Photoshop CS2 Sharpening and Noise Reduction

[Rebrunner]

I have just received Photoshop CS2. I was in the process of investigating 3rd party sharpening and noise reduction software like Noise Ninja, but it seems as though PSCS2 has some sophisticated new sharpening and noise reduction tools of its own. Should I stick with PSCS2 or should I get 3rd party software? Which it better? Your opinions please.

[jaykinghorn]

I find the addition of the new Smart Sharpen and Noise Reduction Filters to be a great benefit. The question of whether or not they eliminate the need for third-party sharpening and NR tools is a question of how particular you are about your digital images and how much money you want to spend on software.

I think that Noise Ninja is an improvement over Photoshop CS2's Reduce Noise filter, particularly from a workflow standpoint. As for sharpening, I think the Smart Sharpen filter does an amazing job on digital images. I've also been very happy with the PhotoKit Sharpener. Each have their pluses and minuses. Most of the 3rd party plugins have 30-day demos for you to get a feel for their product. I suggest that you do a side-by-side comparison of two or more images and evaluate each tool in terms of ease of use, quality of correction, speed, efficiency and ask yourself whether or not the plugins do a better job of achieving the "look" you prefer.

I hope this is helpful.

Jay Kinghorn