Affinity Photo with Noiseware

[Big Stan]

I have been using Noisware as my preferred digital noise reduction plugin with Photoshop for at least 10 years. I particularly like that I can address the noise problem by frequency, tonal range, and/or color range. Recently, I have started using Affinity Photo v1.6.6 (AP) instead of CS6 and ran into a known problem that exists between AP and Noiseware; it opens in AP but after I make an adjustment, AP instantly crashes. I found a web site where the author said the using AP & Noiseware with an 8 bit RGB would be OK. This option is NOT working for me. I contacted Imagenomic and they sent the following reply,
"We are a small company and as such it's about all we can do to keep up with the constant Adobe/Microsoft/Apple update mess.
Also, to put it into perspective, we've had about a dozen inquiries into Affinity Pro usage since it surfaced. We went down the Apple Aperture route and had a tiny installed customer base which hardly justified the development and support, now it's a dead end product.
Finally, the vast majority of our customer base uses Photoshop and Lightroom mainly for these reasons:
1. Quickly batch process images using the vast availability of actions, plugins and presets available for Adobe products.
2. Retouch images with toolsets that are mature and have a large tutorial base.
Affinity Pro has neither of the above so it's not an issue of how good Affinity Pro is or it's not a subscription service, it's an issue of what these customers need and is available.
I've been using Serif's products for going on 20 years and so have no negativity toward them.
Regards,"

Any suggestions out there?

[billtils]

Stan


Are you using the Mac or Windows version of AP? I'm a Mac user and there are some issues with the Mac version of AP and plug-ins that are caused by Serif's decision to go only with MAS compliant versions of the software. Many of the PS plugins have stand alone versions and there appear to be some for noiseware that run on Windows - try a search for noiseware + windows.

A simple workaround that produces excellent noise reduction and works with AP is to shoot a burst and process as a stack - goodbye noise!

[russellsnr]

Just in for my 2 pence worth. Affinity Photo (I Purchased) and so as I use Franzis HDRProjects 5 I contacted them (Franzis) and asked near the same question and got the near standard reply 'We are working on it' I also used Photoshop CS6 and Lightroom 6 so as I was going to transfer across to AF and do away with Adobe I asked about the option of a DAM in AF and the answer 'Yes, there's plans for a DAM (I don't know if as an independent software or somehow integrated in Affinity Photo at this point) but it may still take quite some time until it's ready.'. Now I purchased AF as a Photo editing software and if they wish to get on par with Adobe they need to get there act together especially when it comes to the use of third party plug-ins.
Russ.

[billtils]

Russell

1: There is a DAM in the works but for now all you can do is file your images somewhere like the Pictures folder and access with the AP media browser, or use something else as your main editor and DAM and call AP from it.

2: As I mentioned above, it is unlikely that the Mac version of AP will ever work with all PS compatible plug-ins as they have made the decision to tie it to the MAS which brings some limitations on communication with other programs. I have not found this to be a problem as the ones I use all have a full stand-alone version.

3: As most things, you get what you pay for, and at approx £50 one-off purchase with lifetime free upgrades for an editor with extensive functionality, it's good value. Having said that, I use Capture One as raw converter, DAM and general purpose editor, and call things like AP and the NIK suite from it.

[JohnRostron]

Stan, I would suggest that you post this on Affinity Forums. You have posted there before, although your original Noiseware querey was not resolved.
I have used Noiseware on Affinity Photo without issue on Windows 10, but I now tend to use eitger Nik Dfine or Neat Image.

John

[billtils]

John

It's an Apple problem arising from their sandboxing of apps available on the Mac App Store and there is nothing that can be done. Russell's only options are go Windows, or use another de-noiser, including as you suggest, NIK Dfine. AP's own denoising is not too shabby, but I've found nothing comes close to stacking a burst in AP.

[russellsnr]

Hi, Sorry I should have pointed out I use Windows OS not MAC, Russ

[JohnRostron]

AP's own denoising is not too shabby, but I've found nothing comes close to stacking a burst in AP.

Yes, I concur with that, but VueScan will take four hi-res (1200dpi) scans and merge them to a 600dpi scan as a noise reduction technique.

John

[Big Stan]

Thank you.
I am on a Mac (10.13.3).
I have used bursts with Landscape and limited Astro but, I have been unsuccessful using burst for wildlife.
Any suggestions?

[billtils]

Stan

If you are shooting wildlife in motion (BIF or IIF or anything in motion) the burst + stacking method won't work for noise reduction as it depends on the only differences in the shots being the random noise.

[billtils]

Did you check out the various stand alone options for Noiseware? There's no Mac option so I have no idea how well/if it will work.