Clean Up Grainy Film Photos With the Denoiser
Whether you’re scanning old Polaroids, 35mm negatives, or a photo you snapped on a disposable camera, digitizing analog images is a great way to preserve and share them. But sometimes, once they’re scanned, those dreamy images show up with more fuzziness and grain than you remembered.
Those little flecks of discoloration and texture are referred to as “noise” in photography. On film, a little grain is expected. But when that grain becomes too intense or uneven, it can start to take away from the photo’s clarity.
Noise can also come from the scanning process itself. Maybe the scanner’s settings were too high, or the original photo had some dust or slight blur that got exaggerated in the digital version.
Thankfully, this is where BeFunky’s Denoise tool comes in. It’s designed to clean up noise from scanned film photos, Polaroids, and digital images alike, all without stripping away the character that makes analog photography so special. Whether you’re creating a photo book, printing wall art, or just updating your old photo archive, denoising can make a big difference.
Denoise vs. Old Photo Restorer
Our Photo Editor offers two powerful tools for photo enhancement: the Denoise tool and the Old Photo Restorer. The Denoise Tool is ideal for reducing graininess and minor imperfections in photos that are relatively well-preserved. It's perfect for scanned film or Polaroid images that need a clarity boost without extensive restoration.
The Old Photo Restorer, on the other hand, is the perfect solution to heavily damaged or aged photographs. This tool goes beyond noise reduction by addresses issues like fading, discoloration, and physical damage to restore the overall integrity of old photos.
How to Denoise Analog Photos Online
Before you begin, you’ll need to scan your film, print, or Polaroid to create a digital version of the image. Most home scanners work great for this – just make sure to wipe the scanner bed clean, scan at a high resolution, and save the image as a JPEG or PNG.
Once you’ve got your scanned photo ready, open the AI Denoiser.
Step 1: Adjust the Denoiser
Once your photo is uploaded, choose between the AI or Standard tab in the Denoise tool.
The AI tab uses artificial intelligence to automatically clean up noise in your image, making it great for quick, high-quality results. The Recover Faces toggle will automatically be applied to portraits to clarify and resurface lost facial details.
If you'd rather adjust things manually, the Standard tab lets you fine-tune the effect with three sliders. Use Amount to control how much noise reduction is applied, Smoothness to blend grainy areas for a polished look, and Fine Details to bring back sharpness in key parts of the image. Play with the sliders until your image looks smoother but still natural.
No matter which method you denoised your image, when you’re happy with your results, click Apply.
Step 2: Save Your Crystal Clear Film Photo
Finally, all that’s left to do is to save your noise-free film photography. Click Save at the top of the screen, then choose your desired save location and format.
Final Results: No More Film Photography Noise
As you can see, our Denoise tool was able to remove unsightly digital noise from this analog photo in just two quick and easy steps. There’s no better way to denoise film photography online!
Enhance Even Further: Pair Denoise With Other Tools for Picture-Perfect Results
Once you’ve reduced the noise in your scanned photo, you don’t have to stop there. You can also use the Denoise tool in combination with other features in our Photo Editor to combat common photography issues. Here are a few effective combinations to try:
Selectively Adjust Exposure
After you've used the Denoise tool to clean up grain or fuzziness, you can also fix parts of your photo that look too light or too dark using the Dodge and Burn tool. This helpful tool, which is available in the Brightness section of the Edit tab, lets you make selective exposure adjustments to your image. You can brighten specific areas using Dodge or darken others with Burn – all without affecting the entire image.
This is especially useful for scanned film photos that have uneven lighting due to the original exposure, age, or even scanning inconsistencies. For example, you might want to lighten shadowy faces while keeping a moody background intact, or bring down an overexposed sky without dimming the whole shot.
Combat Faded Colors
Film photography often has that soft and faded look we all love, but sometimes, you might want your colors to stand out a bit more. That’s where Vibrant Colors DLX comes in. This tool automatically enhances the vibrancy in your image without oversaturating it, making skies look bluer, skin tones more natural, and overall color more eye-catching. After applying it, use the Denoise tool to clean up any grain or rough patches that may have been amplified during the color boost. You’ll then have a scanned film photo that feels vivid, polished, and print-ready.
Remove Unwanted Distractions
Once you’ve denoised your image, you may notice unwanted elements such as background distractions, blemishes, photobombers, distracting signage, and more. Thankfully, they’re not difficult to remove. Selectively isolate these unwanted elements with the Object Eraser to polish the final results!
Powered by AI, the Object Eraser intelligently scans your image and replaces the areas you brush over with natural-looking details, creating a smooth and seamless result. Unlike traditional clone stamping or manual retouching, this tool automatically blends the surrounding pixels to make it look like the imperfection or unwanted element was never there.
Denoise Scanned Film in Seconds With BeFunky
Digitizing and enhancing your analog photos ensures that your cherished memories are preserved for years to come. With the Denoise tool, you can effortlessly reduce noise and improve the quality of your scanned images, making them ready for sharing, printing, or archiving.
Ready to give it a try? Check out the Denoise Tool for yourself today!
