOISE Projects Professional is designed to help you remove noise from your images while still keeping the colours, sharpness and detail of the shot intact. The software can remove 7 forms of image noise, including luminance noise and colour noise, and in the recent version, the Smart Pattern Matching noise technology the software uses has been redeveloped to improve results.  

As with all FRANZIS software, two versions of DENOISE are available: DENOISE Projects and DENOISE Projects Professional (we're putting this version to the test). The Professional version offers slightly more features such as additional filters, batch processing and scratch / sensor spot correction, and it's slightly more expensive ($129 instead of $69). Both versions work as plug-ins with Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom which is a unique selling point for FRANZIS as other software creators have made this a perk for those who purchase their 'premium' level. The software's also compatible with both Windows and Mac, too (we're testing the Windows version). 

The download and installation process is simple to follow and the software's quickly installed within a matter of minutes. You can actually download a copy of DENOISE Projects Professional for free from the FRANZIS website if you fancy trialling the software on your own PC / MAC. 

When you open the software up, you're greeted with a blank work area that has various options available in a toolbar for loading images. There are even sample photos available should you wish to put the software to the test but don't have any noisy images to hand. When you do load a photo the noise processing begins automatically and it's surprisingly quick, even for larger sized files. 

Once loaded, you're presented with the automated noise suppression options to the left and options for further enhancing these to the right (including options for restricting the denoise calculation to a specific area). You can adjust the zoom to get a more accurate preview of the shot or if you prefer to work with the whole image, there's a magnifying glass preview to the right of the window which shows you a close-up 'before & after' comparison of the area of the image you place your cursor over. It's a really useful tool for making quick checks with up close.

The software actually does a good job at configuring its algorithms to pick a noise reduction level that suits the particular image you're editing. In fact, the software seemed to pick the best preset for removing noise almost every time we ran a noisy image through it. Although on occasion, noise was still clearly visible and as a result, we had to choose a different preset. When flicking through the presets, it can take a while for certain ones to load but as the software's doing a lot of processing, this is to be expected.

Don't let the numbers confuse you on the presets as they're simply there as guides and don't have to be used on images that have that specific ISO number. It's also worth remembering that the lower the number is on the preset, the less noise reduction will be applied.  

The Analysis number in the right-hand column is a nifty figure FRANZIS has included as it tells you how much of your image was made up of noise before and then what percentage of the image includes noise after the preset has been applied. To compare the changes the present has made with the original image, you can hover your cursor over the image and right-click. 

In the right-hand column is where you'll also find the three different degrees of intensity that are available with this automatic process. The balance option will be automatically applied after loading the image but if you want an image with a softer or grainier noise removal result, you can adjust the automatic preset with one click on the 'soft' or 'grainy' button as well as clicking the presets in the left column.

The colour denosining space is a useful tool as you can choose a specific tone to remove noise from, with reduced loss to other colours. Also, you can save valuable time by restricting areas in the manual noise removal setting. The smaller the noise reduction area, the faster the calculation then once you are satisfied with the results, reactivate the denoising for the entire image. 

There's also a noise stacking module for light / dark frames, something that's particularly useful for fans of night sky / astrophotography. 

Do remember that making adjustments can lead to a loss in detail and softness appearing in your shot and this is very much apparent in the higher noise suppression presets. However, overall, the software does a good job at removing noise from shots and preserving detail so long as you stick to the more subtle presets.

As well as noise correction, there's a button that opens up a window for removing scratches and sensor spots that's really easy to use and does a good job. There's also a RAW editor you can make image adjustments in. 

If you want to fine-tune your image you can switch to expert mode where a list of post processing effects / filters are available. In fact, all of the tools listed are used by the software to assemble the presets.You can add filters to the 'Effects you have selected' list by double-clicking on them and the effects can be turned on and off by selecting the check marks beside the names. If you have an effect that you would like to have at a different position in the order of edits, simply use the mouse to pick it up and slide it to the desired place. The result will be automatically refreshed.

For those who work with Photoshop, you'll be familiar with the layer method that's used here and just like you can in Photoshop, you can alter the blending mode and opacity of each effect layer you have in the list but do note that the order of the effects will change the final result, depending on the combination. There's also a tool that's similar to working with Masks in Photoshop called 'Selective Editing'. Selective areas can be either positive (green) or negative (red). A positive area allows you to specify an area of the effect layer to be modified while the rest of the image remains unaffected while a negative area does the opposite. These can be applied to individual effect layers and they give you the chance to alter the curvature, sharpness and strength of a specific effect. 

You can also set parameters for the strength and intensity levels of a particular effect layer with sliders or by inputting a number and directly below these controllers is a masking curve that has a few presets and can be used to brighten / darken the image with a masking curve. You can see a real-time display of the curve’s masking while moving the control points. The effect shows a high intensity in bright areas and a lesser intensity in darker areas.

All of the extra manual tools are great for those who require more control over the edits and for those who already know quite a bit about noise reduction but for those just starting out, it can all seem a little too complicated and can take some time to get your head around. However, the presets offer a quick and easy way for those just wanting a quick, easy fix without the process getting too complicated. 

One problem with the manual edits is that every little change you make has to be processed and applied (there are no live edits) which can be rather time-consuming especially as you can't do anything else in the software while the process is running. So if you do want to make some manual adjustments, patience better be one of your character traits.

In comparison to what's on offer from Macphun and Topaz, all three pieces of software do perform well. However, I do think Topaz Denoise is slightly easier and quicker to use and FRANZIS Denoise does a much better job at keeping shots sharp than Macphun Noiseless Pro. The software from FRANZIS also did a better job at removing noise while preserving detail on the portrait than Topaz as well. Although, Topaz handled the night shot of London better so it seems they all have their plus and minus points. 

FRANZIS DENOISE Projects Professional Images Before / After:

Left: Original image, Right: After processing in DENOISE Projects Professional 

Left: Original image, Right: After processing in DENOISE Projects Professional 

Left: Original image, Right: After processing in DENOISE Projects Professional

Top: Original image, Bottom: After processing in DENOISE Projects Professional 

Left: Original image, Right: After processing in DENOISE Projects Professional 

FRANZIS DENOISE Projects Professional Value For Money:

The Standard version of the software is available for around £50 and the Pro version for around £90. If you need the Professional version is really down to personal choice, however you do get several extra features such as scratch and sensor spot correction, bonus filters and a RAW processing module. FRANZIS DENOISE Projects Professional is more expensive than the Macphun Noiseless Pro app, however this is designed to be used on MAC only and doesn't offer as many features. Topaz DeNoise is available for around £55, making it a closer match to FRANZIS DENOISE Projects but the pro version from FRANZIS is slightly more money. If you own Lightroom or Photoshop, it's worth remembering that you can use Adobe Camera RAW to remove noise from images as well. 

FRANZIS DENOISE Projects Professional Verdict:

FRANZIS DENOISE Projects Professional is simple to use and thanks to the presets, noise problems are corrected without too much effort on your part. Even though there was a little loss of detail in some photos, generally the software did a very good job at minimising a loss in quality. Performance wise, it's a little slow in places and as a result, making manual edits can be time-consuming but overall, the software is more than capable of rescuing noisy images that would otherwise be unusable. 

FRANZIS DENOISE Projects Professional Pros

Does what it says on the box 
Easy to use 
Presets perform well   
Quick to install

 

FRANZIS DENOISE Projects Professional Cons

Applying edits can be a very slow process 
Noticed a slight loss in detail on some images

 

FEATURES
EASE OF USE
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
VERDICT

FRANZIS DENOISE Projects Professional is  really good at rescuing noisy images that would otherwise be unusable. 

FRANZIS DENOISE Projects Professional System Requirements 

Windows 8.1/8/7/Vista, 32/64 bit, Dual Core Processor, 2 GB RAM, 2 GB HDD, Screen Resolution, 1280 x 1024 Pixels, Graphic Card: DirectX-9+-compatible, 128 MB, 32 bit colour depth

Mac OS X (10.7 and higher), 64 bit, Intel Processor/G5, 2 GB RAM, 2 GB HDD, Screen Resolution 1280 x 1024 Pixels.