I am retired at 90. For many years I made greeting cards from my images. I bought card stock from someone who is no longer in business. I would like to find someone where to buy small amounts ( less than 100) of card stock. Been shooting street photography in NYC. Unfortunately I am unable to walk so I use a motor scooter which has been provided for me by the VA. I then use the images to make greeting cards by printing and pasting the images on the card stock. I also need accompanied envelopes.

With the price of Topaz Photo AI on sale, I thought I would try it out. Three days later, I have yet to be able to use it. The symptom is always the same, it displays a two-line progress screen that says:

Loading …
Reading Metadata

That is all it ever does.

• I have tried loading in JPGs, TIFFs, and raw files from 3 different supported cameras and 1 scanner. No help.
• I have uninstalled the app, cleaned up the stray files left behind by the UI, deleted the old download, deleted temp folders, emptied the trash folder, downloaded and installed a fresh copy of Topaz, all to no avail.
• Since it never successfully reads the Metadata I checked for different versions of Exiftool.exe. There were three versions, no two with matching lengths, I got rid of the two that were not in the Topaz folder. The result – the same.

I am sure that the above is just a representative sample, but this ordeal has used up so many brain cells that can’t remember everything I did. And yes, I have contacted Topaz Support. They said that the second bullet (above) would solve the problem, so I tried it for a third or fourth time.

The only other thing I can think of is the there might be something in a DLL; however, that is something that is not in my skill set.

Does anyone have a suggestion for how I might solve this conundrum?

Configuration:

Ryzen 5 5600x, 6 cores, 32G,
3 TB SSD, 1TB HDD
GPU - AMD Radeon RX6700 XT, 12
O/S – Windows 10 (up to date)

I am considering trying to market some of my photograpy. Like everyone, I could use the money! I have looked at a number of different places. Stock photo businesses don't really interest me. I have looked at Smugmug, Pinterest, Etsy, Spotify, Instagram, etc. I am wanting to sell 8x10 to 30x40 prints for decorator art, wall hanging and such. Also, artistic greeting cards, etc. I am also considering the possibility of limited addition work. Starting pricing would be in the $35-50 range and up depending on size, mounting, framing.

A couple of questions; Anybody have suggestions concerning who to sell with. I am leaning towards an Etsy type service because of the individual attention I can do with it. But I may be wrong.
Also, I have read how you can get rich doing this. I am not that naive to believe that although I guess it is possible! Does anyone on the 'Hog sell their landscaping, nature, etc. and do pretty good. I don't mind working the job hard if it actually works. I have read testimonials that services provide and they sound great but I would like to hear people starting out small and/or in business for up to a year.
I appreciate any advice including "don't do it" or "you're nuts" or something else. (grin!)
Thanks
Steve

I have a couple of questions regarding the above topic.
1. “WHITE BALANCE” color calibration
• My wife and I both shoot with Canon RPs and we are probably best described as “somewhat beyond novices”
• We both shoot in AWB for subsequent adjustment in post

2. MONITOR Color Calibration
Currently I do not print images, but images when shared are via social media. Conventional wisdom suggests that if one plans to print a lot of images (which I have started to think about) then besides investing in a "high-quality printer" it is recommended that one calibrates monitors and printers, set paper profiles etc. One assumes that irrespective of printing, even for predominantly sharing via social media following post, monitor calibration is recommended

2. I daily utilize two computers, a Dell Desktop and a Dell laptop.
3. I have three Monitors
• ~ 30 inch BenQ monitor (which I have linked to my Dell Desktop)
• ~ 16 inch Dell Laptop
• ~ 28 inch Dell monitor (that came with the desktop) but have it linked to my Dell laptop.

The above provides me with both a dual computer and dual screen capability which I utilize for a range of uses outside of Photography.
• While travelling, which we are fortunate to do frequently, I use the laptop for post editing while on the road and subsequent image sharing via social media.
• At home. I predominantly use the Dell desktop with the BenQ monitor for post LR editing.
• Not surprisingly, there is considerable color variation between the BenQ and Dell desktop monitor, as well as the Dell Laptop display and its linked Dell monitor. So, all three demonstrate a high degree of color variation.

Obviously, one cannot control what a social media viewer is looking at in terms of color because of the vast variation in how they view any shared image, but at least I can control what I share.

I have Just reviewed a couple of videos. Although both are ~ 2018 and the respective software solutions will have been updated/revised one assumes that they are still relevant
• A YT video demonstrating the SpyderCHECKER Color Chart (Ed Gregory)
• A YT video demonstrating i1 Display Pro i1 monitor calibration software (Mark Denney)

So, after this somewhat long-winded background, I would be grateful on experience with both software solutions and any observations on my hardware set up that may be adversely affecting color accuracy/calibration.

TIA