Gigapixel v5.8.0

I updated Gigapixel and idk if it’s supposed to happen but it’s been on the “deleting rollback history” for quite some time now

nvm it just finished

I’ve been batch converting HEIC and JPG files to DNG with v5.8.0 on macOS (2021 MacBook Pro, M1 Max, 64 GB), and it crashes a lot, even if I drastically reduce the number of files. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling, but no luck. Sent Crash Report, System Report, and screenshot to TopazLabs Support. Here’s hoping a future update improves the stability.

Hi there, I thought I’d give it a go, but I am unable to replicate your issue. I was able to convert about 130 low res JPGs to DNG without a crash. I was upscaling to 2200px vertical (ranging from about x2.5 to over x3.5) and using auto. I am sure this is not like for like, but the processing was pretty quick even under Rosetta 2. I went off to have a light breakfast and it was all done by the time I got back to my M1 Mac Mini 16GB.
Are you running the JPGS and HEICs together? Maybe the latter is the problem.
The only issue I have discovered so far with this version is that the images flicker in the preview panel. Do you get that?
I have another question for you that is off topic a bit. Do you find converting from JPG to DNG offers many advantages? I’d always thought that, if the detail isn’t there in the first place, there is little point in doing so. Maybe I should look at the results in my test folder: these were all low res scans of colour slides from the 1980s. This is what I have been mainly using GPAI for and have generally found it does a remarkable job in improving the images. The last time I ran GPAI on that folder was in Nov 2020, so I don’t know what version it was. I think I will upscale JPG to JPG again and take a look to see the differences. Thanks for your input.

For me, I am missing the Save Image button - but get an apply button instead, which overwrites the original file. Anyone an idea how to change this back? In the settings, it don’t find the appropriate way to change it back…

Thank you.
Andri

Ooh, I got a trust promotion… images it is…

Why I went back to 5.4.5 (crops from larger image, 4x, GPU (RTX2060), model downloading allowed, use max quality models, memory usage medium, Auto settings, Reduce Colour Bleed, Face Refinement):

Note image details are at top of image (in case run into the above image)
Also note the front/bottom stubble on the latter two…

Any ideas how to get 5.8.0 close to 5.4.5 - I have many other images that are similar?
(Oh and lots of images were in the Zip I uploaded to the DropBox address given above, per my previous message.)

The original (769x1024) image is in this Twitter post:
twitter dot com /EilidhBarbour/status/1459520258772025344/photo/1

IMHO there’s lots of interesting things in the image:
Three faces
The Poppy pins/brooch (for remembrance day)
The sign on the far wall
The zip on the jumper
The stubble on the gentleman on the left’s face (which 5.8.0 falls off a cliff on)
The posters on the right wall
The hair
The eyes
The teeth, especially the lady in the middle (which you can over-do)

I don’t know if this is a bug, but when I batch converted a bunch of low-res JPGs and selected JPG for output, they all had severe JPG artefacts in them. When I re-processed and chose Preserve Original Format the result was fine

I converted a couple of random v low-res files to DNG and the result was decidedly “off”. Bringing down the highlights brought out the blue in the sky, and it was a lot smoother than the JPGs admittedly. But the result is very blocky in comparison. Of course, for other types of image, a JPG taken on a modern phone perhaps, you can achieve a better result.

I had that same issue of the Save Image button missing, with an Apply button that when chosen overwrote the original file. What I found worked, for me anyway, was to go to the File Menu and upload an image via Choose Images, instead of drag & drop. When I did this the Save button returned, and after my adjustments a separate file was saved with the adjustment parameters included in the name. Hope this helps!

I’ve used the new version for past few days. No problems. But this morning, it is crashing. Four times in a row. Strange. When I load one file, it is okay. But when loading over 100 jpg files, it sits there - cursor spinning, crash. I will reinstall. Not sure why the change today.

This is the reason why I reverted back to 5.7. The “allow downloading models” would just load a different render look onto the program and make everything look less detailed than in previous version. However it’s also about 10 times faster when loading the models though. I’m rocking a AMD 5950x and RTX 3080 in perspective. It’s a battle between quality vs. speed. In some scenarios, version 5.8 would be better because there are little differences between some images, but in lower quality images previous version would do a better job at creating a higher quality upscale.

that s exactly what i mentioned when I said the “whow-effect” got lost after maybe 5.4.5. :eyes:

My blog post about using the 5.8.0 update on crappy old photos…

Tried your file - no problem. Showed as 612x816px.

I used Gigapixel AI mostly for downsizing because it gave (kept) more small details (if to compare with PhotoZoom Benvista). But I cannot say the same about ver. 5.8 , though it is better for upsizing (maybe). I had to return to the ver.5.7. Pity that it is not possible to have and use both versions (5.7 - for downsize, 5.8 for upsize).

Are you running the JPGS and HEICs together?

I’ve tried both separately and together. There didn’t seem to be any difference in stability.

with this version is that the images flicker in the preview panel.

I don’t recall noticing it.

Do you find converting from JPG to DNG offers many advantages?

I think it depends on what software you use to edit the images. Overall, I think there are more possibilities with a DNG. It “feels” like I have more room to work and adjust, but, I can’t say for sure. I’ve started only shooting in RAW, and so wanted to make my legacy photos consistent in the same format.

Interesting. Photos downloaded from Facebook or Instagram are 0x0 size for me, while photos taken with my phone are flawless. I encountered this bug in version 5.8 under Windows.
I tried Reduce Color Bleed and Face Refinement too before I see this problem.

Now I tried it again. I downloaded this photo from Facebook, into My Pictures folder. I opened Windows Explorer and dragged the photo into the Gigapixel window. I got 0x0 image. 100%-os zoomot használok
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=2502178603181208&set=a.474684342597321

image

After I opened the downloaded image in a photo editor and saved it under a different name, it recognized the size without any errors. Only this is not the original image, but a distorted copy.

I see the difference between the two in MediaInfo: the original image has ColorSpace value.

Interesting. I followed this link in your last post (above) and it shows 0x0px just as it did for you.

Using Picture Information Extractor I find the EXIF data has been stripped, all of it. However, a lot of data still remains and is readable.

UPDATE <<<

Here is the data PIE found in the image.
ImageData

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Disable face Refinement, then its fine.

Hi Edwin! We have investigated your uploaded image. The reason is that, the face refinement is designed for small (low resolution) faces. Such faces can be commonly seen in vintage photos from scanning, crowd photos, photos from old devices, and photos that are strongly compressed. Meanwhile for faces that have more details, rendering them as textures just the same way as other parts of the image, can possibly give better results. The tooltip besides the Additional Settings mentions this.

In the implementation, for larger faces, they will be bypassed by face refinement function, making them to be processed as textures. Meanwhile, the faces in the border get be hard to say which way of rendering is better.