Topaz Photo AI (Patreon)

** Updated to include the links to Topaz Photo AI **

Purchase Topaz Photo AI 

You may have seen Topaz Photo AI being advertised on social media forums in recent weeks. Unfortunately it is not easy to determine how effective this software is when the 'before and after images' are being viewed on a Facebook forum (where images in the post are heavily compressed and are restricted to 2048 pixels  on the longest dimension). Some of the advertising I feel is overplayed, but you should be able to see a difference in the high resolution images in this post (so long as you are viewing them on a large 4K monitor).

I have used and have previously promoted the use of Topaz DeNoise AI and DxO Pure Raw to suppress noise in high ISO images prior to the Denoise being added recently to Lightroom and ACR (Adobe Camera Raw). I have also favourably reviewed the DxO Pure Raw software on my YouTube channel. All options now do a great job of suppressing high ISO noise. I have had no issue with recommending Topaz and DxO software options prior to Adobe adding their own Denoise AI option.

Topaz Photo AI is basically a collection of the individual DeNoise AI, Sharpen AI and Gigapixel AI software, that Topaz sell separately, now all in one user Interface.
Gigapixel AI can increase the resolution of files (useful if you have cropped very tightly in post production editing and the resulting pixel resolution is now less than 4K (3840px wide and/or 2160px high). Adobe also offer the option to grow Raw files in Lightroom and ACR using the 'Super Resolution' option found in its 'Enhance' feature.

So you may ask the question 'do I need Topaz Photo AI' if I can already 'enhance' the resolution and suppress high ISO noise using the new 'Denoise' feature inside of Lightroom without purchasing additional software.

There are a couple of reasons to still consider purchasing Topaz Photo AI software. The Enhance feature found in Lightroom can either enhance the resolution or suppress the noise of a Raw file. It currently cannot do both to one Raw image. Topaz Photo AI can enhance the resolution and suppress the noise of Raw and JPEG images (it is not restricted to woking only on Raw images). It is also capable of enhancing the resolution of files without growing the pixel dimensions (the last two images of this post are an example where fine details is mostly restored to an image that was not quite sharp). This 'Enhance Resolution' feature is useful for correcting minor issues with subject blur that was caused by a slight focus error or where the shutter speed was not quite fast enough to freeze a pin-sharp image that is completely free of movement blur. Being able to do this in one user interface with a live preview allows you to fine-tune and carefully balance all the settings before saving your optimised file.

I don't consider this to be a 'game-changer' app, but it is a very useful tool you can draw upon from time-to-time to rescue an otherwise compromised image. It took me a while to find a few images that I had not captured pin-sharp ;-) so I could showcase what this software is capable of, but I do think it is amazing how Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are adding a whole range of tools to make any shortcoming in our craft or technique less noticeable.

If you would like to purchase this software you can click on this link:
Purchase Topaz Photo AI