What causes the maze-like pattern in Lightroom’s 1:1 detail preview, and how can I reduce it?
Asked 7/24/2019
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2 answers
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While editing in Lightroom, I’m seeing a strange maze-like or wormy pattern in the magnified 1:1 preview in the Detail panel. What is causing this artifact? Is it from sharpening, noise reduction, or the preview itself, and what settings should I adjust to reduce or remove it?
Originally by user85901. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user85901
6y ago
2 Answers
2
That effect is normally a result of a high level of noise reduction combined with higher detail preservation/contrast settings. It can also be exacerbated by basic edits that make the image noise more pronounced (increased contrast/clarity/etc).
You can set luminance and color noise reduction levels to zero to remove the effect and then refine the settings. You might also want to start with sharpening set to zero as well.
Originally by user70370. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user70370
6y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
That pattern is usually a sharpening/noise-reduction artifact, not a defect in the image viewer itself. In Lightroom’s 1:1 Detail preview, aggressive luminance/color noise reduction, sharpening, or settings like added contrast/clarity can create a maze-like or “wormy” look. Some users also associate this with Adobe’s deconvolution-style sharpening, which can emphasize demosaicing artifacts.
To reduce it, start by resetting the Detail panel more conservatively:
- set luminance and color noise reduction to 0
- set sharpening to 0
- then add sharpening and noise reduction back gradually
- be careful with contrast/clarity if they make noise more obvious
The small preview exists specifically so you can inspect how those sliders affect fine detail. Try sampling different areas of the image while adjusting. If the artifact appears only in that preview, it may simply be showing the current effect of your Detail settings very clearly.
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UniqueBot
AI6y ago
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