I am one of those who are disappointed. I had purchased both Topaz Sharper and DeNoise as I liked the policy and the product the way it was offered. I haven’t read all the messages, but I would like to know if those who are already owners of your products can keep on using them even when you are gonna change your policy.
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Yes, you will still own and be able to use the software as long as your operating system supports it. However with the new policy, any upgrade revisions or additions would entail a charge.
Except that many who do this release major upgrades annually… Which, when you think about it, is a worse model…
Andy, I think the companies who have an annual major update usually put a lot of development into it. The user can decide if it is worth the upgrade cost. I do like the fact they offer a lot of new functions but I don’t know if Topaz can do this. The only other way is to have a subscription model where smaller upgrades come every couple of months such as Adobe.
I think you’re missing the point. We all understand that you don’t need to purchase upgrades if you don’t want to. The point is TL have gone back on their word of advertising lifetime upgrades! I’ve purchased almost all of the products based on that promise and I feel quite angry about it!
Yes we all know that to improve software there has to be an income stream to fund it but the fatal mistake was applying the changes to everyone. Existing customers should have remained on the promise of lifetime upgrades whith the changes only applying to new purchases.
I’m checking how this fits in to Australian Consumer Law as I’m pretty pissed off having spent a lot of money on a promise that’s now broken!
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I haven’t missed the point. Owning all of the Topaz products, including a duplicate bundle purchased for a friend,. I’d like to have them grandfathered in as all of the people in this thread do. My comment was to clarify that unlike a subscription policy, usage of the product isn’t lost if the owner doesn’t care to pay the upgrade fee.
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I think that there is no hope of TL honoring their promise. They will ride out the ill will and hope it blows over. I talked to a lawyer friend of mine last week. He told me that TL is over a barrel now. They can honor their promise to all who purchased or they can offer a 100% refund BUT it is the choice of the buyer, not Topaz. Of course they could grandfather us in but that doesn’t seem likely now. I’m going the refund route as I don’t think TL will be in business by the end of the year.
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This issue is not about the cost of development nor whether users should be expecting free anything. It’s about a business’ integrity and their lack of a moral compass. It’s evidenced by the way they threw out a carrot offering a present and future value in order to build a customer base and then dissolved that future value in the name of increased revenue . This issue is about dishonesty and greed- no more, no less. And, in my opinion, it’s not the first moral shenanigan from Topaz.
You don’t crap on the customer base that grew on your promises, no matter how distasteful it may be now. If you want to change your business model that’s your prerogative. But you don’t dump on the people you’ve already made contracts with. You grandfather them, rewrite your contract, and move forward.
What is most curious to me, however, is what would really drive a stunt like this. In thinking about it for a while, interesting theories bubble up.
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BROKEN PROMISES!!!
UNBELIEVABLE that a company would completely reverse its #1 Selling Feature. EXTREMELY Disappointed in this decision!!!
I do understand the business perspective for future sales. I literally own every product you have created and have sung your praises for years. Seems like you would honor your COMMITMENT to those who purchased your products in good faith. The thing to do is “Grandfather” in your existing customer base and new purchases would need to accept the new policy.
I’ve been LIED To and BETRAYED!!!
Bobby C.
Former TOPAZ Enthusiast and client
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Love your products, love your support people. I understand your dilemma but you will need to re-think this proposal it if you want to move ahead.
This is a magnet for a class action lawsuit and I don’t think you will survive that. I’ll be sad to see you go.
I won’t join any lawsuit but I figure lots will. On my pension I can’t afford to buy yearly upgrades so I will not be buying any more products.
Best wishes.
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I’m rather disappointed by this.
I bought Sharpen AI with a clear expectation of ongoing, non-charged updates - if fact, that was one of your main marketing messages for what was, then, an entirely untested, unproven piece of code.
Your early adopters of your new stuff are now being penalised, not just financially, but morally.
You are going back on a clear promise. That’s neither “legal, decent and honest”, nor good business practice.
Your Sharpen AI is good. But it’s far from unique. What you are doing is giving 100% of your customer base a reason to evaluate the competition, alternative solutions and other software, the majority of which is available for less than your proposed yearly upgrade fee. Most business do their utmost to avoid such a re-evaluation flex point.
Ah, well, I expect this will be the turning point for Topaz. The turning point that leads to a customer exodus.
And, btw, on your product page you say
" Constantly improving…Through continuous AI training, Sharpen AI’s enhancement model becomes both faster and higher-quality with time. You’ll get the latest and greatest when the model improves."
…well that’s clearly utter bollocks and, now, entirely misleading.
I expect there will be many unhappy (ex-)customers here.
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How is it a good value to pay about the same amount as I pay for Lightroom and Photoshop for a product that has no print function and no catalog function? Or maybe I’m missing something.
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Tough topic. Nice that they own it.
I also think that the $49/$99 annual thing is a decent balance. Considering the initial cost of the products and that they could simply make it $49 per product and move on. So groovy. Upgrading is optional. I can use it until I choose to update or it’s no longer compatible with my OS.
I do hope that this change will allow them to improve product stability and quality too. Features are nice, but… The fact that I can’t update Studio 2 today because of an installer defect is disappointing. Is it the end of the world. No. But it’s still disappointing.
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Just bought a ‘Gigapixel’ licence a few hours ago. Wish I’d checked-out this forum first. Had I been aware of the 12-mth limit on ‘free upgrades’, I can honestly say that I wouldn’t have parted with my cash.
I’ve already been down this same road with ‘Avid Media Composer’. If one ‘owns’ a ‘perpetual licence’, one is obliged to fork-over $199 within a short period of time of the expiration of the current ‘support period’. If you miss the ‘renewal grace period’ by as little as a few hours, the cost of renewal increases to $399. Oh, and if the latest version of the software that you qualified for had operational bugs, the only way to secure the ‘fix(es)’ is to renew the ‘support period’.
I am not suggesting that TopazLabs would stoop to such morally-questionable practices; but given that the company has chosen not to honour the promise of ‘free upgrades in perpetuity’ to those who had purchased TopazLabs products as a direct consequence of the lifetime ‘free upgrade’ spruik, the old adage “never say ‘never’” seems an appropriate term.
So, yes, I am more than a little annoyed to find out about the 12-mth free-upgrade limit - especially as I re-checked all my ‘purchase’ correspondence and the relevant pages of the website and noted that there is no mention whatsoever of the upgrade policy unless the purchaser actively seeks it out.
Ah well, caveat emptor and all that; I acknowledge that I only have myself to blame for jumping-in and purchasing the software licence so quickly.
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I’ve been using Photoshop Since CS.
I liked your simple non-AI products.
I knew what to expect.
Your latest software seems to be set to run in snail mode; it is really unacceptable!
I’ve always like the results from using your products, but you seem to have lost your way.
AI in concept seems like a great idea; I don’t believe that you’ve delivered.
You should have given your multi year faithful customers a bone or a reasonable discount.
I’m done. I want simple and powerful.
I could do more expressive work with your very first efforts.
Good luck with you new business plan.
I’m outta here.
Damn…
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After using and recommending Topaz Labs plugins since 2008 it’s time to part ways. For some years I was also in the affiliate program and would recommend your software at my presentations and on my photographic tours. Without question the biggest draw card you had was the free updates, even though they may not have been all that regular. Last year I decided to purchase Sharpen AI, even after finding out I had been dropped from the Affiliate program without any communication. My purchasing decision solely came down to the quality of the software output and the fact that it would have lifetime updates. Not even 6 months later, that’s all changed.
Personally I think this decision will ultimately come back to bite you. I do understand from a business perspective, however a wise business would also take the time to see what the competition is offering, what price point they’re offering their product at, and what their upgrade policy is. I remember many years ago not purchasing the Nik package in Australia because it was well and truly over priced. My go to alternative was Topaz Labs, but now that situation has become reversed. If you had all your products packaged like DxO Nik Collection 2, then things may well be different, but you insist on selling individual elements and then tacking on a hefty upgrade fee. For me, there are so many other alternatives out there now and it’s time to explore those.
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Must admit, I am right there (outta here) with @photodude and @mfackender-13457.
The ride this software company has taken me on during the years I have supported their business is horrendous and I am NOT going any further with them.
I have been in the software business on both the developer and the business side for many years, so I fully understand that their old business model of “free updates and upgrades forever” could never work. Programmers like to feed their families too.
Nevertheless, the only thing that made the overpriced software worth buying anyway WAS the upgrade policy. With the new model of paying for upgrades even for us old-timers, it is simply not worth it.
Worse than that, I must admit that even more than that, what has turned me off entirely is the very mysterious journey they have taken us on over the past years, which I can pretty much guarantee will NOT be a success.
Lets recap…
First we bought a ton of individual plugins using Photoshop as the host-application. They actually worked pretty well and were worth the relatively high price (because of the upgrade policy).
Then suddenly, here comes Topaz Studio as Topaz’s own host app. A way to cut dependency on Photoshop. Many did not like it very much. Its confusing and non-standard way of applying effects, and total misnomer of what a “layer” and layer stacking is. But OK… We were told that “from now on, all new functionality will be in Topaz Studio”… OK… Topaz’s choice… A cheaper way to support apps other than Adobe Photoshop. I get it.
Then by some magic reason that escapes me, there was a sudden switch to Topaz Studio 2…
Decisions are getting more and more weird.
Then suddenly the “all new development will be in Studio” becomes “All new INDIVIDUAL APPS” “purchased individually”, and branded with the AI (Artificial Intelligence) moniker, which despite being so in the times is a total misnomer for much of the processing relevant to merely improving photos. (Speaking as someone that has actually studied and worked AI.) All individual apps, that use individual copies of libraries, and all Gigabyte size downloads to both acquire and update. Sucking my cellular plan internet dry.
The whole model of “individual apps”, purchased separately at a HIGH overprice, just to do things that are normally within a normal, single workflow. Are you kidding me???
Want general changes in a photo? BUY Topaz Studio 2.
Want to remove noise in your photo? BUY and separately use Gigabyte size DeNoise AI.
Want to mask something?? BUY and separately use Remask AI.
Want to Sharpen your image?? BUY and separately use Sharpen AI.
Want to resize your image?? BUY and separately use Gigapixel AI?
All separate apps, with no coordination or collaboration and separate output files to be managed and named for each.
A workflow that is completely non-intuitive and violently different from every photoapp out there.
Add to this that most of these apps, that are supposed to be the saving grace of Topaz have so far been of low quality and completeness, more in the realm of Alpha or Beta software when released.
Worse, when they produce poor results, much worse than the original “normal” software, the excuse given is “well, just need to be trained”… Bunk… When I buy software I expect it to be already “trained” (AKA functional). Plus, training is a complete misnomer for most photographers and their very wide set of photos.
When buying expensive software, I expect it to be fully functional and tested to a very reasonable degree. With ANY FIXES for nonworking promised functionality I already paid for being FREE patches.
New PAID upgrades should be for new fancy functionality. Not to get a fix for existing functionality I already paid for.
A new model of paying for future UPGRADES is a normal model, and surely more one that might better have a chance of sustaining Topaz and its employees. Anyone in the software industry could have told them that “free updates/upgrades forever” could never work, as it is based on a purely theoretical model where either all developer and support infrastructure has no cost attached (employees work for free), OR you can find an unlimited number of new customers to support a constantly growing install-base getting “free stuff”. With increased install-base comes increased support cost… A very idealistic original plan, but “free” never, ever works. Topaz employees want to buy food, cars, and vacations too. I assume they were never pure-hearted volunteers.
But sticking it to existing customers by telling them that “Oops, we promised too much. Pay again.”, PLUS also switching to new software models multiple times, which so far has ended with a bunch of standalone, independent GB size download “AI” pieces that have to be purchased, upgraded, and maintained and USED completely individually…
Nah… As @photodude said… “I’m outta here.”… I have already uninstalled all the old Topaz software, and the latest versions will go the way of the Dodo as well… I have spent an inordinate amount of money on this software given its quite basic functionality, but I will have to see that investment as a “lesson learned” of “Do not support companies running business and software models my own long, long experience tells me are not sustainable.” (Or in short “free never works”).
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800 postings now and we’ve not heard from official management in days.
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Official management has responded to questions throughout this thread as they arose. If they missed your question you can log a ticket or re-post the question.
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There are some ‘legacy’ products I still greatly miss, although I can access them, its not as good a workflow as used to be possible. For example, ‘Restyle’ is a favourite and I’m surprised it has not yet been brought back into studio…
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