That simply means that the op hasn’t been seen for a year or more and is just welcoming them back. Their last post before this one 10 days ago was on Sep 27, 2020. Nothing unusual at all it is a system generated welcome message … not a flag.
I guess the happy-face next to it does indicate that friendliness/welcome-back aspect. OK - point taken. 
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Wow - they just continue to amaze me. I got this email yesterday:
“Our Photo Upgrade Plan brings you unlimited upgrades for all your photo apps for 1 year—at a huge savings.”
Until you look at the fine print - “The Photo Upgrade Plan provides unlimited upgrades for our Image Quality Bundle apps for 1 year.” Nothing in the email explains what the “Image Quality Bundle” is. But if you dig around on the web site , you will discover that it does not cover all 4 of the products which require the paid support - mask AI is excluded.
So just like “for life” actually means "until we decide to do something else, in Topaz language “all” means “some”.
Just another example of “buyer beware” because Topaz will say one thing when then mean something else. Incredibly close to a bait-and-switch, but they cover themselves with the fine print.
Legal, yes. Ethical, not at all.
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I caved in and bought that last weekend. I never bought MaskAI but have Remask. I could have bought MAI for $46 but didn’t. MaskAI is not even listed on the main Topaz web site now, even if you select “All Products”. You have to drill down to even know it’s still offered. So, I guess it joins their abandonware.
I’m still not at all happy with Topaz and their current management. But they presently best fit into my workflow. As soon as someone else really covers this (hopefully Adobe, at no extra cost), I will be gone for good.
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I don’t know if you’ve ever looked at ON1, but if you haven’t it might be worth a shot. Their noise reduction is every bit as good as (or better than) DeNoise now. Their DAM isn’t as mature as Adobe, but I like the product (and the perpetual license) better than LR, and I hate bouncing around in and out of plugins.
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I wanted to upgrade to Denoise 3.5, I have Denoise 3.4.2. I was very surprise that the price of the $49.
I think it’s too expensive. Denoise works very well but after all it does only one thing…
I bought anyway because I have a new M1 Mac and I what the software to work properly on my Mac. I did notice the version 3.4.2 to be buggy. So you got for this year but it’s the last one.
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There is a huge difference between “innovation” and simply improving on existing software…nothing new about that. There is NO “innovation” here.
At this point, I cannot even use the software I purchased from Topaz. The website just runs me around in circles and drops me off at the option of upgrading but not reverting to the software I paid for. Now all my software is in “Try for Free” mode. Not happy at all with the deception!
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No deception, previous versions are available from support or in the product release section on this forum … If you need help just ask …
Hi Eric,
Can you please inform me why Topaz Labs support has been absolutely awful? I bought one of your bundles in November/December, could only install 2 of the 3 products (Sharpener AI refused to install), email support several times and heard nothing until this week. The solutions have only caused more problems, most recently GigaPixel AI will not allow me to save/export photos, meaning one of my projects is at a stand still. My experience with Topaz Labs has been very disappointing. I’m ready to give up on Topaz Labs.
I would start a new thread here, but it appears that I’m not authorized to start a new thread in these forums.
Thank you.
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Hi Frosty,
This is a user to user forum and it’s rare for staff to respond to posts, except on beta forums or forums dealing with new releases. Let alone the CEO!
However, there are plenty of well informed users on the forums. So for you GPAI problem, I suggest you repost here, which is the forum for its latest release:
You will need to set out exactly what the issue is and details of your OS.
Ditto with Sharpen (sic) AI:
Good luck.
(Edited to say that those links take you to the bottom of the respective forums. You can scroll up for earlier posts and there are links to downloads at the top of each respective thread. Check to see if you have the latest versions before posting.)
Thanks for the reply, but as a new user of Topaz Labs products this is frustrating. I bought these products to be efficient, not to help Topaz Labs iron out basic issues like installation.
Like with any software vendor, the onus is on Topaz provide proper support with timely response to support tickets (i.e. not two months later) and timely fixes to issues and bugs.
Without knowing any better, is this the nature of the beast with Topaz Labs?
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I am not going to make excuses, however you really need to check all sorts of things, especially if you are a Windows user, which I suspect you are. There are often problems with GPU drivers for example, so that is why you need to get advice on the forums I specified.
I am a Mac user and have never had a serious issue with any Topaz product.
Yes, I am on PC.
Is there any indication of whether Topaz Labs is going through upheaval of some sort? I can’t understand why their support took two months to reply to me without some some of justification. My experience with Topaz Labs so far makes me hesitant to make their products part of my workflow.
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By chance, I raised a support ticket with Topaz on Sunday and had a reply today. So you must be especially unlucky to have had to wait two months.
Besides, if you are not prepared to follow my simple advice and post on the threads I suggested, then I am not prepared to help further.
I find it amazing that you all think you should get upgrades for life, that is simply not a sustainable business model - Topaz has to pay their people and stay in development mode to keep the business going. If they went to subscription mode, that would be a problem for me.
You have the choice to keep using the program you bought until your computer no longer supports that version. So you buy a new computer, then expect Topaz to maintain compatibility with a new computer and keep on developing for the new systems - without receiving pay for that work? Would any of you work for free?
They have the right to change their terms just like banks and any other businesses that do it all the time. You have the right to refuse to buy. End of.
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You must be one of the chosen ones to receive the white gloves treatment from Topaz Labs. It has taken a minimum of two weeks and up to over two months to receive replies to any of my support requests. In any industry, that’s egregious.
Besides, if you are not prepared to follow my simple advice and post on the threads I suggested, then I am not prepared to help further.
It appears that you’re married to Topaz Labs – and that’s fine. For me, I bought a bundle of tools with the expectation that they are mature tools that I could be productive with. Instead, I couldn’t even install one of them and others stopped working after installing updates. I’m not interested in and don’t have time for inconsistent, shoddy products or support. I make my living producing visual content – not providing beta testing or jumping into a forum treadmill.
The latest version of Gigapixel AI does not display the correct pixel dimensions of JPGs and freezes on export – two very basic functions of the software. After waiting two weeks for Topaz support to reply (without a solution, but acknowledging one of those issues), I downgraded to version 5.7.3 and was able to complete the project.
But that’s it for me and Topaz. It’s been such a poor, frustrating experience.
Buyer beware for anyone considering their products.
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The company can change its model all it likes… they must also fulfill the term of the agreements for purchase established on different terms. People need to stop complaining that paid upgrades are fair when they where marked and sold under different terms. A company has no right to change the terms of the purchase after purchase.
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