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Improve image quality using Camera Raw

Enhance allows you to increase image quality for making large prints or increasing the resolution of a cropped image.

Learn about AI-powered Enhance features

Tip:

Select Camera Raw Preferences > Technology Previews > New AI Features and Settings panel to access and experience improvements in AI-powered Enhance features like Denoise and Super Resolution without making a new DNG file. When enabled, all Enhance features are available directly in the Detail panel. 

Enhance provides features such as DenoiseRaw Details, and Super Resolution to help improve image quality using Camera Raw. 

Denoise easily removes noise from photos captured with high-ISO settings or in low light. You can process the supported file types using artificial intelligence to reduce noise without losing the image's fine details.

Raw Details, previously called Enhance Details, produces crisp detail and more accurate renditions of edges, improves color rendering, and reduces artifacts. The resolution of the enhanced image stays the same as the original image. This feature is handy for large displays and prints where fine details are visible. 

Super Resolution helps create an enhanced image with similar results as Raw Details but with 2x the linear resolution. This means that the enhanced image will have 2x the width and 2x the height of the original image or 4x the total pixel count. This feature supports the same file types as Raw Details, plus additional file types such as JPEG and TIFF. Super Resolution is especially useful for increasing the resolution of a cropped image.  

To access the Enhance preview, you can right-click on a photo and select Enhance from the context menu.

Enhance option is selected in the context menu

Minimum system requirements

Your computer must meet the following minimum technical specifications to use the Enhance features:

Note:

Apple Neural Engine is disabled for AI Denoise on Mac computers with Apple silicon (macOS Sonoma 14.0 or later)

Apply Denoise

  1. Open a supported image in Camera Raw.

  2. From the menu, select Photo > Enhance or select Denoise in the Detail panel.

  3. Select Denoise to enhance your image. 

  4. Use the slider to adjust the intensity of the feature.

    Enhance preview after Denoise has been applied to a RAW image with noise.
    Enhance preview after Denoise has been applied.

  5. You can press and hold on to the preview area to view the changes made to the image. 

  6. Select Enhance to process the image as a new DNG file. The new file will be with the Enhance-NR filename.

Supported image formats for Denoise

Denoise applies to the following file types:

  • Bayer, X-Trans mosaic raw 
  • Linear DNGs (including HDR and Pano DNG images created inside Lightroom and Camera Raw)
  • Apple ProRAW files
  • Lower-resolution 'medium' and 'small' raw files from various camera vendors such as Canon (mRaw/sRaw), Nikon, and Sony.
  • Monochrome
  • Smart Preview
  • Samsung Expert Raw
  • Raw photos from Google Pixel.

Unsupported file formats for Denoise

Denoise does not apply to the following types of source images:

  • Non-raw files such as a JPEGs, TIFFs, HEICs, JXL, AVIF, PSD, PSB
  • Four-color cameras
  • Foveon sensor images
  • Pentax Pixel Shift Resolution (PSR) files
  • Sony ARQ files
  • Video files

Apply Raw Details

  1. Open a supported image in Camera Raw.

  2. In the filmstrip, Right-click (Windows)/Control-click (Mac) the image and select Enhance from the context menu.

  3. In the Enhance Preview dialog box, ensure Raw Details is selected. Select and hold the highlighted image area to view how it looked in the original image. You can also select and drag the cursor across the preview to view other areas of the image.

    Select the zoom-out icon in the lower-right corner to view the full image. 

    Raw Details applied in Camera Raw
    Raw Details applied in Camera Raw

  4. Select Enhance to create an enhanced DNG version of your image. The enhanced image uses the same filename as the original and appends Enhanced.dng to it. 

Note:
  • You can enhance an image only once, which means you cannot reapply Raw Details to an already enhanced image.
  • The preview for Raw Details is shown at standard magnification. 

Supported image formats for Raw Details

Raw Details applies only to Bayer and X-Trans mosaic raw.

Unsupported file formats for Raw Details

Raw Details does not apply to the following types of source images:

  • Non-raw files such as a JPEGs, TIFFs, and HEICs
  • Linear DNGs (including HDR and Pano DNG images created inside Lightroom and Camera Raw)
  • Apple ProRAW files
  • Samsung Galaxy Expert RAW files
  • DNG proxies and Smart Previews
  • Monochrome raw files (such as Leica M MONOCHROM)
  • Four-color cameras
  • Foveon sensor images
  • Fujifilm cameras with SR, EXR, or 2x4 mosaic sensors.
  • Canon S-RAW/M-RAW files
  • Nikon small raw files
  • Pentax Pixel Shift Resolution (PSR) files
  • Sony ARQ files
  • Video files

Apply Super Resolution

  1. Open an image in Camera Raw.

  2. In the filmstrip, Right-click (Windows)/Control-click (Mac) the image and select Enhance from the context menu.

  3. In the Enhance Preview dialog box, select Super Resolution. The estimated completion time to enhance the image is displayed. Once enhanced, select and hold the highlighted image area to view how it looked in the original image. You can also select and drag the cursor to view other areas of the image.

    The zoom-out icon in the lower-right corner of the preview allows you to view the full image. 

    Super Resolution applied in Camera Raw to double the image resolution
    Super Resolution applied in Camera Raw which doubles the image resolution

  4. Select Enhance to create an enhanced DNG version of your image. The enhanced image uses the same filename as the original and appends .dng to it. 

Note:
  • You cannot access Super Resolution in Photoshop when you select Filter > Camera Raw Filter. To use this feature, open the image by choosing File > Open. Raw files open in the Camera Raw dialog box by default. To open JPEGs or TIFFs, select Edit > Preferences > Camera Raw and in the File Handling tab, set JPEG or TIFF to Automatically open all supported JPEGs or TIFFs.
  • You can enhance an image only once, so you cannot reapply Super Resolution to an already enhanced image.
  • The preview for Super Resolution is shown at 2x linear magnification. 

Use a keyboard shortcut to quickly enhance an image

To quickly enhance an image without opening the Enhance Preview dialog box, hold down the Option (macOS)/Alt (Win) key when you select Enhance in the context menu. The last selected option in the Enhance Preview dialog box will be applied. 

Enhance multiple images in one go

Select the images in the Filmstrip and then select Enhance from the context menu. The Enhance Preview dialog box will preview the first selected image in the Filmstrip. The final option (DenoiseRaw Details, or Super Resolution) will apply to the selected images. You can change this selection if you want to. Finally, select Enhance Photos to apply the enhancement to the images chosen. 

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