Aside from GEM and Noise Ninja, another way to combat image noise is to use Neat Image. The Photoshop CS2 Reduce Noise feature offers an integrated function similar to Neat Image; but, in my tests, I found this filter rather useless.

Neat Image is available from www.neatimage.com for between $30 and $75. Its functions and results differ only slightly from those of Noise Ninja. Neat Image also allows you to apply scanner profiles, but the selection of scanner models on their website is somewhat meager. Much better are the profiles for cameras, for which this program has an excellent selection.

The resulting pictures from Neat Image and Noise Ninja are basically alike, since they both do less harm to the film’s texture than GEM. In my tests on Nikon scanner files, I found that Noise Ninja usually gives better results than Neat Image. My general impression is that Neat Image reduces image sharpness more than Noise Ninja does. Then again, this effect depends heavily on the scanner model and the film material.

Noise reduction always reduces image detail, an effect visible in the clouds in this example.