This layer “flattening” has totally changed my work flow. Couldn’t there be a toggle option in preferences to turn it on or off?
Hi Ren,
Could you say a bit more about how it’s changed your workflow or why you want to control it?
It might help some of us relate more (for voting purposes) if you spell out what there is about it you want to manage.
I honestly don’t know if the current flattening is done to reduce processing time, or what. My sense is that it’s been done for a while but was behind a curtain (so to speak) & wasn’t transparent to users previously. I might be off base about that…
Many years ago, the legacy Topaz products included an “Apply” button at the lower right of the UI. It was right next to OK (or whatever the accept & finish nomenclature was back then). The Apply button essentially did what I’m guessing you’re proposing. It flattened a set of processing steps a user had completed, essentially creating a new background or base layer, and enabled users to then continue making more settings adjustments to an image without having to exit the UI then relaunch it. The interface didn’t automatically flatten layers of settings for users, it was an active choice (a technical sorbet or intermezzo, if you will) between processing steps. And, once it was done it was irreversible. It baked in & became a new starting image. In Photoshop terms, we’d call it “destructive” b/c once it was done it was done.
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Hi Ren.
Following on and in addition, to Fotomaker excellent reply Flattening, is applied when combining multiple enhancements, especially those that are dependent on the state of previous edits.
Flattening will be automatically triggered by Remove, Spot Healing, Super Focus, Dust & Scratch, and Upscale.
The last one Upscale could be the issue here meaning if you have a predetermined Auto Upscale set in within the Preferences Menu when Autopilot is applied then your Enhancements/Layers will be Flattened automatically especially after Autopilot has selected Denoise and Sharpening first and then, Upscale Flattens everything I agree this can be a nuisance.
Simply disabling the Auto Upscale and Resize in Preferences will stop this from happening
Press Command/Control plus the Comma key , to open the Preferences Window then, under the Autopilot Category select Upscale and Resize then, set Resize Type to None this will prevent Autopilot automatically Upscaling your images and thus, Flattening your Enhancements/Layers.
Also, you can revert the Flattening if one of the above Enhancements is applied for example, if you apply Denoising and Sharpening and they are Flattened because, you also applied Super Focus then, simply Deleting Super Focus will reverse and Unflatten the Denoising and Sharpening you applied previously making them active again for readjusting
Hope this helps
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I understand the programming reason to Flatten, but it is annoying to have to reverse it all when you want to try different setting values for a flattened enhancement. You can’t see the ultimate effect of your changes until it’s Flattened again in the next step.
What I really miss is the ability to drag and drop enhancements up and down the processing stack. Actually I wouldn’t even need that if they provided a way for the user to define their default workflow rules. For example, I always Denoise before Enlarge, and I never Sharpen until after.
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I was asked to explain my workflow and how flattening has altered it.
First, let me just say that I do not understand the value of flattening when having access to all of the settings all of the time is more valuable.
Before the flattening feature, I would simply let autopilot run to establish a baseline look.
After that, I would tweak the settings to improve what Photo has given me. Flattening takes that away.
I understand that if I turn the model upside down, I can tweak the settings first, then apply upscaling. Here is the rub: 1) doing it backwards add more time is added to my process, and 2) upscaling applies an upscaling model. This changes the look that I have already set. I don’t wan’t upscaling to change it.
By eliminating the flattening step, I can see what the image will look like with the upscaling model already applied. It makes for a better image in my view, and keeps my workflow tight and predictable.
I don’t see why this cannot be a setting in preferences: a toggle to set flattening on or off. I don’t want this forced on me, and to change my workflow. It seems simple enough.
I am not looking for someone to tell me I have to accept flattening, and here is how I can work around it. I have already been down that road. I simply want to choose whether or not to use flattening. I don’t see why anyone would object to having the choice.
2 Likes
this “feature“ is super annoying and is hard to figure out how to disable the “flattening“ as i find myself always needing to disable one or two of the filters it applies.
Hi Robert.
If I’m understanding your query correctly Autopilot is automatically Flattening your Layers/Enhancements and you wish to disable Flattening so, you can access those Enhancements before they are Flattened.
The Bad news you can’t disable the Flattening as it’s an automatic feature.
Flattening will be automatically triggered by Remove, Spot Healing, Super Focus, Dust & Scratch, and Upscale.
The Good news this issue is easily remedied because, you have Upscaling set to automatic within the Autopilot Upscale and Resize settings.
Which will either Upscale and Enhance Small Images or you have Set Output Size for predetermined Scale Size, Height or Width
Simply, goto your Preferences Menu or Press Command/Control plus the Comma Key , and the Preferences Window will appear
On the left is the Category section the one you want is under Autopilot and Click On Upscale and Resize and the options will appear on the right
Under Resize Type you’ll see a box with a Down Arrow simply Click on the box and select None from the list and Save your settings.
Now Autopilot will not Upscale your images automatically and Flatten the other Enhancements unless, you use one of these Enhancements Spot Healing, Super Focus, Dust & Scratch, and Upscale.
Last Tip:
If you did apply one of the above Enhancements and you wanted to return to the previous Enhancements for example, Denoising or Sharpening to adjust them
Then, hover the mouse pointer over the Enhancement word Upscale for instance, two icons will appear on the right an eyeball and a Bin simply Click on the bin and delete the Upscale Enhancement and the previous Flattened Enhancements will become active again enabling you to further fine-tune them
Hope this helps
Unfortunately, flattening is also applied when automatic face detection is activated. I just ran into a picture from a live show and face detection detected 82 faces and I couldn’t stop the processing of all the detected faces so I had to remove the image completely from processing in order to proceed. I know I can prevent that from happening in the face detection settings by applying the “only in subject” selection - but that makes Photo AI analyse every face it detects in the subject even if it isn’t blurry which I don’t want to happen when working on my laptop with limited video processing power.
Hi Jakob.
I believe you answered your own question, one of the symptoms of continuous face detection is I’m afraid limited processing power.
However, let’s not give up just yet, you mentioned switching off face detection within the Recover Faces settings but, are you also aware you can disable Recover Faces within the Autopilot Preferences Menu
Here’s how to do it:
On Windows either press Control plus the Comma key , or follow the instructions below to open the Preferences Menu.
- Open Topaz Photo AI.
- Go to Edit then, Preferences you’ll see on the left three categories and the you want is Autopilot.
- In the Autopilot settings, you’ll see the Face Detection section Click on it
- Next, set it to None or toggle it off, depending on your version.
- Click Save to apply the changes.
On Mac either press command plus the Comma key , or follow the instructions below to open the Preferences Menu.
- Open Topaz Photo AI.
- Navigate to Topaz Photo AI Menu bar then, Preferences you’ll see Autopilot.
- Find the Face Detection option and disable it.
- Hit Save to confirm.
This will prevent Autopilot from analyzing and applying face-specific enhancements when importing images.
If you’re experiencing issues like the app hanging during face detection, disabling this feature can help or as I alluded to could be your Laptop is under powered here’s a link to check the capabilities of your Laptop
Hope this helps
