The only solution I found for this was to go back to using the standalone programs.
Recently processed some new panoramic shots and noticed this grid pattern after using denoise in PhotoAI. (See sample images below)
Having looked through other support issues, I note that this is not a new issue and seems to still be present for some users in the latest versions as well.
The camera is a Nikon D500 in this case, so is a supported camera file format.
Steps to reproduce issue:
- Used Lightroom to stich 8 photos (NEF) to a single panoramic shot (DNG) - See image 1.
- Open in PhotoAI (directly from Lightroom) and applied Denoise (using suggested settings). Even at this stage using the split screen, the artifacts are clearly visible - See image 2
- Save the image back to Lightroom (saves as TIFF). The resultant image (as exported from PhotoAI) has the grid artifacts as shown in the image - See image 3
My renewal was due in August, but there is no point in renewing if this is still an issue. With this result, PhotoAI is not useful for many of my shots!
I have currently reverted back to using Topaz Denoise (like others have done) as this still gives very good results.
Some help on this matter would be very appreciated. Thanks
Topaz Photo AI [v3.1.3] on [Windows]
Recently processed some new panoramic shots and noticed this grid pattern after using denoise in PhotoAI. (See sample images below)
Having looked through other support issues, I note that this is not a new issue and seems to still be present for some users in the latest versions as well.
The camera is a Nikon D500 in this case, so is a supported camera file format.
Steps to reproduce issue:
- Used Lightroom to stich 8 photos (NEF) to a single panoramic shot (DNG) - See image 1.
- Open in PhotoAI (directly from Lightroom) and applied Denoise (using suggested settings). Even at this stage using the split screen, the artifacts are clearly visible - See image 2
- Save the image back to Lightroom (saves as TIFF). The resultant image (as exported from PhotoAI) has the grid artifacts as shown in the image - See image 3
My renewal was due in August, but there is no point in renewing if this is still an issue. With this result, PhotoAI is not useful for many of my shots!
I have currently reverted back to using Topaz Denoise (like others have done) as this still gives very good results.
Some help on this matter would be very appreciated. Thanks
Topaz Photo AI [v3.1.3] on [Windows]
I’m using Topaz 3.04 and i noticed the same grid problem recently. Sometimes it is multiple parallels lines in diagonal
I am having the same issue with Photo AI 3.3.3 on Mac (Intel i9) using a 16 bit tif file and only applying the denoise enhancement. Camera used was a Nikon Z8. Tif file was from LR.
I do not have the issue using DeNoise AI 3.7.2 on the same photo.
(Technically if I seriously push the exposure on the image from DeNoise AI I will eventually see a faint grid, but its much less pronounced then the grid from Photo AI and is not noticeable without pushing the exposure, unlike the grid Photo AI produced that was noticeable with out raising the exposure at all)
I have been a long time DeNoise AI user. DeNoise AI has become a key part of my editing workflow. I decided to give Photo AI a try again, since DeNoise AI seams to be discontinued , and Photo AI still seams worse than DeNoise AI in almost every important way. It would be great if we could get the DeNoise AI models into Photo AI or even better an updated version of DeNoise AI 
Please send me your system profile information so I can check if your computer hardware is up to date.
You can securely submit your files(s) to my Dropbox using the link below.
Please be sure to send me a note here to let me know you sent something.
Anyone get the feeling that Topaz are not seeing these comments or they are just not looking into this serious issue ?
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It’s dentist that’s the issue , sharpen is ok but dentist is causing the grid problem, we are telling 1000’s to hild of paying anymore until a fix is done , I personally want a full refund for a broken product that has been broken for over a year now.
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@paul.mirfin - I tested your file sent and do not get any grid issues. I am replying to your support email with the link to download my export with no grid and potential fixes to test on your side. Make sure to reply to my support email with the results of your tests!
EDIT: after troubleshooting with Paul, using the correct workflow from LrC fixed any artifact issues!
@ChrisLord Have a look at the very top of this thread for your issue with the Grid artifact.
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For Windows users
If you get square/grid artifacts in your photos while or after processing in Photo AI, check below for a few potential solutions:
CHECKING IF YOUR COMPUTER MEETS THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
This is a processing issue, and computers that don’t meet the minimum system requirements can have this issue. Here are the minimum requirements for Photo AI.
If you want support for checking your System Profile, send us an email at help@topazlabs.com (steps to get your System Profile are in the minimum requirements page) and we can have a look.
UPDATE YOUR GRAPHICS CARD DRIVERS
If you are on Windows, ensure that your graphics card drivers are the most up-to-date version. Here are a few tools to check that information:
- For NVIDIA graphics card, open the NVIDIA app or the NVIDIA Experience app, and then install the latest Studio driver.
- For AMD Graphics card: Use the AMD tool .
- For Intel Graphics, use the Intel tool
On Mac, there is no driver updates needed.
WORKFLOW ISSUE
If you have RAW files, it is recommended that you use this path so you have RAW Denoise applied to your photos: File > Plug-in Extras > Process with Topaz Photo AI
Using the edit in path will not give you this option and the regular Denoise could produce this issue.
CONTACT US
If you still have issues after testing this, please send us an email at help@topazlabs.com with the type of file you are having issues with (RAW or JPEG), your System Profile , and a screenshot of the issue and we can troubleshoot with you.
**The development team is investigating this issue and we will post here once we release a fix for the issue. **
By writing us an email we can ensure that we add your contact info on the appropriate development team ticket and we can circle back with you directly once a fix found and released.
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On a basic denoise and sharpen I’m getting literal squares in different exposure zones on an image. As well as a generally blurry overall result. There is no real improvement.
Steps to reproduce issue:
- Open Photo Ai and import Sony Raw from A7r3
- Let automatic recommendation apply Denoise + Sharpen
- Export
Topaz Photo AI [v3.2.2] on Macbook Pro 16’ M3 Max 128gb Unified Ram
I have uploaded the requested files to your dropbox. It’s pretty clear that the Raw Denoise is the issue, as in the samples I provided I only used Raw Denoise and the problem is present.
I’ve seen this in my older version as well. I thought I was doing something wrong. Clearly, not.
I think this is pretty typical of denoising a very dark image in TPAI. Here are four versions of the same shot - arw denoised in TPAI 3.2.2, exported as a dng, and viewed in Capture 1 (the only processing TPAI is denoise):
The top left is the original arw +1EV,
the top right is the original arw +4EV and with shadows and highlights set to 100.
The bottom left is denoised in TPAI (raw-normal, strength 16) with the exported dng +4EV and with shadows and highlights set to 100.
The bottom right is denoised in TPAI (raw-normal, strength 50) with the exported dng +4EV and with shadows and highlights set to 100.
Similar results can be obtained in dark areas of other photos, suggesting that the denoise algorithm has difficulty in dark/low contrast areas and shows boundary effects when it subdivides the image for processing.
This is done on a W11 i8500 machine with intel graphics (no separate gpu).
-David
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I’ll add that this was shot on a Sony a6000. I see similar blocks on my newer Sony a6700, and I know at least some of the reports of similar effects were also Sony cameras (a7RV, A7RIII). Not sure if it’s related or just that Sonys are popular.
I’m also seeing some very interesting effects denoising the .jpg version of this image. I’ll try to do something a bit more systematic, but there’s some distinctly non-random segmenting going on.
I went looking for a photo where I could see grid artifacts in a non-extreme case (i.e., not +4EV on the moon). This was shot at 1/2000s, f/6.3, ISO 1250 (Sony a6700, 12-bit lossy compressed raw). I tried to be more systematic, comparing TPAI import of dng’s exported from CaptureOne with direct import of arw’s, etc. Finally ended up looking directly at jpg’s and the general conclusions stay the same.
On the bottom left is the as-shot image (this is the arw exported without level adjustment from Capture One). It’s actually exposed about right for the hummingbird and feeder – adding much to exposure or brightness starts to blow out highlights. The top left is the same arw, but level-adjusted in C1 and then exported as a jpg. The right side is the TPAI denoise of the corresponding left side image. The top right has not been level-adjusted after denoise, the bottom right has been level-adjusted after denoise to match the upper row. Denoising the dark image introduces multiple artifacts: There is a grid pattern, a bright orange spot by the tail, and loss of color gradation in the dark regions (compare histograms, below):
Similar, but different, issues show up when working on dng’s. (I’ve also noticed that TPAI loses gradation at the high end with an almost-blown out dng, but that’s for another thread). I still don’t know whether this is a camera thing (most, but not all, reports are with Sonys), denoise algorithm, compression (the TPAI output jpgs are 10% the size of the input jpgs, but I’m exporting from C1 as highest quality jpg) or other. I’m inclined to think it’s not the camera, as the effect is present with jpgs generated external to the camera, and the grid (in this case) is ~475 pixels so it’s not pdaf striping or something like that. The artifacts also differ between jpg and dng and vary by photo. Also, if I take the dark jpg, read it back into C1, adjust levels, save it as a jpg, and then process that through TPAI, I get sort of an intermediate -no grids but also not particularly good noise reduction.
The upshot is that denoise works best when the input is pretty close, exposure-wise, to the intended final product. This becomes problematic in the raw workflow where denoise is the obligatory first step.
A couple of us have posted about this over the past months - TPAI denoise struggles in large dark areas and produces this grid/waffle/checkerboard pattern pretty consistently. You may be better off boosting exposure before you denoise and then backing it off afterwards, as long as your image has sufficient dynamic range.
