Digital Outback Photo have today released EasyMask 1.0, a new Photoshop plugin (PC only) that aims to prevent noise being increased when sharpening an image. EasyMask 1.0 costs $24.95 and there is a demo version available so that you can try before you buy.

“Unfortunately during sharpening you may also amplify noise as it looks like detail to the sharpening algorithm. A common practice is to use edge masks to prevent sharpening the noise. Our EasyS sharpening plugin comes with actions that allow to use such masks and will reduce the sharpening of noise.

With EasyMask we now have a tool that creates some more sophisticated masks and is still easy to use. From the documentation: “It goes beyond the simple edge-creation built-into Photoshop by allowing more control over the detection process, plus adds the ability to reject noise from being included in the mask.”

Website: Digital Outback Photo - EasyMask 1.0