The best way to open raw files into Camera Raw is from Adobe Bridge which is included with Photoshop and can be installed using the Creative Cloud Desktop app. In Adobe Bridge, navigate to the raw file on your computer and click on the file’s thumbnail to select it.

• Selecting a raw file in Adobe Bridge.
• Then click the Open in Camera Raw icon in the Options Bar along the top.

• Clicking the Open in Camera Raw icon.
• The image opens in Camera Raw.

Showing the Camera Raw filmstrip

Even with only one image open in Camera Raw, you’ll want to show the filmstrip when applying Denoise. The reason is that Denoise will create a new DNG file. Having the filmstrip open will make it easy to switch between the two images (with and without the noise reduction) for comparison.

Click the Show Filmstrip icon below the lower left of the image (next to the Zoom options).

The filmstrip opens along the left of the interface (or along the bottom depending on your settings. Either is fine).

Viewing the ISO setting

Camera Raw shows the ISO value below the histogram in the upper right of the interface (along with the focal length, aperture and shutter speed). Here we see that my camera’s ISO was set to 6400.

Normally I use high ISO settings only when needed. But I purposely shot this image at a higher ISO value just to put Denoise and its AI to the test.

Even without zooming in, this image looks very noisy. But if I zoom in to 200% and scroll the image around, the noise becomes painfully obvious. Can Denoise remove it? Let’s find out.

• Denoise can be accessed in a few different ways.
• One is to right-click on the image and choose Enhance from the menu.

• Right-clicking and choosing Enhance.
• Another is to click on the More icon (the three dots) in the toolbar along the right of the interface:

• Clicking the More icon.
• Then choose Enhance from the menu.

To use Denoise, click the Denoise button.

The Enhance dialog box opens with Denoise selected at the top. Since Denoise uses AI to do all the work, it’s very simple to use with only a single Amount slider. The initial default Amount value is 50 but once you start using it, the value will default to the setting you used last.

The Enhance dialog box also includes the Raw Details and Super Resolution options (which are not new).

Denoise and Super Resolution cannot be applied to the same image, although I’ll show you a workaround in a separate tutorial. But Raw Details (which enhances detail and color) is selected automatically and cannot be disabled.

The Preview window in the Enhance dialog box shows the image at the 100% zoom level with the current Amount value applied.

Note that edits made using Camera Raw’s healing tools before running Denoise will not be visible in the Preview window. That’s because Camera Raw will need to re-render those edits after Denoise is applied. I talk more about this at the end when we discuss when to run Denoise in your image editing workflow.

Click and hold inside the Preview window to view the image without the noise reduction. Release your mouse button to bring the noise reduction back.

• Click and hold in the Preview window to view the image without Denoise.
• Click and drag inside the Preview window to scroll the image around and inspect different areas.

• Scrolling the image inside the Preview window.
• Or click the magnifying glass icon in the lower right corner to fit the entire image within the Preview window.

Then click on an area of the image you want to inspect.

• Clicking to zoom in on a specific area.
• And the Preview window zooms in on that area.