Topaz Labs compatability question

I am considering buying the 4-pack bundle of the Topaz Labs photo software. I have Photoshop CS5, and Lightroom 5.7 (both 64 bit). Will I have any comparability issues?

If there are issues is it burdensome to use as a stand-alone product? Basically sending files back-and-forth manually.

Thanks.

photoguy6405 wrote in post #19451796
I have Photoshop CS5, and Lightroom 5.7 (both 64 bit). Will I have any comparability issues?

.

Best to contact Topaz about PS CS5.

The new AI programs need lots of horsepower. Link to support page below.

https://support.topazl​abs.com/

I'd check the system requirements carefully. Topaz eats VRAM. My older iMac only had 2GB and was unusable. I had to crop my files to 50% to prevent severe artifacts. I got a new iMac in 2019 and got 8GB of VRAM just for 3rd party AI apps.

I forgot to say Topaz has a guaranteed 30 day no questions asked return policy so no worries about getting stuck with it.

photoguy6405 wrote in post #19451796
I am considering buying the 4-pack bundle of the Topaz Labs photo software. I have Photoshop CS5, and Lightroom 5.7 (both 64 bit). Will I have any comparability issues?

If there are issues is it burdensome to use as a stand-alone product? Basically sending files back-and-forth manually.

Thanks.

As others have mentioned, the Topaz AI products do press heavily on your GPU and video RAM. I've got six gigs of video RAM, but I'd suggest at least four.

I run Gigapixel as a standalone product, but Sharpen AI and others within Photoshop 2023. None of them, though, is a regular part of my workflow. They're all "rescue" products for me, so running them standalone wouldn't be a big issue for me.

RDKirk wrote in post #19452243
As others have mentioned, the Topaz AI products do press heavily on your GPU and video RAM. I've got six gigs of video RAM, but I'd suggest at least four.

I run Gigapixel as a standalone product, but Sharpen AI and others within Photoshop 2023. None of them, though, is a regular part of my workflow. They're all "rescue" products for me, so running them standalone wouldn't be a big issue for me.

It says 4GB but 6 or more for optimum performance.

I'm not an expert on this area. In the Graphics/Displays iMac shows the VRAM. On my M1 MacNook Air it just shows M1 chipset. There is no Graphics/Displays to view. It handles Topaz just as well.

I think the original question was about launching Topaz from legacy versions of PS and LR, and I don't know the answer to that.

With the CC versions of PS and LRC, when you install Topaz apps, it also installs extensions (is that what they're called?) that allow you export a copy, open it in Topaz, work on it there, then return everything to Adobe when Topaz finishes. Very handy. It's pretty much the only way I work in Topaz.

But that's not the only way. You can, indeed, open Topaz and work on any image without getting Adobe involved at all. You'd have to do your exports and imports manually from/to Adobe, but you can just do the Topaz piece by itself. The import back into LR or PS is the most burdensome piece of that method. Whether that's too burdensome would be an individual opinion.

I have all the new AI plugins, Gigapixel AI doesn't work as a plugin with CS5 but Denoise AI and Sharpen AI do.
Photo AI works as a plugin but the resizing doesn't work. I don't see it as a problem myself.

Only Photo AI will open as a plug-in and for back to LrC/PS as a DNG.

Thank you to everyone who participated. It helped a lot. Some random fill-ins...

• I did contact Topaz, but it took awhile to get a response. Finally did, though. They said basically no, but that some people get it to work, they have no guarantees.
  
• My desktop is good on RAM and power, and I'm pretty sure my laptop is, too.
  
• My PS and LR versions are lagging because I refuse to partake of Adobe's subscription program. It's a matter of principle to me.
  
• I intend Topaz as a fill-in "as needed" program(s), so I am fine with using it as stand-alone, if necessary.