SilverFast comes with a Grain and Noise Reduction algorithm to reduce noise and graininess that are inherent in some scanners. GANE stands for Grain and Noise Elimination.

Applying GANE is easy: complete a clean scan, perform all your standard adjustments to the pre-scanned image, and finally run GANE. You access GANE from the Scan Control window, where it sits under the Filter option.

When the GANE window opens, you can click on a portion of the image which you would like to use for determining GANE strength. The control window allows you to set a zoom factor. It is a good idea to set this factor to 2x or higher, in order to see the results of your adjustments better.

GANE has simple settings in its default configuration: you can only set it from low to high. But the window also has the Expert button and when you click on that one, you can set the intensity, threshold, and radius of the GANE effect. These adjustments behave much like unsharp mask controls, but the results are are exactly the opposite.

The intensity setting will control the amount of smoothing that occurs. The threshold setting controls which portions of the image will be affected, and the radius the size of the area to be affected.

GANE does soften your image a bit. Therefore, after applying GANE, you might want to apply some unsharp masking.

GANE is available in many SilverFast versions, including the Studio DC Pro version.