Jeannie88

Topaz is having a sale on PhotoAI till dec 31. Has anyone bought it, and if so, how do you like it? I am tempted to buy, as many years ago when I still used photoshop, I owned just about everything from Topaz.It seems as though they have incorporated their sharp and noise filters into one app, and will no longer be updating those

rcorne001 Loc: Cary, NC

I have it and use it quite a bit. Still go to Denoise and Sharpen upon occasion or "challenging" photos. A suggestion if you don't mind. As you can get a pretty good trial period, download it and use it on some of your own typical images and see if you like it. I agree with your observation of them incorporating sharpen and noise filters and it works pretty well. Still there are times when I go back to Sharpen and/or Denoise. You still have several days to try it out before the sale ends.

fosis Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Topaz just keeps getting better, and I use it especially for high ISO/low light shots - high school football.
It's helped me to learn that sharp pictures with subject movement REQUIRE an adequate shutter speed, and with the improvements especially in the sharpening and noise reduction functions, Topaz has changed my approach to photography for the better. I routinely shoot football at 1/1000-1250 sec. and 12,800 - 20,000 ISO, and with careful focusing my shots look really good.
The PhotoAI has subject selectivity, especially for slight focusing errors, and you can manipulate the power of each function - if you ever need to - and switch among different sharpening criteria (motion blur, focus errors, etc.). It's come a long way.

Robdur

Love it. Obviously don't have to use it on every shot but on high ISO or slightly out of focus shots it worth every penny.

terryMc Loc: Arizona's White Mountains

After hearing everyone rave about Denoise, Sharpen, and Gigapixel, I bought all three years ago and rarely used them because of the awful artifacts and digital "Barbie Doll" look that I could not tolerate. After this bad experience, I still broke down and bought Photo AI and found that it is far superior to the others, especially for upsizing an image.

I still get odd artifacts sometimes, especially in eyes, and there is strangeness often at edges, (I mean edges within the image, not at the frame boundaries) with some areas becoming too bright and crunchy, but there are adjustments you can make to get a better result. Also, I use it mainly as a Photoshop plugin, so I can work further with the problem spots after running the filter.

If you thought the old Topaz artifactories were good, I'd say you will love Photo AI. It also has some beta color and lighting features, but at present, they are pretty much unusable. The sharpening and noise parts work well enough if you don't go too far; if you do the look is very smooth and digital. I definitely do not use it on everything. Updates are frequent.

tshift Loc: Overland Park, KS.

I have Topaz Photo AI. Have had it for about 3 months I think. I personally I LOVE it. I shoot high school sports for MaxPreps.com. They are REALLY strict on how your photos look before you can put them on their website. Topaz Photo AI has taken me from deleting tons and tons of photos to keeping the majority of my photos now. It has even made me work harder on getting better photos SOOC. They do have a trial so go for it. I bought mine when on sale also. Good money well spent. I think after using the trial you will be very happy with what it can do. I also wish you and your loved ones a VERY HAPPY and prosperous New year. Thanks and BE SAFE!!

Tom

bkwaters

For nature and sports photography it's a game changer.

jcwall396 Loc: Roswell, GA

I have been a fan of Topaz products for many years. I currently use a combination of their DeNoise, Sharpen, and Photo AI products. Like several other folks here, I mostly use Photo AI but occasionally go back to DeNoise or Sharpen depending on what I need to correct. I just used Photo AI pretty heavily on my Christmas photos as they were taken in very low light with little kids moving pretty fast! It did a fabulous job, very happy with it and worth every cent. Get the free trial and kick the tires.....it's really amazing software.

maxlieberman Loc: 19027

I have it and use it on almost every shot. I just purchased a Z8, and I find that when I run the photos through Photo AI, it tends to oversharpen, which did not happen when I used it with photos from my D7100 or D7500.

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

I have Topaz Photo AI, I use it and I Love it!
I Recommend The Following For Topaz Photo AI Use And Research:
1. Download Topaz Photo AI for a 30 Day Unconditional Refund Guarantee - +1 Year Of Free Upgrades to see if you like it.
2. Topaz Products recommends that your computer has 12 GB or more of RAM.
3. On the front page of the program it has a section with “Getting Started, User Guides, Features, and Plugins”. Before you do Anything, Review these Very Helpful items.
4. After reviewing number 3 above, load a file into the program and process it using the default AI settings. Avoid Initially Adjusting ANY setting for the first pass, as this is a fool's errand. If you are not satisfied with the default settings result, then run the file through the program again After Tweaking one or all of the Adjustments you may require for “Upscaling, Remove Noise, Sharpen, Recovering Face, Preserve Text, Adjust Lighting (Beta), Balance Color (Beta)”. Note: Each of these categories has Many Different Adjustments that can be made. You may also Crop, Select a Subject, and also select a face using a Mask in auto, or a Brush.
5. If you wish to fine-tune the default settings they may be found under “Edit, Preferences”.
6. The Topaz Learning Center is always available to anyone @ https://www.topazlabs.com/learn?mc_cid=9289005635&mc_eid=c9be7297b0
Remember, “Everything is hard until you learn how to do it.”
Smile,
JimmyT Sends
Best Wishes

For Further Research: https://www.topazlabs.com/shop

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

I quite often use Topaz Photo AI but still like DeNoise, Sharpen and GigaPixel the best. Maybe at some point in the future Photo AI will be as comprehensive as the other three BUT it isn't at present!

bwa

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

I just updated my Photo AI, my updates are paid for til October 24. How much better can it get?? I have all the AI Topaz. Why would I need PS... [please don't answer that]

I am glad I have my Legacy Topaz... they do a particular job well and I control them.

I also have Dynamic Autopainter 6 which is excellent... not affording DAP 7 til 8 comes out and 7 drops in price.

To fix small post-edit problem, I am considering a graphics pad and pen... [use as a mouse setting]. The pen is more precise than a mouse or trackball I use. {comments welcome]

CliffMcKenzie Loc: Lake Athens Texas

My response is to everyone. First, shoot in raw (99% everyone knew this) and second, Set LRC Detail to 0 sharpness. Sharpening automatically (default now is 40 and should really be 60) and then Topaz can help create the artifact problem. I use a preset during import that sets it to 0 automatically.

tgreenhaw

It is magical. It allows you to shoot at high ISOs and crop and upscale quite a bit with little to no loss in quality. The one thing I will say is that it really likes a fast video card for the AI processing. Be sure to use the trial to decide if your computer processes images in a reasonable amount of time.

topcat Loc: Alameda, CA

I use it, but on many photoss I use just Denoise or Sharpen. But PhotoAI is the only one that will be upgraded in the future.