When I started using Topaz products, I never expected Topaz to boil everything down to “Post-processing for Dummies” (Photo AI). I shoot in some difficult situations and Denoise AI and Sharpen AI are baked into my workflow. Over the past couple of years I’ve shifted from PhotoShop to DXO PhotoLab. I like what PhotoLab does and it allows me to export a file into either Denoise AI or Sharpen AI, and then pops me back into PhotoLab with I’m done with that image.
I was offered the original Photo AI, installed it, and within 30 minutes, uninstalled it. I’ve done the same with two iterations of the current version. Same result.
I’ve seen no other dedicated NR or sharpening plugin/software that gives me the control I get with the Topaz products.
The only consolation, for me, is that I will never have to spend another penny on Topaz products. I will be keeping my eye out for anyone else that fills in the gap left by Topaz.
So the Black Friday Deals are out… with no indication whatsoever on what it it would cost me to extend for a year as my current plan don’t run out until Nov 28th…
I’ve been following this forum for a year now, and while I agree with the “Spirit” of this thread I have seen improvements (and I do like the way the removal works after only two public releases) that have me kind of sitting on the edge here thinking about actually giving it another year, but all I can buy is additional seats or (if not logged in) the original three apps bundled into a $199 “deal” like it is totally valid to count the prices for three apps that will never again see an update as the starting point…
As a newcomer I am totally confused by the Black-Friday-Deals. As far as I am informed, PhotoAI combines the three products Denoise AI, Sharpen AI and Gigapixel AI. What kind of weird “deal” it is to offer a “Photo Plus Bundle” (Photo AI + Denoise + Sharpen + Gigapixel) for the same price as Photo AI alone?
Sorry. I completely forgot I posted about that here as well…
I found that there were different prices at that time (this seems to be fixed now) depending on where you clicked “buy”.
I decided to wait a couple of days, and returned yesterday to find the lower price of $74 all over the place. The downside now is that it seems I there is no longer any option for getting the standalone apps included (I believe that was an option last week) which kind of suck now that I see rumors that there might actually be a Gigapixel AI update coming soon.
In the end I bought the $74 update… I can always back out of that one if there is a change within the next 30 days.
The statement (quoted in the Gigapixel AI 6.3.3 release thread) say that “DeNoise AI and Sharpen AI will no longer be receiving updates but Gigapixel AI will be in the coming months”
I have to question whether or not it’s really viable to pay for another year of just Gigapixel for (maybe) that one last update “in the coming months”. For me to justify spending $49 on that the difference would have to be like stepping up from a “squared” to a round wheel, since Gigapixel works well enough for my typical usage.
Keep in mind that any update to Gigapixel AI, for better or worse, will be to bring it into compliance with the newer Photo AI models. If you’re happy with it as it is, you have to consider the risk that they may spoil that. For example the PAI V1 Sharpen had it’s issues, but was quite popular when compared with V2 Sharpen. In spite of our comments about keeping both V1 Sharpen it is now dead and gone.
Then again I’m a Luddite, and still use Topaz Denoise 6 as my default way to denoise my photos because everything after that introduces more noticeable artifacts than 6 does.
I’m all for using “whatever works best” and for the moment I’m not that unhappy with the current version of GAI so I’ll probably just stay on that, especially since it seems there won’t be much more happening there except for perhaps one last update. It was easier to be pulled into buying another year of updates when they came for “free” with PAI a year ago (or was it the other way around that PAI came when I updated the other three - I don’t remember?)
And now with your comment about Denoise 6 I might just have to take that one for a test drive…
Denoise 6 is not for sale anymore, and has been unsupported for four years now. If you have a legacy copy it still works just fine. It is not as “magical” as some of the newer AI stuff, but it has lots of controls and is really good at simply knocking out the noise without changing the basic nature of the image.
Yes, Sharpen V1 did have it’s share of problems - but IMO (and also for others) still did work better in many cases than V2 which is even less perfect.
I realized yesterday with the V2 that it creates an irregular pattern.
I.e. the image looks like it is noisy afterwards, which in turn ensures that, in theory, the enlargement with Enhance should work better, e.g. if you enlarge AI-generated images.
My favorite sharpening filter is still enhance.
How does that work? I place the enlarged image on top of the small one, the enlargement improves the details, resolution and sharpness at the original size.
I must point out once again that Topaz does not show any attention to the comments of its real users (who already have a Topaz license) or virtual users (who are considering whether to purchase it or not). The BlackFriday offer is scandalous to say the least: objects that address different areas of interest (videos and photos) are put together with apps that are now abandoned or in the process of being abandoned, in order to show an incredible economic advantage in purchasing at a discounted price new stuff (not really working at its best, see this thread) and stuff heading towards obsolescence.
Attention Topaz, you risk being left selling peanuts in public gardens!
Just updated PAI. The Sharpen is making a right mess of my images, halos and white lines. It used to work pretty well. Maybe AI is based on low res images?
