A post-processing question

Hypothetically, lets say I have some images to process that are very noisy. Some need levels adjustments to be made, and some colour cast removed. As a general strategy, would it be best to remove the noise first, then fix the levels, or the other way round :

hypothetically, getting it right in camera, saves s!&^%loads of time in post.
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but to really answer your question, if I was to hypothetically botch something and need to rescue it in post, I'd go this route:

Fix whatever is worst in an adjustment layer....

then go:

levels/curves (set black and white points)
color
noise
touch-ups
sharpening.

Thanks Don, that's exactly what I was looking for.

I'm actually processing scanned slides, so although its not strictly digital photography I assumed the underlying principles would be the same. Some of the slides scan with a strong blue cast, and the scanner introduces its own "noise" which seems easiest to get rid of using Paintshop Pro XI's Digital Camera Noise Removal feature.

Part of my problem is that fixing the White Balance and the colour often seems to introduce noise of its own. I'm guessing what its really doing is just amplifying the noise that was already there.

/WiRED

when scanning, try to do as many corrections with your scanning software as possible BEFORE clicking the scan button! (kinda the same argument as getting it right in camera!)
you're welcome and good luck!

It depends on what you use to get rid of the noise...

If you use Silkypix - get rid of the noise in there, you'll get a better result.
If you're using NeatImage with a predefinied profile, then you must do the noise first (as changing levels will affect the profile).

If you're going to fix the noise yourself, I'd do whatever's easiest

Matt

I'm using Paintshop Pro XI which has a Digital Camera Noise Removal feature. It seems to do a pretty good job.

Most noise will generally appear in the blue channel.

If you have software that will allow noise reduction in this channel only it can really help.

Sharpening can really up the apparent noise level as well. I generally mask areas that have little or no detail in (like sky) and then apply sharpening to the rest of the image.