User GuideEditing photosDetail

Detail

Work with the texture and detail of a photo. Make edges crisper (Sharpening), remove the grain and color blotches caused by shooting at high ISO (Noise reduction · AI denoise), bring out or soften fine texture and mid-sized contrast (Texture · Clarity), and clear away hazy air (Dehaze).

When to use it

When you shot at a high ISO at night or indoors and see luminance noise or color blotches — Luminance noise and Color noise. For heavy noise, AI denoise.
When the focus is right but edges look slightly soft — Sharpening.
When you want to bring out the fine texture of hair, fabric or leaves, or, the other way round, smooth something like skin — Texture.
When you want to give a photo punch (depth), or, the other way round, make it dreamy and soft — Clarity.
When distant mountains or a city look hazy and faded in a landscape photo — Dehaze.

Where to find it

The whole Detail panel with Sharpening, the two noise sliders, the AI denoise checkbox and strength, Texture, Dehaze, Clarity and the note at the bottom — The people in the sample photos were generated by AI.

Edit tab → the DETAIL panel below the TONE CURVE panel (magnifier icon). It's expanded from the start.

Sliders and buttons

Name	Range	Default	What it does
Sharpening	0–100	0	Makes edges crisper by increasing the brightness difference right around them. Works only on a very narrow range (1–2 pixels of the photo).
Luminance noise	0–100	0	Evens out grainy luminance speckles. Pixels that differ strongly from their surroundings (edges) aren't blended, so edges stay intact. Higher values even out larger differences too, for a smoother result.
Color noise	0–100	0	Leaves brightness as it is and evens out only red and green color blotches over a wide area. Edges with very different brightness and real color boundaries aren't blended.
AI denoise (checkbox)	On · Off	Off	When on, AI removes the grain and color blotches of high-ISO photos. Turning it on sets the strength to 70 right away. Processing happens only on this PC, and your photo is never sent anywhere.
AI denoise strength	0–100	70 when turned on	Shown only when the checkbox is on. The mix between the original and the AI result. The closer to 100, the more even fine texture is smoothed. Lowering it to 0 turns the checkbox off and hides this slider.
Texture	-100–100	0	Makes only fine texture such as skin, fabric and leaves crisper (+) or smoother (−). Large-scale contrast stays almost the same.
Dehaze	0–100	0	Clears away hazy air to restore color and depth. Rather than applying the same amount to the whole photo, it clears hazy areas (usually distant ones) more.
Clarity	-100–100	0	Increases mid-sized contrast, broader than texture, to add depth and punch (+), or reduces it to soften (−). It's processed so that no glow (halo) appears around edges.

The note at the bottom of the panel: "Sharpening, noise reduction and texture work at the pixel level, so their strength looks different in Fit view and in the exported file. Check the real result at 100%."

Messages shown on screen:

Running AI denoise… — Shown while AI denoise is computed for the first time (in the panel).
Applying… — Shown in the middle of the photo. It appears when redrawing the view takes longer than 0.3 s; the previous view stays on screen and is replaced once the new result is ready.
Computing local contrast… — Shown briefly the first time you move Texture · Clarity · Dehaze (in the panel).
The AI denoise model isn't installed. — Shown when the files needed for AI denoise are missing. The checkbox is dimmed and can't be clicked.

Step by step

Remove noise from a high-ISO night photo

View at 100%
Click 100% above the photo and zoom in on a face or a dark area. Noise shows clearly when you zoom in.
Turn on AI denoise
When you check it, the strength is set to 70. The first time, Running AI denoise… · Applying… appear and it takes a few seconds (depending on your computer's performance).
Adjust the strength
It looks natural when a little fine texture remains on skin or walls. Changes to the strength are applied right away.
Remove any remaining color blotches with Color noise
If red or green specks remain in dark areas, set it to 20–40.
Make up for lost crispness a little with Sharpening
Around 10–30 is about right. Raising it a lot makes the removed noise visible again.
Return to Fit view and check the whole photo
Click Fit.

A light touch without AI (low ISO, slightly grainy photos)

Zoom in to 100%.
To remove color blotches first, set Color noise to 20–40 before anything else.
Raise Luminance noise just until the noise stops being distracting (10–40). Raising it too far makes skin look like plastic.
If needed, raise Sharpening a little.

Clear up a hazy landscape

Raise Dehaze to 20–50. The color and outlines of distant mountains or buildings come back.
If it gets too intense and dark, raise Exposure or Shadows in the Light panel a little.
To add more depth, raise Clarity to +10 to +30.

Refine texture in a portrait

To bring out the texture of hair, eyebrows and fabric, raise Texture to +10 to +20.
To soften skin a little, lower Texture to −10 to −30 (this applies to the whole photo). To retouch only the face, use the skin features in Portrait retouching or a mask.

Result

AI denoise on a high-ISO night photo, cropped at 100% — Before

AI denoise on a high-ISO night photo, cropped at 100% — After

BeforeAfter

The coarse noise and color blotches on the dark coat and in the background disappear, while the outline of the face and the neon edges stay intact. Only AI denoise was turned on at 70; no other slider was touched.

The people in the sample photos were generated by AI.

Dehaze on a foggy lake landscape — Before

Dehaze on a foggy lake landscape — After

BeforeAfter

Contrast and color return to the mountains and lake that were hazy with light fog. The distant mountains, where the fog is thicker, are cleared more than the nearby shore.

Three crops of the same area (Texture −40 · 0 · +40) — The people in the sample photos were generated by AI.

Good to know

Always check noise and sharpening at 100%

As the note at the bottom of the panel says, these sliders work at the pixel level of the photo, so their strength looks different in Fit view and in the exported file. The 100% view matches the exported file.

Auto in the top bar and noise

If the shooting ISO is 1600 or higher, Auto applies a little Color noise (20 at ISO 1600, 35 at 3200, 50 at 6400, and 60 above that; if you've already set it higher, it's left as is). At ISO 6400 or higher with AI denoise turned off, the status bar suggests trying AI denoise.

AI denoise is applied before all other edits

The rest of your edits, such as Exposure and Shadows, are applied on top of the denoised photo, so it's fine to readjust brightness after turning on AI denoise.

How long AI denoise takes

For each photo, it's computed once the first time you turn it on (a few seconds), and when you zoom to 100%, the visible area is computed once more. On export it's computed again at the original size, so exporting a large photo can take several tens of seconds.

A strength of 100 can be too smooth

Even the fine texture of bricks or skin can disappear and look like plastic, which is why the default is 70.

Double-clicking the strength slider

returns it to the default of 0, which turns AI denoise off. To turn it back on, click the checkbox.

Raising Sharpening a lot

makes the noise crisper too. Remove the noise first, then raise it only a little.

Texture · Clarity · Dehaze

need a moment to get ready the first time you move them (Computing local contrast…).

Detail values belong to the "Effects" group in Copy edits and in your own presets (together with Vignette and Grain).

Frequently asked questions

It looked subtle on screen, but stronger (or weaker) in the exported file.

Sharpening, noise reduction and texture work at the pixel level, so Fit view and the exported file look different. Check at 100%.

Is my photo sent over the internet when I use AI denoise?

No. Everything is processed on this PC, and your photo is never sent anywhere.

The AI denoise checkbox is dimmed and can't be clicked.

If you see "The AI denoise model isn't installed." in the panel, a required file is missing. Try reinstalling the app.

Can I use the noise reduction sliders together with AI denoise?

Yes, you can. We recommend removing heavy noise with AI denoise first, then cleaning up only the remaining color blotches with Color noise.

What's the difference between Texture and Clarity?

Texture handles very fine detail such as skin texture or fabric; Clarity handles broader contrast (the contours of a face, masses of cloud).

I want to move Dehaze to the left for a dreamy look.

For a dreamy, soft look, lower Clarity or Contrast toward −. Dehaze works from 0 to 100 to clear away hazy air.