Topaz

Thought I'd revive my old thread.

Here are before and after

Before= straight out of the camera, no LR adjustments just cropped quite a bit
After- Topaz denoise and sharpen and a few LR adjustments

edmidlifecrisis wrote in post #19497092
Thought I'd revive my old thread.

Here are before and after

Before= straight out of the camera, no LR adjustments just cropped quite a bit
After- Topaz denoise and sharpen and a few LR adjustments

Hosted photo: posted by edmidlifecrisis in
./showthread.php?p=194​97092&i=i120787470
forum: RAW, Post Processing & Printing

Hosted photo: posted by edmidlifecrisis in
./showthread.php?p=194​97092&i=i183285334
forum: RAW, Post Processing & Printing

Looks like focus went to the nearby branch instead of the eye. Topaz did a good job of sharpening it. The "few LR adjustments" also did a good job.

I've been using Topaz for about a year and a half now. Have you tried Photo AI yet? It combines Denoise, Sharpen and Gigapixel into one package. I use it on pretty much everything now as a final finishing step to clean up that sexagenarian shake. I get the tones and colors where I want them in LR, then pop over to Topaz to check the noise and sharpness.

Here are examples at 100%.

From LRC:

Photo from drsilver's gallery.
Image hosted by forum (1200412)

drsilver wrote in post #19497142
I've been using Topaz for about a year and a half now. Have you tried Photo AI yet? It combines Denoise, Sharpen and Gigapixel into one package. I use it on pretty much everything now as a final finishing step to clean up that sexagenarian shake. I get the tones and colors where I want them in LR, then pop over to Topaz to check the noise and sharpness.

Here are examples at 100%.

From LRC:

Hosted photo: posted by drsilver in
./showthread.php?p=194​97142&i=i46023043
forum: RAW, Post Processing & Printing

Finished by Topaz Photo AI

Hosted photo: posted by drsilver in
./showthread.php?p=194​97142&i=i58135883
forum: RAW, Post Processing & Printing

Final Presentation

Gallery photo (hosted):
posted by drsilver originally in forum: Birds

No. Is that a Topaz app?

edmidlifecrisis wrote in post #19497244
No. Is that a Topaz app?

Yeah, it's the main Topaz app now. It came out last fall, maybe. It seems to be where the development energy for Topaz is going right now. I get about an update a week.

I got it when it first came out and I wasn't sure I liked it. I think a lot of that was early release pains. It seems way more stable now. The interface is cleaner and more intuitive, and I think the AI gets better with every release. I try to stay on top of the updates.

I pay more attention to this version than the separate apps. I used to let Denoise and Sharpen just do their things. With Photo AI, I spend time evaluating and tweaking the initial suggestions. I find it easier to make small adjustments with Photo AI.

And, it takes care of the whole "which to do first and in what order" problem. It figures that all out for you.

Before getting Phot AI, I emailed support and they confirmed what it said on their site. When Photo AI is as robust as the 3 stand alone apps then Topaz will phase them out. They dropped other apps as well so it looks like Topaz will be a one app company one day.

I had DeNoise and Sharpen. As mentioned Photo AI was released last fall. My annual renewal for DeNoise support was up in December. Sharpen in 10 months. I inquired about Photo AI. I didn't really want it but Topaz offered me Gigapixel for $80, the other stand alone apps would get another year of support and Photo AI was thrown in for free.

I think Topaz was a little rushed for the fall release but that is when all the competitors release new versions, expect for DXO PurePaw. That cycle is March to March.

Last fall I had very good results from Photo AI from a model airplane show. It suffered in other areas but again as stated Topaz has been updating weekly and plans to continue. It has come a long way since fall and that is 30+ more updates by fall. Currently if needed I only use Photo AI. If I don't like the results I use PureRaw 2.

Next fall I will see where they are and how much the annual support fee will be. I'm not interested in the stand alone apps as I prefer everything under one roof.

digital paradise wrote in post #19497283
Before getting Phot AI, I emailed support and they confirmed what it said on their site. When Photo AI is as robust as the 3 stand alone apps then Topaz will phase them out. They dropped other apps as well so it looks like Topaz will be a one app company one day.

I had DeNoise and Sharpen. As mentioned Photo AI was released last fall. My annual renewal for DeNoise support was up in December. Sharpen in 10 months. I inquired about Photo AI. I didn't really want it but Topaz offered me Gigapixel for $80, the other stand alone apps would get another year of support and Photo AI was thrown in for free.

I think Topaz was a little rushed for the fall release but that is when all the competitors release new versions, expect for DXO PurePaw. That cycle is March to March.

Last fall I had very good results from Photo AI from a model airplane show. It suffered in other areas but again as stated Topaz has been updating weekly and plans to continue. It has come a long way since fall and that is 30+ more updates by fall. Currently if needed I only use Photo AI. If I don't like the results I use PureRaw 2.

Next fall I will see where they are and how much the annual support fee will be. I'm not interested in the stand alone apps as I prefer everything under one roof.

Thank you guys for the info! I found it on the topaz site and downloaded it because it’s part of my subscription. I just didn’t know it! I will give it a try and see what it does.

edmidlifecrisis wrote in post #19497334
Thank you guys for the info! I found it on the topaz site and downloaded it because it’s part of my subscription. I just didn’t know it! I will give it a try and see what it does.

A few week ago they added non AI masking. In settings/preferences you can tell it at what point to add sharpening but you have total control over everything. Sometimes sharpening is a little aggressive but you can tone that down.

Updates are a little different. If there is one it will say that in the upper right hand corner.

Also it is available as a plug-in for LrC. It will open as a Raw, come back as a DNG and all the Colour profiles, etc will be available. If you use that method it won’t recognize any LrC edits so you should run a file through Photo AI first.

digital paradise wrote in post #19497435
Also it is available as a plug-in for LrC. It will open as a Raw, come back as a DNG and all the Colour profiles, etc will be available. If you use that method it won’t recognize any LrC edits so you should run a file through Photo AI first.

Thanks!!!

digital paradise wrote in post #19497435
Also it is available as a plug-in for LrC. It will open as a Raw, come back as a DNG and all the Colour profiles, etc will be available. If you use that method it won’t recognize any LrC edits so you should run a file through Photo AI first.

So are you doing that now? Making DNGs? I tried it one time and didn't see the benefit, but ... one time, and only because Topaz was bugging me about it.

My Canon Raw, .crx files are my treasure. If I've got that and the LR adjustments, I can make anything else. I'm probably a little too emotionally attached to those. But thinking about it, LR probably doesn't give a damn. A .dng is probably just as good as a .cr2 or .cr3 file. The DNG is considerably larger, but I end up making a TIFF anyway, which is almost as big.

One of the things I like about finishing with Photo AI is that step is easily reversable. If I don't like the results, I can throw them away and do it again. AI can show off sloppy masking. I guess that'd be an argument for doing AI first. Might make masking more precise in LRC.

drsilver wrote in post #19498111
So are you doing that now? Making DNGs? I tried it one time and didn't see the benefit, but ... one time, and only because Topaz was bugging me about it.

My Canon Raw, .crx files are my treasure. If I've got that and the LR adjustments, I can make anything else. I'm probably a little too emotionally attached to those. But thinking about it, LR probably doesn't give a damn. A .dng is probably just as good as a .cr2 or .cr3 file. The DNG is considerably larger, but I end up making a TIFF anyway, which is almost as big.

One of the things I like about finishing with Photo AI is that step is easily reversable. If I don't like the results, I can throw them away and do it again. AI can show off sloppy masking. I guess that'd be an argument for doing AI first. Might make masking more precise in LRC.

It claims that when doing adjustments as a RAW file will produce better results. You'd have to test that and decide for yourself. What I like is I have access to all my colour profiles when it comes back as a DNG. If you send using 'edit in" the TIFF it comes back as Color and you can't change it. You have to make sure that you pick the one you want before sending it to PAI. If I change my mind I can't do anything about it.

As for file size I only use it or PureRaw as needed and only on select files. Storage is cheap. I've been traveling for 7 weeks now with a 1TB portable drive and it's not even half full.

digital paradise wrote in post #19498218
It claims that when doing adjustments as a RAW file will produce better results. You'd have to test that and decide for yourself. What I like is I have access to all my colour profiles when it comes back as a DNG. If you send using 'edit in" the TIFF it comes back as Color and you can't change it. You have to make sure that you pick the one you want before sending it to PAI. If I change my mind I can't do anything about it.

I'm still using the old Sharpen AI and use "Edit in". I have it set so it comes back as a JPG. That is a little handier, and I'm outputting as a JPG anyway. I can still adjust colors and other settings on the returned file. So the things you are saying are a bit over my head.

Yes, it's amazing about storage. Back in the depths of the pandemic, I decided to busy myself by upgrading the storage of my laptop. I hoped to be able to travel again. I considered a 2 TB SSD but settled for just 1 TB. That's what I have. And it is tons. I shot almost 5000 photos in Florida and the SSD is nowhere close to full.

Archibald wrote in post #19498298
I'm still using the old Sharpen AI and use "Edit in". I have it set so it comes back as a JPG. That is a little handier, and I'm outputting as a JPG anyway. I can still adjust colors and other settings on the returned file. So the things you are saying are a bit over my head.
Yes, it's amazing about storage. Back in the depths of the pandemic, I decided to busy myself by upgrading the storage of my laptop. I hoped to be able to travel again. I considered a 2 TB SSD but settled for just 1 TB. That's what I have. And it is tons. I shot almost 5000 photos in Florida and the SSD is nowhere close to full.

It is the colour profiles like Adobe Color, Canon, Sony, Nikon, etc colour profiles. When the TIFF comes back you will see in the profiles it says Color and you can’t change it. You can adjust the colour, you just can’t choose a different profile.

Using the standalone apps, DeNoise, Sharpen AI and Gigapixel you only have the option of using the “edit in” method. You can open the file as TIFF, PSD or JPEG.

Photo AI offers that and “Plug-in Extras” where you can edit it as a RAW file, have it return as DNG and you have all your profiles to choose from.

What is the reason for changing the color profile? Is it for printing?

My color profile (as I understand it) is set by my Spyder software, and I never change it.