Question 1

Should I apply noise reduction before or after sharpening?

Accepted Answer

Always denoise first. Sharpening works by increasing contrast along edges, and it can't tell the difference between an actual edge in your photo and a speck of luminance noise. If you sharpen a noisy image, you're amplifying the grain and making it harder to remove cleanly afterward. By denoising first, you give your sharpening tool a clean canvas so it only enhances the real detail in your shot. With ON1 NoNoise AI's 'Both' mode, this order is handled automatically in a single pass.

Question 2

Is AI noise reduction considered acceptable in photo competitions and photojournalism?

Accepted Answer

This varies by organization, but AI-based noise reduction and sharpening are generally accepted in most photography competitions and editorial contexts. They're typically treated the same as traditional darkroom or digital adjustments, such as levels, curves, and unsharp mask. Where most competitions draw the line is at generative AI that adds, removes, or replaces content in the image. Reducing noise and restoring sharpness doesn't alter what was captured; it refines how clearly it's presented. That said, always check the specific rules of any competition you're entering.

Question 3

Does AI noise reduction work as well on JPEGs and TIFFs as it does on RAW files?

Accepted Answer

RAW files always give the best results because they contain untouched sensor data, which gives the AI much more information to work with when separating noise from detail. That said, not every tool supports non-RAW formats. Some popular options (DxO PureRAW, Adobe Lightroom AI Denoise) only process RAW files. ON1 NoNoise AI is one of the few tools that handles JPEGs, TIFFs, PNGs, and PSDs at a high level, which is a real advantage if you need to clean up files that have already been through a round of editing.

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