i even left adobe because of this,and went to affinity photo,wich is equally as good as photoshop,but with no subscription and free upgrades
Hi. I just recently (in the last 2 months) purchased AI denoise and AI sharpen. A factor in the decision to buy, was lifetime upgrades. Given that you are breaching that agreement, I feel I have the right to breach my payment. How do I request a refund ?
You product is just too buggy to be paying this kind of money for, especially if you are moving to this pay for upgrades model. I know what software development is like when a company prioritizes receiving a revenue stream over their customers. You will focus the vast majority of your energies on the revenue producing new upgrades. You will release them well before they are really ready, and let users discover the bugs. You will fix the trivial/minor bugs in the current version. But you will only address the important/major bugs (like the vertical banding in AI sharpen) in your next version (if at all) - forcing customers to pay twice (or more) for software that should have worked in the first place.
This is not a model I want any part of.
Just do it. I use Topaz products. I want Topaz to be financially healthy and continue to develop software that I need. Thanks!
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fanzis software has also a great denoiser,and upgrades are free
I understand you wanting to go down this path, but I’m pretty sure that changing the contract with the customer like this is illegal (in Australia at least) unless you had some terms and conditions buried in there that allow it. Even if you did have something buried in the terms and conditions, in Australia at least, it wouldn’t stand up because of your advertising highlighting lifetime updates. Besides that, your products are pretty expensive for what they do, but I paid the price on the expectation that I was effectively paying up front for upgrades. As a result, allowing only 6 months of additional upgrades for existing customers seems a little unfair.
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I totally agree. I am also a long term user and I only use the products infrequently, so in this scenario I would be paying at least $10 each time I use a product!
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Oh my what a response. I hope topazlabs will take onboard the feedback.
You have a great community that like your software and want to see you succeed, and I’m sure will be glad to pay you more money, spread the word, and leave positive reviews to help bring Topaz Labs to more customers. But telling people they have 6 months left of “free updates” on their lifetime software, and have to pay $49 per app or $99 is nuts when you have sold your software on the basis of a standalone licence with lifetime upgrades.
My recommendation is to grandfather your current customer base, and offer a steep discount on the renewal. For example $49/ year for the whole suite at most.
Secondly, I would rethink the upgrade renewal prices anyways, as most of us have been willing to pay a premium for your apps (between $49 and $99) because they came with these lifetime updates.
I have most of your AI apps, and frankly a lot of them are gathering dust, but I’m happy with my purchase as I have them in case a project requires something. With a monthly renewal, this type of Buy in case you might need it impulse purchase will cause second thoughts.
At the $99 pricepoint, you are likely going to get some serious resistance when charging $49/year renewal, especially with photoshop adding more and more AI based features every year.
Lastly, if you were to cap the renewal price then it would encourage people to buy more of your products, even if they don’t necessarily need them but because they are included in the renewal deal.
So to sum up:
-Keep your existing customer base happy, you cannot put a price of the value such a big happy community can bring, and frankly you have been underutilising this asset. When was the last time you organised a review drive or competition asking customers to share reviews or posts on social media or asked for help with testimonials?
-Keep your word, if you sold something on a lifetime basis stick to it and focus on new customers for your new business model. If you do really have to generate renewal fees from your existing userbase make them feel valued by providing a grandfathered rate (for ex: 50% off the ticket price) and then deliver exponential value with your upgrades as bug fixes won’t cut it anymore…
Thanks and keep up the great work, hopefully we can find a win win situation here.
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That’s exactly how I feel. I bought 4 of their products because I liked the direction they were going. Gigapixel works amazing in some parts of the image but ruins other parts. I bought it because I thought in the Future It could be really good. Same org DeNoise. I specifically asked their customer service if I would have to pay for updates and they said no. That’s when I pulled the out my card and spent hundred of dollars. They are liars
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Not true. Their pages says: DENOISE projects 4 professional | Image Editing Software made in Germany | Photography Software made in Germany
Simple Pricing:
- Upgrade now to DENOISE projects 2 professional from any previous version for only 79.- USD BUY NOW
Hi I am one who has bought all the products to date. I currently have two, Ai Mask and Ai Denoise which don’t work. I certainly will be expecting working versions before I pay any more.
Also things like drag and drop don’t work consistently and the man machine interfaces are not consistent across the suite of products, ie some you export and others save as etc
Also I think that when one buys a licence and then is expected to pay for an upgrade the upgrade cost should be based on the functionality added. One has already paid for the basic program
Also I think $100 per annum is two expensive when compared to Microsoft and Adobe subscriptions. At half the price I wouldn’t blink and eye but at $100 I will be thinking again
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This answer to me makes the most sense of all ,well said radamsdigital-787982
Why nothing about Studio 2 ?
But, this an app giving me lots of problem…
There are people who do not have the financial means to service one subscription after another. If you work artistically and are also a pensioner (like me in a few years), you won’t be able to afford many tools with the current development.
It is of course understandable that a company that also has to finance high development potential is thinking about new financing possibilities. There is no other way to survive from a certain company size on.
Nevertheless, a not inconsiderable number of users are facing increasing problems. The biggest is the development towards subscription models. One example: I have to pay a subscription to Adobe Photoshop, but I don’t have the latest Mac. As a result, I have not been able to use the new program versions for some time now, not even to download them, because my system no longer meets the minimum requirements. However, I still have to pay subscription fees because otherwise I will be excluded from using them. So I also pay the expenses for developments that are not available to me at all.
My concern is that this “hidden subscription” to Topaz products leads to similar areas. That a promise on your part that this wouldn’t come is not really reassuring, given the earlier promises (lifetime free upgrades and the like), you must understand.
With all understanding, as a long-time user I am also a bit disappointed. And I’m afraid of a future in which I won’t be able to realize my ideas due to lack of financial power. You can only spend your money once.
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I would just like to say there is a lot of misinformation floating around in this thread … The focus of the announcement is:
Only DeNoise, Sharpen, Gigapixel, and Mask will require an upgrade license in 2020. Other products remain under the old policy.
And, if you own more than one of those products it will be a maximum of $99.98 for upgrades per year when it kicks off.
The good new is this announcement came out right before I was going to make a purchase and spend more money that had a Life of Updates.
So now I just saved some money. Thank you.
I own everything but two of your programs. I am not impressed with your new model and be real you have made a mess of Studio 2, new releases don’t always work from day one and now we hear we need to make money off the backs of those that were promised no cost of upgrades.
Well have a good life and I hope someone pays you the bucks as it is not going to come out of my pocket. The market is getting smaller and smaller and people are realizing that you do not need a paid update every 12 months.
Good luck and when you sell out to a bigger player good luck in your job search.
When in 2020 is this going to happen? It’s still not clear!
I bought all old legacy bundle as i use for my Hobby and bought time by time parts like Glow if i felt it was good. But with the new AI i felt it became less and less worthy in value of the programms, i love Adjust 5 but Adjust AI is a awfully Thing. Same with other stuff too…
I hope you keep the products downloadable in case i have to change my pc and install stuff new, also i will NOT get in your subscription plan, yes i call it subscription as ist nothing else then that. So in the end you should rethink your policy, as i bought your stuff with free updates, paying now for it i would be willing to a certain amount but not 100$ a year, for that you have to less to offer and from my point of view you offer each year less in point of Quality.
Neitherless i will keep going on with my old bundle till it will not work anymore, and yes i did with Photoshop 6 same way and not using CC. I understand you need to generate Money, but if i see it right your customer base will be much smaller now, which pay the subcription fee, so with you luck you earn same amount again…but offering lifetime updates, from now on i am supsicious about promises from Topaz, so good luck with your new model but i am not impressed anymore and can t recomend Topaz to others like i did before.
The second paragraph of the announcement stated:
Starting in August 2020, we will charge for product upgrades to DeNoise AI, Sharpen AI, Gigapixel AI, and Mask AI.
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The announcement does not affect those products:
Starting in August 2020, we will charge for product upgrades to DeNoise AI, Sharpen AI, Gigapixel AI, and Mask AI.
As the moderator said above, a lot of posters are thinking this new policy applies to everything. It doesn’t. Not yet, at least…
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Oh it doesn t affect the old legacy bundle, thats clear, but i got updates like everyone else to AI, finding them less useful then what i had before and now exactly the prodcuts which are in the faulty state like DeNoise AI will be charged? No way for me, i will use the few i really need and the rest not anymore
