Topaz Bundle

Hi all,

I just have a quick question regarding the Topaz plugin for photoshop. For those of you that have the plug in, did you buy the entire bundle (Adjust, Detail, et al) or just Topaz Adjust? Is it worth getting the whole bundle?

I've downloaded the free trial and am giving it a go for the next 30 days but would also like to hear opinions/feedback from existing users.

Thanks in advance.
Nik

I have adjust, dejpeg, clean and detail. I have found all of these useful
at different times. The price is affordable and the filters are quite
versatile. I think you can get te free trial for the bundle and try them
for yourself.

If you like to play around with abstracting stuff, creating tonemapping effects, etc. all I can say is they're well worth the money. Unlike other software vendors such as NIK, for example, I feel the Topaz stuff is reasonably-priced.

I got the bundle because of the price - you got a lot for the price - and I find that all are fun to use - I tried the demo for 30 days and found it fine the other products just added to the fun

Friends,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I'm playing around with the bundle now. It is pretty nice but usually, when I use them, the pictures wind up looking not so natural. I probably need more time with it.

Below are some pics I used the topaz filters on. Would I be able to get the same results without topaz filters and just use light room or aperture instead? If I can, I'd like to buy aperture or lightroom first and think about the filters later.

Again, thanks in advance for your feedback.
Nik.

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

A little goes a long, long way. I've found Topaz Adjust "Clarity" to be very good for cleaning up contrast in shadows that can go muddy very easily. I apply the effect to a duplicate layer and vary opacity/paint in areas to keep it subtle.

With only a few tweaks, I also discovered an excellent black and white conversion technique that results in a rich result I call "silver and white."

Yes, you can do it without the plug-in...there is no effect any plug-in does that can't be done in Photoshop alone (not necessarily in Lightroom)...but you can spend days discovering it. One of the main reasons for owning Photoshop instead of some other products is because other people have already figured so many of these things out.