Tool Buttons

Use the tool buttons for access to tools not in the tool list.

• Noise Reduction
• Camera and Lens Corrections
• LCH
• Straighten and Perspective Control
• Unsharp Mask
• Levels & Curves

Noise Reduction

Selecting this tool displays noise reduction controls in the image adjustment palette (see below). After enabling noise reduction by placing a check in the Noise reduction check box, adjust settings as described in this section.

The options available for Method vary with the camera used to create the current picture. If the only option available is Camera compatible, the remaining settings can be adjusted as follows:

Amount

Use the pull-down menu under Method to choose the amount of noise reduction performed.

Edge Noise Reduction (RAW images only)

Make outlines more distinct by reducing the occurrence of noise artifacts around edges.

Astro Noise Reduction (RAW images only)

Reduce the occurrence of randomly-spaced bright pixels in long exposures.

If the Method menu is available, choose Faster for faster processing or Better Quality 2013 (RAW images only) or Better Quality for more accurate noise reduction. You can also adjust the following items:

Intensity

Choose the noise reduction level from values between 0 and 100. The higher the value, the smoother the image and the less visible the artifacts caused by image “noise”.

Sharpness

Choosing high values for Intensity may smooth the image to the point that details are lost; this can be countered by increasing Sharpness.

Edge Noise Reduction (RAW images only)

Make outlines more distinct by reducing the occurrence of noise artifacts around edges.

Astro Noise Reduction (RAW images only)

Reduce the occurrence of randomly-spaced bright pixels in long exposures.

Camera and Lens Corrections

Selecting this tool displays the following controls in the image adjustment palette:

Color Moiré Reduction (RAW images only)

To reduce color moiré (an image artifact visible where regular patterns overlap), select this item and choose an option from the menu.

Image Dust Off (regular- or large-size RAW images only)

Compare photos with reference data recorded using the camera to mitigate the effect of dust on the camera image sensor. Click Change… to choose the NDF file containing the desired data. For more information on recording reference data, see the camera manual.

Lateral Color Aberration

Reduce lateral color aberration (colored fringes and halos) in RAW images. At default settings, this option is not applied to JPEG and TIFF images.

Axial Color Aberration

Reduce blurred colors caused by axial color aberration. Choose from values between 0 and 100: the higher the value, the greater the effect.

Auto Distortion Control

This option uses the lens information recorded with photographs to reduce the barrel distortion associated with wide-angle lenses and the pin-cushion distortion associated with telephoto lenses. Auto distortion control can be turned on or off from the pull-down menu; if the photograph was taken with an advanced camera with interchangeable lens fitted with a waterproof lens, you will also be offered an On (underwater) option for reducing pin-cushion distortion in photos taken underwater.

Auto Red-Eye

Automatically detect and remove “red-eye”.

Vignette Control

Adjust for variations in peripheral illumination that occur with some lenses. Choose from values between –100 and +200: the higher the value, the greater the increase in brightness at the edges of the image.

Diffraction compensation

Reduce diffraction in pictures taken at small apertures (high f/-numbers).

PF Flare Control

Reduce ring flare, circular flare, and other flare effects caused by bright light sources in the frame. Depending on the type and shape of the light source, the desired effects may not be achieved, in which case you may wish to remove the check from this option.

Fisheye

This option is available only with photos taken using AF DX Fisheye-Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8G ED, AF Fisheye-Nikkor 16mm f/2.8D, or AF-S Fisheye NIKKOR 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5E ED lenses.

Image Dust Off

Follow the steps below to perform Image Dust Off.

1. Click Change…. If the current folder contains an Image Dust Off reference file, a message will be displayed; proceed to Step 2. If no message is displayed, proceed to Step 3.
2. To perform Image Dust Off using the file in the current folder, select Yes. Otherwise, select No and proceed to Step 3.
3. Select a reference file and click OK to perform Image Dust Off.

Fisheye

Select Fisheye to process photos taken with fisheye lenses so that they appear to have been taken with a wide-angle rectilinear lens. An area at the center of the image (circular fisheye lenses) or centered around lines drawn horizontally and vertically through the center of the image (full-frame fisheye lenses) is cropped to match the camera picture angle.

The AF DX Fisheye-Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8G ED and AF Fisheye-Nikkor 16mm f/2.8D

If Include areas where there is no image data is selected, the image will not be cropped; instead, sections of the image will be bent. The bends contain no image data and are filled with the color selected in the Fill color menu.

The AF-S Fisheye NIKKOR 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5E ED

The Size of Crop slider controls the size of the crop. The smaller the crop, the more the center of the image will be enlarged. Choosing values closer to 1 with full-frame fisheye images will result in sections containing no image data, which are filled with the color selected in the Fill color menu.

The Distortion Control slider controls distortion. High values curve the image outward, while lower values curve it inward.

LCH

The LCH color space models color using values for lightness (a property similar but not identical to brightness or luminance), chroma (color saturation), and hue. These parameters can be accessed via the channel menu in the image adjustment palette when the LCH tool is selected.

Master Lightness

Adjust overall lightness without affecting chroma or hue.

Auto Contrast

Increase contrast by setting the white and black points to exclude a set proportion of the brightest and darkest pixels in the image.

Add Anchor Point

Click this button and then click the image in the preview palette to add a point to the curve corresponding to the lightness of the pixel under the cursor.

Reset Current Channel

Reset the master lightness curve to linear.

Reset All Channel

Reset the master lightness, color lightness, chroma, and hue curves to linear.

White-point output-level slider

Choose the maximum output level (white point).

Histogram

The histogram shows how the pixels in the image are distributed with respect to lightness. The horizontal axis corresponds to lightness (in the range 0–255), the vertical axis to the number of pixels.

Luminosity curve

The slope and shape of the curve determines the lightness of the image in the corresponding portion of the tone range.

Black-point output-level slider

Choose the minimum output level (black point).

Black-point input slider

Choose the minimum (black point) input level.

Gamma

Choose the midpoint (gamma value).

White-point input slider

Choose the maximum (white point) input level.

Color Lightness

Adjust the lightness of selected colors without affecting chroma or hue. This can be used, for example, to brighten the blue of a dark skies.

Add Anchor Point

Click this button and then click the image in the preview palette to add a point to the curve corresponding to the value for the pixel under the cursor.

Reset Current Channel

Reset the color lightness curve to linear.

Reset All Channel

Reset the master lightness, color lightness, chroma, and hue curves to linear.

Color lightness curve

Moving a point on the curve upwards makes colors in the affected portion of the color range brighter, while moving it downward makes the affected colors darker.

Width slider

Adjust the width of the curve that passes through the selected point, increasing or decreasing the range of colors affected by the change.

Chroma

Increase or decrease color saturation over the entire image or a portion of the color range, making colors more or less vivid.

Add Anchor Point

Click this button and then click the image in the preview palette to add a point to the curve corresponding to the chroma of the pixel under the cursor.

Reset Current Channel

Reset the chroma curve to linear.

Reset All Channel

Reset the master lightness, color lightness, chroma, and hue curves to linear.

Chroma curve

Moving a point on the curve upwards makes colors in the affected portion of the color range more vivid, while moving it downward makes the affected colors less vivid (grayer).

Output slider

Increase or decrease the saturation of all colors in the image.

Width slider

Adjust the width of the curve that passes through the selected point, increasing or decreasing the range of colors affected by the change.

Exclude Gray

Increasing chroma may make neutral colors (grays) seem over-saturated. Select this option to increase chroma without affecting grays.

Hue

Map selected colors in the original (input) image to a specific range of colors in the final (output) image. One application might be to deepen the colors in a pale blue sky.

Add Anchor Point

Click this button and then click the image in the preview palette to add a point to the curve corresponding to the hue of the pixel under the cursor.

Reset Current Channel

Reset the hue curve to linear.

Reset All Channel

Reset the master lightness, color lightness, chroma, and hue curves to linear.

Scale

Click to change the vertical scale from 60° through 120° to 180° and back again (in this case the degrees refer to a 360° color wheel). Increasing the scale increases the range of hues visible in the display, while decreasing the scale increases precision.

Hue curve

Select a point on the curve that corresponds to the desired input color and drag it up or down until it intersects with the desired output color.

Output slider

Modify the hue of all colors in the image.

Width slider

Adjust the width of the curve that passes through the selected point, increasing or decreasing the range of colors affected by the change.

Straighten and Perspective Control

Straighten pictures or correct for the effects of perspective.

Straighten

Straighten pictures by up to ±10°. Choose lower values to rotate the picture to the left, higher values to rotate it to the right. To hide the effects of straightening, remove the check from the Straighten checkbox.

To straighten pictures manually, click the straighten tool in the image adjustment palette and drag the cursor parallel to a line in the preview (this option can not be used with thumbnails). The image will be rotated by up to ±10° to make the reference line horizontal or vertical, and the degree of rotation will be displayed in the text box in the image adjustment window. Unless Include areas without image data is selected, the image will automatically be cropped to remove any empty corners.

Include Areas Without Image Data

Select this option to fill empty corners with black.

Perspective Control

Correct the effect of perspective on, for example, photos taken with the camera angled up to frame a tall building. Perspective can be adjusted vertically and horizontally by up to ±20.

Show Grid

Select this option to display a grid. The grid color and spacing can be selected in the “View” tab of the preferences dialog.

Unsharp Mask

Increase sharpness by making edges more distinct. The contrast of edges is increased while other areas are left untouched.

Delete

Delete the currently-selected mask from the unsharp mask list.

Move Up/Move Down

Move the currently-selected mask up or down in the unsharp mask list.

Unsharp mask list

A list of unsharp masks, identified by color channel, intensity, halo width, and threshold (e.g., “Red, 50%, 10%, 0”). Masks apply in the order listed; to change the order, use the up/down buttons.

Color

Choose the color channel to which the unsharp mask applies.

Intensity

The amount edge contrast will be increased.

Radius

The greater the radius, the wider the edges in the sharpened image will appear.

Threshold

The limit at which sharpening will be applied. If the threshold is zero, sharpening will apply to all pixels in the image. Increasing the threshold increases the amount of contrast that must be present between pixels before the mask will be applied, with the result that only more distinctly contrasting edges will be affected.

Levels & Curves

Adjust contrast, tone (brightness), and color balance. Adjustments can be made over the entire image or to specific portions of the tone range (for example, the gamut of a specific printer, monitor, or other output device), allowing enhancements to be made without sacrificing detail.

Channel

The current color channel.

Auto Contrast

Increase contrast by setting the white and black points to exclude a set proportion of the brightest and darkest pixels in the image, creating a curve that makes optimal use of the output tone range while preserving details in shadows and highlights.

Set Black Point

Click this button and then click the image in the preview palette to set the black point for the red, green, and blue channels to the value for the pixel under the cursor.

Set Neutral Point

Click this button and then click the image in the preview palette to adjust gamma for the red, green, and blue channels to equalize the RGB values for the pixel under the cursor.

Set White Point

Click this button and then click the image in the preview palette to set the white point for the red, green, and blue channels to the value for the pixel under the cursor.

Add Anchor Point

Click this button and then click the image in the preview area to add a point to the curve corresponding to the value of the pixel under the cursor.

Reset Current Channel

Reset the curve for the current channel to linear.

Reset All Channel

Reset all curves to linear.

White-point output-level slider

Choose the maximum output level (white point). Dragging the slider down lowers the brightness of the brightest pixels.

Histogram

The histogram shows how the pixels in the image are distributed with respect to brightness. The horizontal axis corresponds to brightness (in the range 0–255), the vertical axis to the number of pixels.

Tone curve

The slope and shape of the curve determines the brightness of the image in the corresponding portion of the tone range.

Black-point output-level slider

Choose the minimum output level (black point). Dragging the slider up increases the brightness of the darkest pixels.

Black-point input slider

Any pixels in the portion of the tone range to the left of the black point are output at the minimum output level. Dragging the slider to the right steepens the curve and enhances contrast but may cause loss of details in shadows.

Gamma

Dragging the slider to the left increases the brightness of mid-tones, while dragging it to the right makes mid-tones darker.

White-point input slider

Any pixels in the portion of the tone range to the right of the white point are output at the maximum output level. Dragging the slider to the left steepens the curve and enhances contrast but may cause loss of details in highlights.