To be honest, I kind of prefer the original editors to Photo AI. Trying to compare Apples to Apples, I use the same settings for DeNoise and Sharpen in AI and my results seem to be better in the original apps. DeNoise cleans the noise better. With Sharpen, I like having 9 selections versus 4 in AI. One other thing I find unusual, for the original editors, Topaz recommends doing all of your editing first then using them, while AI wants you to use the RAW file first. When I edit first, the results seem better both in AI and the original editors. Am I not seeing, or doing something wrong?
I really have tried to embrace PhotoAI… I have been downloaded and tested every iteration since its inception… As a hobbyist my goal is quality… I don’t process hundreds or thousands of images as some folks are want to do… The RAW processing process from Lightroom Classic to PAI and back is broken on several fronts. The returned DNG’s color profile is borked, and the cropping tool is borked making that process useless… The Sharpening mechanisms and profiles in PAI are simply too much… and I almost, in every instance, reject it. The masking is ineffective and too time consuming from the fiddling that’s necessary… and I can achieve spectacular results using LR’s masking tools much more effectively. The only tool I use in PAI that’s effective is the Upscaling feature… Using PAI for that singular working tool, for me, when Giga, Sharpen, and Denoise are available is a no brainer… My current workflow is first PAI, reject its results and go back to my faithful individual tools. If I were dependent on PAI for earning money, PAI would not be in my workflow at all.
Photo AI is a big time-saver, even when I have to turn off the “auto-pilot”.
Even so, there are times when I still go back to Sharpen and DeNoise after using Photo AI.
I have a question, though: While Photo AI gets updated frequently, why don’t the original editors get updated too? Every time I check, the result is that I have the latest release.
This tells me that the original tools haven’t been updated in months. Is that right?
That’s correct.
I had some contact with Topaz a few weeks ago and they are not updating the original apps right now, devoting their time to AI. I really think they need to keep the original apps up to date.
Hi everyone,
Photo AI is the only one getting regular updates; DeNoise, Sharpen, and Gigapixel are not.
The main difference is that Photo AI has all the functionality in one (and improving AI models), which make it a more convenient workflow. The individual apps may offer slightly more robust control over the settings because they’re specialized.