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How good are Topaz Lab software products?
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Apr 30, 2021 09:22:25   #
Nalu Loc: Southern Arizona
 
De Noise has become part of my workflow for all images. Noise in many instances is the result of underexposed images, like you might get in poor light while trying to maintain a high shutter speed to freeze you subject (I shoot mainly birds). Under those conditions you might be questioning whether you should invest in a fast lens (a 400mm f/2.8 is a ton more expensive than a 400mm f/4) De Noise does such a good job you don't need that fast glass to keep the noise down. Well worth it IMO. AI Sharpen is good as well but IMO not nearly as necessary as De Noise. Right now, I have having some major issues with Sharpen. On my computer (MacBook Pro) it was painfully slow (the latest version) and now will not open. I am working with Topaz labs to try to get it back up and running, but so far no luck.

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Apr 30, 2021 09:23:04   #
pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY
 
Cwilson341 wrote:
I, too, have all three and like them a lot. I use Sharpen Ai on most photos. It takes care of a reasonable amount of noise as well as sharpening. I use DeNoise when sharpen does not take care of noise to my satisfaction. I only got Gigapixel recently and have not used it much. My primary use will be to improve extreme crops.

I use these as plugins to Affinity Photo. A decent computer is necessary to achieve acceptable speeds but I have not experienced any problem with speed. I would definitely recommend Topaz products.
I, too, have all three and like them a lot. I use... (show quote)


Same here - all three. DeNoise and Sharpen most of the time. Giga for when a major crop or some old ultra compressed jpg rejuvenation.

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Apr 30, 2021 09:58:57   #
47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range
 
To be honest, I have mixed results with both Sharpen AI and Denoise AI. Sometimes surprised, sometimes disappointed with similar images. Before you buy (if you do), search for “Anthony Morganti photography.” He has a couple, one which has discount coupons than will usually on top of Topaz’s sale prices.

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Apr 30, 2021 10:15:12   #
Billy Bob 2 Loc: Marengo IN
 
Try the FREE trials for your self you be the judge.

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Apr 30, 2021 10:23:51   #
Ednsb Loc: Santa Barbara
 
Pro- they finally work and do a good job. I own all 3 plus Topaz Studio 2 which is one of the best artistic pp apps. On1 is Data Asset Management and primary raw processor.

Con- perhaps the worst quality control. Do not move to a new version as follow-up versions will occur to fix those issues which should have been fixed before release
Requires good hardware. I recently moved to a M1 Mac Mini and even then they are the slowest apps I own but very useable now.
Their support is no longer free for life but rather for a year then if you want updates you will pay for them.

Lastly, all software gets leapfrogged by competitors. Gigapixel has been leapfrogged by PhotoShop / LightRoom new feature. DeNoise by DxO. But topaz is making significant changes and not standing pat.

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Apr 30, 2021 10:31:34   #
dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida
 
ClarkJohnson said... AI programs stem from long processing time caused by inadequate graphics cards and graphics memory. The Topaz site has their recommended good-better-best computer memory configurations.

CLARK AND TOPAZ ARE RIGHT, AND YOU MUST CONFIGURE YOUR RAM MEMORY IN THE BIOS. ALSO TO DO A FAST TRICK ONE NEEDS AN ADIQUOTE GRAPHIS CARD WITH LOTS OF MEMORY

When I built my present computer about a year ago... a COVID Bordom inoculation. I did some UT watching on how to turn DDR-4 memory in the BIOS. The BIOS reverts to a default value for sluggish memory a waste of fast thinking memory. No, I did not overclock, but yes I did push to the fastest suggested configuration. My DDR-4 was rated at 3200 and was set at a default 1600... DDR4 is low-cost now I have 32 gigs of memory. I recall a comparison between 2 16s and 4 8s... before buying one should look that up.. I have 4 sticks, but not because of any good reason, just bought a few months apart... spent some of my COVID money.

One of the latest CPU sales thing is to add graphics... well yes it costs a lot... adding a g after my 3600 would have been a $ waste since I have 4 gig of DDR5 on my NVIDIA card, a 1050Ti. The 1050Ti and the 1060Ti are under $200. The 1050Ti was an excellent card 2 y before and for still photos is still a good performer. Gamers go crazy and buy super cards ... not deeded for photo editing. Do ask Mr Google for current up-to-date advice. Without the Ti there is only 2 gig of on card memory [I recall?].

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Apr 30, 2021 10:46:41   #
lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA
 
Joexx wrote:
I recently looked at several reviews of Topaz DeNoise Ai & Sharpen Ai & Gigapixel Ai. I have heard some positive comments about this software, but I have never used it. I usually do OK with removing noise & sharpening through Lightroom & Photoshop. For what it is worth, I find Lightroom sharpening very poor for anything other than basic sharpening. Compared to Photoshop, it is like using an axe instead of a scalpel, very crude.
Anyway, I am interested in opinions about these products.
The Gigapixel Ai seems like it might be useful for shots where I need to crop just a little too much, because I could not get close enough. In checking prices, it seems that if you use some discount codes the cost of these 3 products is about $127. Is that a good price?
I shoot with a Nikon D750 and often do BIF & mostly outdoor nature stuff. Thanks everyone in advance.
I recently looked at several reviews of Topaz DeNo... (show quote)


I use Topaz and Nik products for their effects filters. Not really interested in the "noise" related products. I so rarely shoot at high ISOs.

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Apr 30, 2021 11:02:33   #
JeffDavidson Loc: Originally Detroit Now Los Angeles
 
I use Sharpen, DeNoise, Mask and Gigapixel and like them all.

If you use more than one product, Topaz recommends the following order:
DeNoise, Sharpen, Mask and finally Gigapixel.

Good luck.

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Apr 30, 2021 11:27:33   #
Joexx
 
I would like to thank everyone for their quick responses and useful advice. It seems the main caveat is that these programs use lots of resources. That should not be an issue with me, because fortunately I have a very "high end" computer. I plan on downloading the trial copies & probably purchase the software.
Joe

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Apr 30, 2021 11:34:27   #
AzShooter1 Loc: Surprise, Az.
 
I was lucky enough to get their bundled package a few years ago and have been very pleased with it. Regrettably I lost that program but when I went to their main sight they had my account listed with all my old reloads.

I was able to reinstall Topaz with no problems and it's really working great.

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Apr 30, 2021 12:23:39   #
NikonGal Loc: Central Oregon
 
I have and use all 3. I'm very pleased with the results. I work with a non profit where I'm often sent very small image (such as 120 KB) files and have to enlarge them for posters, etc. Gigapixel AI works very well and sharpens/reduces noise a bit at the same time it enlarges. Bev

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Apr 30, 2021 12:55:23   #
runtel
 
ronichas wrote:
I have a discount code. PM me if interested.
I use them all the time!


Would like the discount code. Thank you very much.
RonR

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Apr 30, 2021 12:59:20   #
JimT9620
 
I’ve used Fusion for many years - fun!

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Apr 30, 2021 13:01:20   #
runtel
 
Hi.
Could I get your discount code?
Thank you.
Apologize, not very good with this computer stuff.

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Apr 30, 2021 13:05:05   #
bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada
 
Joexx wrote:
I recently looked at several reviews of Topaz DeNoise Ai & Sharpen Ai & Gigapixel Ai. I have heard some positive comments about this software, but I have never used it. I usually do OK with removing noise & sharpening through Lightroom & Photoshop. For what it is worth, I find Lightroom sharpening very poor for anything other than basic sharpening. Compared to Photoshop, it is like using an axe instead of a scalpel, very crude.
Anyway, I am interested in opinions about these products.
The Gigapixel Ai seems like it might be useful for shots where I need to crop just a little too much, because I could not get close enough. In checking prices, it seems that if you use some discount codes the cost of these 3 products is about $127. Is that a good price?
I shoot with a Nikon D750 and often do BIF & mostly outdoor nature stuff. Thanks everyone in advance.
I recently looked at several reviews of Topaz DeNo... (show quote)

I have all eight of their products; couldn't pass up their $79 Black Friday special.

I normally use their 'DeNoise', 'Sharpen' and 'Gigapixel' the most. Their 'Topaz Video Enhance' is also excellent if you're upgrading old video to a more modern format. And I do find the 'Topaz JPEG to RAW' gives an excellent starting point for processing JPG images.

bwa

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