I’ve been running Topaz Photo AI as a Lightroom extension and every few exports I get artifacts on my images, random and different every few exports. I can run it again and get none, but when processing dozens of images this occurs multiple times an hour.
Yes!! Exactly the same problem, and it happens a LOT to me, though not every time. I have been looking everywhere for a solution, first time I saw a post describing (and illustrating) the same problem.
Observations:
I may see these square or rectangular artifacts when I process a file in Topaz Sharpen AI (often dozens in a single large image), and then re-process the same file immediately and not see them at all. This appears to be a random phenomenon. The location and number of artifacts differs every time.
I do very large (2-3 Gig and up) stitched pans from images capture with a GFX 100S. It seems to me that I have these problems occur much more often with these large files than when I do a standard-sized portrait.
This seems to happen more in sky and cloud areas of landscapes, I virtually never see it from indoor shots (I do a lot of architecture, often vertical ceiling pans, which also generate large files).
I currently use V 4.1.0 of Topaz Sharpen AI, but had the identical problem with previous versions, over the last 2 years at least. I use a Windows computer with 32 GB of RAM and enough processing power to run the sharpening of a 2-3 Gig image in a minute or two, but had the same problem with a prior Windows computer…
FWIW, I shoot RAW, process in DXO PL 6, edit further in PS, stitch the pan in PS or PTGUI and then do the sharpening in Topaz as the last step. Occasional intermediate steps include Helicon for focus stacking and/or Photomatrix for HDR, but I do not get the feeling that these intermediate processing steps have any impact on my seeing these artefacts or not…
Any solution would be very gratefully appreciated. This drives me bananas, and probably affects 60+% of the larger stitched pans I do in Topaz Sharpen AI. My guess is that this occurs at random, and that the larger file size → larger # pixels → increased risk of the problem occuring, but this is just a guess.
I love the program otherwise, which is why I have put up with this problem for so long…
This is a known issue we’re working on addressing as a priority for this and next quarter. In the meantime, you can try using the Photo > Edit in > Topaz Photo AI workflow which will process a TIF instead of a RAW and not introduce artifacts.
We appreciate your patience and understanding as we get this fixed for you.
