there are too many good options out there, this product blows
For very low-resolution files, Upscale is the right tool to use, as it’s designed to improve the quality of low-res images. However, Photo AI is typically optimized for digital files with higher resolution. If you’re working with a low-resolution image, you might also want to try Gigapixel AI, which is specifically designed to recover and enhance low-res files, and it also includes the Recover Faces feature.
As for updates, they are optional. Your license includes access to the current version of Photo AI and one year of updates. After the year, you can continue using the last version you downloaded without needing to purchase any further upgrades.
But upscale makes the file so much bigger. I had to stop using it because I couldn’t figure out how to make it less of a size. Even upscale 1x was sometimes too much. But to work around it, and get a better quality image to process on the TPAI is to put it in PS and increase the DPI to 300 and save. Then upload that image onto TPAI and it does a better job. Working on how to fix the issue of the AI and stray hairs. It seems to create an ugly patch around stray hairs that are including the whole back of whatever is there to be incorporated into the sharpening or upgrading of the image. But so far, I’m not impressed with Gigapixel and Photo AIs and the price is getting outrageously expensive for something that isn’t perfect yet.
When you mention the big size, it’s the MB size of the file on export? That is expected as Upscaling is very memory intensive and creates information that was not there, that is the AI process and yes it will make the file size bigger. There is ways to optimize the MB file size, you can select JPEG or TIFF in the format export options, and there will be compression options. Also make sure to only upscale above 1x if you need it. The resolution to 300 dpi is to bring up the resolution, yes, and will be important to be 300dpi if you print the file. This will increase MB size, yes. For the stray hair issue, we would need to see your original, and screenshots of your enhancements used, which you can send to support@topazlabs.com. We can then return steps to get the best possible results!
