nikonbrain Loc: Crystal River Florida

I just started using the Gigapixel portion of this software . I have been using the Topaz denoise also . After stitching My images in the past I have always upsized them With ON1 Genuine Fractals to 6 feet and beyond and printing them here at home on a Canon IPF8300 . After stitching in Photoshop 2022 I denoised them with the topaz program and then upsized them in The Topaz Giga . Upon close inspection of the final product I have discovered some anomalies that are weird groups of subtle blocky groupings and some soft areas not present before upsizing .I do not get these anomalies with ON1 which leaves me to believe it is the software . I was wondering if anyone has seen this your comments appreciated . On the following image you can see the ghostly square grouping in front of the sand bar and to the right just in front of the shore . Thank you in advance

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David Martin Loc: Cary, NC

I haven't seen anything similar, but I don't enlarge nearly to the size that you do.
I suggest contacting Topaz Labs tech support and sending the image. They are pretty responsive.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Can you circle the area(s) you are referring to? I am not sure what I'm looking for. Are you referring to a place somewhere in the water? Since you are splicing multiple images, and the fact that the waves continually move, are there areas where the splicing was funny and that it was exasperated by Gigapixel?

nikonbrain Loc: Crystal River Florida

No because they are not there before upsizing the stitch is clean even when up sized in on1 . I printed a proof quarter size they are actual squares in a group . If I new how to circle them I will maybe I can Isolated the area and post it .

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Over sharpening will produce that result in the AI programs. An article I read said use Denoise first before you do any other editing (Denoise does some sharpening-you can run the sliders to 0 so it only does Denoise) and sharpen as lightly as you can get by with last before you plan to use Gigapixel.
Other wise if you sharpen early you also sharpen all the problems and noise, and if you over sharpen or on the edge of it then Gigapixel enlarges the problems with everything else and makes them more noticeable.

And avoid "Pixel Peeping" your own work, you will see things that aren't perfect that someone just looking at the final product will never notice, unless the are Pixel Peepers.

nikonbrain Loc: Crystal River Florida

Here is a 8 x 12 of one area

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robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Use an artists brush/pen/pencil app in your editing software and draw a circle. I did these with a brush in Photo Shop and they are marking areas that Topaz AI left with a weird pattern.

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nikonbrain Loc: Crystal River Florida

I used denoise first I sharpened later in ON1 as always after using Giga AI My normal work flow has always been denoise first before anything then upsize in ON1 which does sharpening and the wrap for canvas all in one never had a problem with workflow I have done many ,many with the years of doing this . This my first with topaz in the Mix . First with Topaz Denoise and a topaz Giga back to back . As far as pixel peeping you can see these anomalies in a 24 inch wide proof stands out like a sore thumb . I do this as a living for other people for the past 12 years . Not My first Rodeo not being defensive here ...

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

I noticed nothing wrong in those areas before you enlarged them so much and barely see them after. Nice panorama of the scene.

How many people do you seriously believe will enlarge an image that much looking for problems? You have enlarged so much that it may just be individual pixels or groups of pixels you are seeing, they are square.

Pixel Peeping can make Mt Everest out of an ant hill and give you anxiety and indigestion.

Your image looks great when viewed as meant.

nikonbrain Loc: Crystal River Florida

This was going to be a 18 x 48 canvas it was sized that way , that is what you are looking at to hang in the Gallery I did not notice it until I made a small 24 inch wide proof it is very apparent in the proof at any viewing distance I just did a 24 x 72 of another for a Customer , like I said I print large in your face . This image is now trash as I need to start Over again . I made a grave mistake or AMATEUR mistake I did not save the stitch or the bracket set I used and did not write down the frames I stitched I now have to go back on 50 or more images and find the ones I used .This what happens when I work late into the night ...Save , save ,save . Those squares are not pixels I size at 300 pixels per inch . I believe but not sure Topaz is upsizing in blocks in small 10% increments , its called interpolation On1 does it similar and claims 800% although I have never seen anything like this . It could be the back to back topaz programs thats doing it .

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Understood.
The largest I go is 13x19 and I have never sold an image in my life. I have, long ago, had images in a newspaper article by a Professor I took classes with and used in some articles and a book another Professor I knew wrote. All those images also were part of an exhibit about our Field School in SW Mexico the University put up. I still have some of the prints they did for the exhibit-they kept half for the department archives and I got the others. I used them for years to decorate my classroom. It is a hobby for me and I am also a bit scared that if I tried to sell images I might find they are not as good as I thought/hoped they were. I take that back, some of my 13x19 images a couple of years ago got auctioned for a religious fund raiser I donated them to. All friends in our local community who are way too polite to tell you anything is wrong and I put out an extra effort to pick only my best to print for the auction. I also do prints in 13x19 and 11x14 as gifts and to show at photo club (now if we could just get people coming to the monthly meetings again after 2 years of Covid-19).

Your problems with which images to use to redo this is why everything I shoot starts in LR, non-destructive and I use virtual copies for each different version of an image I do. As to the shots for a stitched pano or focus stack, I label them in LR and title them with things like 7 shot pano. Long ago I learned to use a note book and record all that stuff as I shot and worked but now I only keep notes on a sheet of paper while I work if it is something that has potential for Murphy to strike.
If I am planning either a focus stack or pano I will usually shoot one frame of my hand or something at the start and end of the string to keep them grouped for quickly finding them later and I keep those place keeper frames in LR.

Best of luck on your redo! Stay safe and well.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

I have seen this problem before. Often can be fixed by picking a different Mode in Topaz.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

I can certainly see now what you are referring to. Did you try using a different mode in Gigapixel? I sometimes find that this can sometimes fix a problem I see.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Yep, I now try at least two modes on each image in preview to avoid it, if I can.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

I just looked these over again, they also seem to line up in straight lines. Are those the overlap areas of the stitched images? No matter how fast you shoot the frames of something like water (inconstant motion) the images are going to have those little waves different and the blending could produce artifacts and weird looking sections.

The same happens when trying to do a focus stack outdoors of flowers or a landscape. Something will have moved.