In this video I go over why I was wrong about noise reduction and sharpening tools, especially when you combine them with your wildlife photography. I’ll go over some ways that I used to work and then mention the tools that I do use.
Also, if you choose to purchase Topaz, I would greatly appreciate using either of the links below. I get a small affiliate fee for it and that’ll let me take my wife out to a nice dinner 😉 Thanks!
Topaz DeNoise Link: https://mattyk.me/3tCLKQc
Topaz Sharpen Link: https://mattyk.me/3ajrgV9
I love teaching and photography... In that order. I feel that enjoying photography, and photo editing can get WAY too complicated. So my personal mission (and favorite thing to do), is to create education that simplifies the process of taking great photos, and how to edit them to get the results you’ve always wanted.
Hey Matt, what is your opinion on whether either the sharpen or denoise software is better installed into or with your PS or LR programs or is it better as a stand alone as shown of it’s capability on their wedsite?
Hi Bob. I don’t use them anymore (this post is old), but it’s personal preference. It’s the same software. If it’s easier for you to use as a plug-in from LR or PS (Which is how I used it) or if you’d rather open as a standalone. It doesn’t change the result.
Hi Matt, thanks for the quick reply. It’s been a long time now but I still use your presets that I got from you. It was either back when you and Scott were doing that weekly web show or I got a link from one of my LR books from Scott Kelby. Those presets still do a good job!
If you don’t mind maybe you can help answer this for me since I can’t get a straight answer on forums? I have a D800 and a new 24-70mmVR (I figure the answer will work for the rest of my lenses as well.) when I pack my camera/lens in my Lowepro Toploader bag in which the lens points down, is it ok to have the camera and lens weight rest on the hood in ready to shoot mode? Or, should I reverse the hood and let the weight rest on the lens cap?
Hi Bob. I always put it in with lens hood off. Not for any safety reasons but only to save space. Not sure it matters though. Thanks
Thanks for update. Saves me time, big time.
Matt,
one of the things that drives me crazy, is when I select subject in lightroom, after making general adjustments to the picture, the bird is much darker and not the same as it was when i did general adjustments. What am i doing wrong. I hoped it would be the same as it was in general adjustments and I could further refine it. thanks, hugh
Hi Hugh. Doing “Select Subject” makes no adjustments. It just makes a selection. From there, you make adjustments to make it brighter or darker. So if something is happening it’s one of the settings you’re using on it. Hope that helps.
I am using Topaz Sharpen AI and after some experimentation am often getting good results running my files through the software twice, once applying whatever the recommended setting is (say one of the motion blur options) but and then also applying to that amended file a different setting (say one of the out of focus options). I haven’t yet determined whether it makes any difference reversing the sequence or not but I do usually like the results achieved. Anyone else have any experience of doing the same?
Hey Matt – thanks for the video. I have a Sony A7IV and my travel lens is a Tamron 28-200 (F2.8-5.6). Instead of taking an additional (1.4-1.8) prime lens, I was planning to just increase the ISO with my Tamron and use Topaz DeNoise in post. Will this work, or do you recommend bringing a better low light lens for night street photography? Thanks for your advice.
Hi Rick. I think you’d be fine with that lens, but always try it out first. Take your lens out at night or in the evening and crank up the ISO for some photos (even if they’re not good photos) and then bring them back and run through Topaz. See how they look and if it’s acceptable to you. It really depends on how high the ISO goes and what you plan to do with the photo and your expectations. But overall, I say worry less about noise and more about getting your camera to a great place, with great light and great composition. Nobody will care about noise if you do all of those things. And if you don’t do those things… well, noise is not going to be your problem 😉
I was really happy with this video of yours because I’m 98% leaning towards buying the Topaz de noise and sharpening software and your experience got me to this point. Also, I went to Africa last month and really need good noise reduction. I
have a friend who uses the Topaz software and her photos are wonderful. So I’ll do the free trial now and I’m sure I’ll
be using your 15% off offers. Thank you for that!
I have tried using Topaz Gigapixel AI v 5.8.0 (activated) in PS 2022, ‘invoked’ via the file>automate menu (MacOS 12.2.1) . So far from many attempts it consistently throws a GUI error and is totally unusable. I have sent many logs and screenshots to Topaz but so far no success. Repeated deleting of the app, re-downloading and reinstalling the app results in the same ongoing BUG. NO use at all at this time. I also use Topaz Denoise AI and Sharpen AI which work as filters just fine.
I just impulsively bought the bundle other day seem to have more that these 3 now but they accepted 15% off. Question – used Giga but when it saved image profile saved as Adobe98 not Adobe RGB (1998) so photoshop wanted to change profile .also tested going from 20×20 to 24×24 300 dpi just to see = Ugh horrible
Do you ever open an image in Photoshop as a smart object or convert a layer to a smart object and apply a Topaz filter to it?
I don’t personally do that but if you prefer to work with Smart Objects you can go that route. Thanks.
Matt if I’m using Topaz to de-noise images as a Lightroom plug-in, what should I do with LR’s noise reduction sliders – set them all to ‘zero’?
Hi. I try to remember to set them to zero which is a good practice. In reality if you forget the difference is negligible. Basically it’s a good workflow to try to remember, but if you don’t do it you’ll never notice the difference unless you pixel peep.
I decided to purchase the package deal after watching all your videos and using your discount. The reviews almost all seem positive. I have been testing out AI Denoise for the past 30 minutes and in every image it’s always much worse than Lightroom. It almost creates more noise and adds strange patterns and color banding that wasn’t in the original image. I have yet to process one image that looks better than either doing no noise reduction at all or just using Lightroom. Even in lightly noisy images AI Denoise is always much much worse. Is there something I am doing wrong?
Hi Jamil. It sounds like you could be doing something wrong but I don’t know what that would be. I use it on wildlife photos and it beats Lightroom 11 times out of 10 hands down. Lightroom can’t even hold a candle to the results I get on my wildlife photos with it.
Thanks Matt. It’s a bummer because the results you and others show online are simply amazing. I can’t even get it to look better than the original in the actual plugin program. In the 4 square view the other 3 always look worse. I’ve tried CPU vs GPU and adjusted the memory settings. No change. I’m on a late 2019 i9 iMac with 40gb ram running Catalina.
Jamil, did you ever find a solution?
Hi Matt, I found Topaz labs a couple of years ago. I regularly use three of their products. Sharpen, DeNoise and GigaPixel. The only real problem I have is their upgrading. In my case it isn’t done automatically and the only time I find out is when I open one. So I have to back out, close and reinstall. It’s not a deal breaker since I’ve been using all of them for over a year or so.
I found you on the recent LRC Adobe and enjoyed your videos.
I tend to do most of my editing in PS rather than LRC. After watching all the videos I’m kind of rethinking that. That said I do have issues with LRC.
Topaz products are great but what I dislike is that after a year the upgrade is no longer free and is quite expensive. The upgrade has to be pretty remarkable for me to pay for it.
I appreciate your tutorial and will take on board your suggestion to ask myself is it an environmental or action shot as I can see I have at times missed the point of my image. Here’s a question not really related to your tutorial but one I hope you can answer: When uploading (or is that downloading) RAW images from camera to LR do you have them converted to DNG, Copy, or Move? I’m a bit confused. I used to always convert to DNG as suggested by someone but the one any only time I wanted to enter a wildlife photo into a competition I was told DNG files were not acceptable. Then I started using “copy” but just recently it has been suggested to use “move” so now I’m not sure what to do. What do you do?
Hi Sally. I don’t covert to DNG. Wrote about it here: https://mattk.com/why-i-dont-convert-dng/
As for competitions, my guess is they want you to send a JPG file in. Sending a DNG file in would be like sending a raw file in and I can’t see any competition accepting that. Hope that helps.
Thanks for replying Matt. Actually this particular competition wanted the option, if you were a potential winner, to see the original unedited version in it’s original format. Jpg files naturally were requested for the initial selection. So perhaps I need to rewatch a video of yours to see how you import images from camera to LR.
Sally, When importing images from the camera to Lr, choosing Copy will store the images where you specify, while keeping the images on your camera. They won’t get moved or erased from your camera. It’s like having a backup until such time as you copy your images and catalog to a 2nd and sometimes 3rd place. I don’t convert to DNG. I leave them in their native Raw format, which Lr will never overwrite it, and you have access to the Raw file where you chose to store it. Hope that makes sense.
Is there a preferred place in your processing to apply the Topaz tools?
Hi. I’ll usually use it from LR as a plug-in if I don’t need Photoshop. If I do need Photoshop I’ll use it as a plug-in from there. It’s all covered in my Topaz Deep Dive course: https://mattk.com/deep-dive-topaz
Thanks.
Thanks, as always, Matt for making us all better, at photo editing! I used your discount (which I hope you get a piece of), and bought the whole package. Topaz is terrific!
Best,
David
Thanks Matt. Just FYI they have both tools plus enlargement on sale for $149 (extra tool for free!!) with your 15% discount, it brought the total to $127 thanks! Hopefully you will give another training on Topaz. I also see they have webinars and training…. appreciate the insight
Matt I just watched a tutorial that Photo Joseph did on the new DxO Raw. It was amazing. It not only sharpened your raw file but also took care of noise..I use the NIK Collection to help with post processing and also have some Topaz programs. I really liked this new DxO Raw though.
Hi Matt, thanks for the video. I have been a user of Topaz AI for a while now but I’m hoping you can provide some insight into something that has really confused me. Topaz DeNoise has a sharpen capability and Topaz Sharpen has a denoise capability. On a noisy and focus challenged image, I don’t know whether I should just use ONE of the tools to correct both, use BOTH tools with no secondary correction (sharpen in Topaz DeNoise or denoise in Topaz Sharpen) or some other combination. Also if I use BOTH tools, which one I should start with.
I would really love to hear if you have insights into this. Thanks much
Hi Mark. Pick whichever is worse and go with that task. So if Noise is the bigger problem go with Noise Reduction. If they’re both bad, it’s a toss up. Opening one before the other won’t make much of a difference, but it’s always good to experiment on your own photo to see as well. Good luck!
I’d just like to say that I’ve been teaching Photoshop and numerous other imaging software apps since 2006. When it comes to the topic of sharpening, ALL that time I’ve recited the following mantra: “While there are seriously brilliant minds at work as we speak, the one thing they’ve not yet figured out how to do is to make an out of focus image look sharp without the process being obvious”. Most of my teaching is done at night at adult education centers so I typically qualify by saying “that might change by tomorrow morning”. Well, tomorrow morning has arrived. Thanks to Topaz for creating this and to you for bringing it to our attention. Sharpening AI blew my pants off. You’ll have to take my word on that as I’m not attaching any images 🙂 Just wanna say thanks!
Just a heads up Matt
I just downloaded Topaz Sharpen & Denoise as a package but during the checkout there was no place to enter the discount code so I ended up paying full price. A little bummed out. You might warn others viewers of this.
Hi Mike. I just went to the website and there’s an “Add Promo Code” at the very bottom of the price/cart area every time I try. Since the video came out there’s been quite a few people who have used it, and no one has said they weren’t able to enter it. So maybe double check yours and even send them an email to see if they’ll refund you and let you do it again. They do have a 30 day guarantee. Thanks!
matt
The page I used did not have a cart, just an area to enter your credit card info
Not sure what to tell you Mike. I can’t find a page to checkout on that doesn’t have the “Add Promo Code” option under the price of whatever is in the cart (top left area of the page). As I mentioned, maybe contact them and ask for help. Thanks.
Hi Mike,
I just ordere the Denoise and I had no problem entering the code. Additionally, I entered the option for a one year extention and I could use the code for the extention too.
I don’t know if you tried this or not on the Topaz Sharpen AI but I did an out of focus option on the software and it brought the photo into better focus. I then took that focused image and put that back into the software and did another out of focus option and it came in significantly more focused.
This is a really nice feature.
Thanks for the video on this and am always looking for stuff from you since you’re so easy to listen to and learn from
I use the comparison view in Topaz Denoise and Sharpen…nice to see different views at once.
As soon as I saw the title of your video, I knew you were going to talk about Topaz Denoise and Sharpen. I do wildlife and landscape/nature photography and their products have recovered many photos I thought were discards.
Matt I’ve been using these Topaz plugins for a while and am fully on board. But Audubon recently included in their rules for a competition that use of AI was not allowed. Since all you are doing is similar to other post processing to make the image look closer to what you see, this seems to be a slippery slope. And yes, Topaz confirmed that with right software AI use of Topaz can be found in the EXIF. There are also many more AI based tools now, including in PS. Would like your thoughts. Thanks
Hi Tom. That’s a tough one for me to answer. Personally, I don’t enter contests. And I really don’t plan to have the Audubon society tell me how I can / can’t edit my photos, so that will surely keep me away from doing it in the future. I think contests can be great when done for the right reasons. And I’m not saying I’ll never submit a photo to a contest. But I never have, and don’t have any near term plans of doing so. But who knows… I change all the time, so maybe by the time I want to, these contest rules will be a thing of the past. Lastly, I don’t think rules like this will last, because AI is (or will be) a part of just about every software in the future. Technically, if you click “Auto” in Lightroom there’s a bit of AI involved there as well – Auto didn’t get so good by just engineers adjusting it. There’s machine learning that made it that way. Thanks!
I submitted previous comments about the fact that these programs were not installing properly. I was never able to get in touch with Topaz help so I called Adobe to see if they could help me. I spent about an hour on the phone with them allowing them to take control of my computer and they were unable to help and said they would keep looking into it and try to get someone more knowledgeable to help me and call back in a day or two. I called Mac and they were unable to help. I got an update for photoshop and installed it and everything works. Mac said that had nothing to do with it. Adobe doesn’t know yet.
I have no idea why it it started working, but I’ll take it!
I am getting good results with it so far, but have to check it out more.
The Sharpen AI plugin will not install in Photoshop CC v22.3 on my new M1 Macbook Pro.. supposedly a known problem. 🙁 Not sure if and when a fix will be available
I’ve been using the Topaz products for a few months now. Incredible software. Also using their JPEG to RAW conversion software on some of my earlier JPEG photos from 2004 and then enhancing with their NR and Sharpen software for amazing image improvement. I originally thought these were “cheats” and would not use them, until a couple of photographer friends posted Likes in FB for these products. Since I respect them, I decided to give Topaz a look and I cannot return to the old ways (alone). Love Topaz and highly recommend their software. Peace.
Hi Matt,
have you already tested DXO photolab 4 deep prime noise reduction ?
it is listed in some comments below BUT I just received an advertisement
for a brand new DXO Pure raw (89 euros) with, if i understand, a xmp collaboration
with lightroom.
no idea how it interfaces with photolab4 and U-points, dng+xmp , before coming back
to Lightroom or makes a TIF I dislike.
Hi Marc. You and I have traded probably 50 emails over time and from reading our conversations, I realize you’re always looking for another software to buy. For me, I’m just not. When I find something that works, I stick with it because I don’t want to get too caught up. So… I hear DXO is good and I hear it’s not good from various people. One day I’ll give it a whirl, but for now I’m REALLY REALLY happy with the quality of the photos I’m getting from using what I have mentioned. And there’s something to be said for being really happy. I simply don’t want to spend more time right now messing with other software and I’d rather spend that time doing the good stuff that’ll get me better photos. But if you give it a try, please feel free to write in and let me know what you find. My guess is you’ve tried everything out there, so your review holds credit to me. Thanks!
haha. yes, you know me Matt,
I like to buy tutorials, softwares (topaz, NIK3.3, DXO, ON1, Luminar AI), photoshop panels (F64, TK/Lumenzia, Infinity color grading+B&W) and presets, especially on black friday 🙂
i don’t have the opportunity to travel a lot like you due to my job,
family reasons and confinement for 1 year so I spend hours to play with these
and help my friends to retouch and boost their pictures…
I updated my old NIK collection to V3.3 (non destructive in lightroom for one plugin) and considered DXO photolab 4 at same time because I had some nostalgy of the U-points I used in the past in capture NX2.
I don’t use photolab 4 a lot because I prefer NIK, ON1 and Luminar AI as lightroom plugins BUT I have learnt that, compared to other plugins it has a better workflow with lightroom, meaning they can in a certain sense share dng and lightroom catalog.
the new DXO Pure raw seems to be more advanced in this lightroom workflow, this is why I suggested it to you to avoid the TIF with Topaz.
marc
Hey Marc – I have no intention of using DNG or DXO. I tried it yesterday and found the entire process to be really painful personally. It was so clunky, slow, and just interruptive for results that didn’t look much better. I’m a LR user and my photos will start there so anything that wants to mess with raw or DNG outside of LR isn’t going to be in my workflow right now. Thanks!
Hi Matt,
Thank you very much for this comparison and remarks about the new dxo workflow.
Very useful.
DXO makes so many advertisements having the best lens correction, perspective correction (viewpoint), noise reduction and now raw processing that it is always difficult to know if it is true or not.
Same remark for your show with Scott Kelby and Serge Ramelli about capture one vs Lightroom. very useful.
marc
Hi Marc. Honestly, advertisements speak to different people in different ways. Whenever I see an ad that mentions lens corrections and perspective corrections, I automatically think to myself “I don’t want anything to do with that software because it’s not speaking to me about things I care about”. If you took away lens corrections and perspective correction forever, I’d be fine personally as I find them the least of what I care about in editing. I’m more of a creative editor, and those tools just don’t resonate for my landscapes travel and wildlife photos. Thanks!
DXO Prime Denoise AI is actually a touch better than current Denoise AI.. for one thing it works on the RAW files and leaves less artifiacts. I am impressed
I tried it today. Unless I’m wrong, you have to start in DXO’s software to do this. It actually didn’t do better than Topaz on the photos I tried with it. But even if it did, isn’t that a REALLY messy workflow for an Adobe Lightroom user?
Thanks Matt! Good info! The technology moves so fast today. I got my first IBM compatible computer at work I think about 1984. 640K of RAM and a 10mb hard drive with a color monitor and I loved it. It was perfect for Lotus 123. We have come a long way! More to come!
I’ve been using topaz for several years now and it is fantastic! I use it mainly for my astro photography where you have dark scenes shot at high ISO, 3200/6400. I used to shoot 7 to 9 images and process them through Sequator but now I shoot 1 image and process it through Topaz DeNoise AI and end up with a better result!
Sorry it took you so long to find the future 🙂
I was like you. I use Lightroom and ON1 and was always happy with the results. But I did throw away some photos I would have like to keep but could not get them to the quality I liked. Like you… I had a friend who kept talking about Sharpen AI and the results he gave him. Great… I did not want to add another tool to the bag… but they had a free full version demo download so I gave it a try. After the month was over I was sold. It even include the noise reduction. Every time I need help on sharpening I jumped to the program and the results were there. For the price of a good bottle of wine ($50 on sale) i am now a license user. I agree with everything you said.
Matt, if you had to choose one software (DeNoise or Sharpen) over the other which one would you pick. DeNoise?
Hi Janet – I would pick DeNoise since it also does a great job sharpening. Personally for me, the blurry photos that I need to save are fewer and further between. But Noise Reduction is something that affects most of my wildlife photos.
I had Topaz Noise Reduction and Sharpening for more than a year so, when I got a notice of the latest update recently, I bought and paid. Noise works well; Sharpening exits during processing every time and I have no idea how to make the program work – money misspent.
Contact Topaz customer support. I had the same problem with Topaz Mask AI last year. There was a bug that showed up in very few PCs, and mine was one of them. They refunded my purchase price and suggested I give it another try when the next update was published. I did, and it works fine now. Good luck!
Matt There are a lot of plugins out there for noise reduction that work very well? Just for the heck of it, I did a quick comparison between Topaz Denoise and Imagenonic’s Noiseware, in my opinion, Noiseware performed just as good if not better than TOPAZ, especially in the speed area. Topaz was slow a took a lot of time analyzing my Raw file. Yes, I have a very good computer! Noiseware results were immediate when it loaded my raw file so were the results when I made changes to the settings. For mee not the case with TOPAZ. The presets in Noiseware are right on spot for the removal of noise from different types of images. night, landscape. etc and there is a bracketing feature and the addition to add sharpening back in just like topaz.
Hi Matt,
Thanks for the videos on this and pretty much everything else (can’t get into presets!). This is a massive game-changer for me as I do two main forms of photography – aviation and handheld landscapes (serious mountain hiking with multiple lenses AND a tripod is too much for my old bones. Seeing some aviation shots from 10 years ago in the trial version and I was straight into the order – and thanks for the magic code. I am so glad you were wrong and made this video.
Cheers
I would like to know how you got that fantastic support you write about. I paid for everything twice and I only get a trial use of sharpening and no use of denoise Ai. The trial use of Sharpen Ai is of no use because it leaves a watermark over most of the photo. I have written several emails to their help address and have gotten no answers. I would like a phone number so that I can address the issues that I have. The whole bundle appears on photoshop 2021, but does not work. Can someone help me with this?
Hi Donald. I did not write about any fantastic support or support at all for that matter. I haven’t had the need to contact Topaz, but if something isn’t working unfortunately I don’t know what to suggest other than contacting them. Good luck!
How do I contact them? I have written emails to them and have not gotten even a robo return email. I was quoting another person on this site when I said that about fantastic support and I didn’t mean to assign that remark to you (sorry about that).
This is to anyone on this site: How do I get help?
I’ve used various Topaz bundles for about 10 years, including the new DeNoise and Gigapixel. I’ve had to contact Topaz by email a few times about what upgrades/updates I was eligible for and their responses have always been good, often giving me free upgrades. Be patient if they don’t reply immediately but I consider them one of the better software companies to do business with.
I don’t know Don. I usually go to a website and scroll to the bottom. Typically there’s a contact option there. Good luck!
hello,
I have a very good technical and marketing support in Topaz
since their beginning. Try :
Eric Lowery (Topaz Labs)
They receive tons of contact forms and can’t reply to all of them.
They give priority to their customers so if you purchased something to topaz,
send a mail from your topaz account.
I hope this helps
Marc
Not sure why you are having this problem. Have you tried logging into your account at the Topaz website? From there click on My Products and you can see what you have purchased and can download again if you need to. With the older legacy plugin programs you needed to enter a license key to activate them but you now just enter your Topaz login credentials and the program is unlocked.
I’ve been using Topaz Denoise AI for several generations and love it. I have been encouraging people to check it out. It is a game changer. The sharpening technology built in is pretty good. I’ve found it handles noise in the Fuji RAW files much better than Lightroom, Photoshop or On1.
I would like to know how you got that fantastic support you write about. I paid for everything twice and I only get a trial use of sharpening and no use of denoise Ai. The trial use of Sharpen Ai is of no use because it leaves a watermark over most of the photo. I have written several emails to their helpaddress and have gotten no answers. I would like a phone number so that I can address the issues that I have. The whole bundle appears on photoshop 2021, but does not work. Can someone help me with this?
Matt – sooo glad to see you’ve crossed over to the dark side! To be fair, the Topaz technology in denoise and sharpening took a huge step forward within the last year. Their AI technology was the difference. Hope to have you back in front of The Villages Photography Club soon. Continued good health
Yes, the software is game changing and as a WL photographer it has been nothing short of amazing. As a stand-alone one can use the program’s masking ability or alternatively use it selectively in PS. Occasionally, it will produce artifact or the auto selection’s settings have to be toned down. My typical workflow is to use Denoise AI on the RAW photo if the camera is supported or make basic tonal adjustments first and then apply Denoise. Deciding to use Sharpen AI is largely predicated on output destination and for web work some images don’t require additional sharpening. My only issue is their subscription is relatively expensive for two plug-ins.
Thank you, Matt, for pointing out these apps from Topaz. I had never heard of them before. I downloaded the demos and tried them. It took just a couple pictures before I sent them money. One was an OK image of my Dad at his 100th birthday party. It was a nice memory, but looks even better with the sharper edges. (He was remarkable healthy at 100 and lived another 2 1/2 years). Topaz also worked its magic on a candid “portrait” photo of my daughter, handheld, indoors, … motion blur gone.
Hi Matt. Thrilled to hear that you’ve transitioned to wildlife photography. I’ve always photographed wildlife and shot some landscapes and so am very interested in your findings. Have you tried DxO PureRAW for noise reduction? I was watching a video about it a few days ago and it seems very powerful. Would be interesting to know if you’ve compared the two?
Hi Matt,
Happy you finally joined topaz fan club 🙂
Noise and sharpening Improvements are more obvious when you use a d750 insteda of a sony alpha 1 🙂
i am now using sharpen ai for foliage in IR photography. I am using a d5600 full spectrum with external lifepixel filters and focus in IR of a dslr is not easy.
For your crops and prints, perhaps you would be also interested with GIGAPIXEL AI. I think it works better than ON1 resize (fractals ?).
best regards
marc
Hi. The latest versions of Topaz are faster and more impressive. I’ve redone previous NEF’s and found significant improvements.
I try to do as much as possible in LR before going to PS. It is clear that Both products work on exported files not raw. I would expect the basic panel to be used as before. However, texture, clarity and dehaze might interfere with the Topaz process. How much actual sharpening and noise reduction would you apply in LR, if any? I was not impressed with the available documentation as in NONE. So where is the jump off point from LR
Hi Matt,
I am an ON1 user and thus have to use Topaz products as a stand alone. My question is when do you use the Topaz products in you workflow for print use? Do you use Topaz on the RAW file and then edit a TIFF version of the photo (as that is the best save option with Topaz) or do you edit the raw first and save it as as a TIFF and then use Topaz?
Hi Matt, as always I enjoyed your video and you have convinced me to get both Topaz de noise and sharpening AI. I have the NIK collection and when I uploaded them they were both seen in PS. I can’t seem to find the way to get Topaz in PS. Do I need to use that as a standalone? I did click and dragged an image into Topaz from Bridge and worked on it and saved it as a tiff and it did go back into my Bridge. My question is: is the the only way I can work with Topaz?
Per your question, both Topaz DeNoise AI & Sharpen AI work as plugins to Photoshop. Certainly they do in the current versions of Ps and there are others who work with them as plugins in Ps CS6 too – as well as Lr, Affinity and Paintshop Pro. They should show up in the Ps Filters menu under “Topaz”. The only Topaz plugin that won’t show up there is Gigapixel AI. That is launched from the File > Automate menu.
BTW – as a p.s. to my note about compatibility with Ps – always be sure Ps is closed and not running when installing new software plugins to your computer. Also, sometimes Topaz products require that once they’re newly installed you must launch them 1st as a standalone then you can find/use that latest release in your Ps Filters menu. At least they did in the past – and for beta testers switching b/wn using different versions. Good luck!
It should auto-install into LR and PS. To access it in PS ensure an image is loaded, then use the Filter menu – the Topaz products installed should show at the bottom.
So you made mistake. You didn’t loose me. I’m still in your fan club and appreciate what you provide !!
YAY! Always love to see someone apologise when they admit they are wrong. I have been using Topaz for a long time and how they have improved Sharpening and De-Noise to what it is now is amazing. I always go straight to Topaz now for either of those editing changes and by-pass PS.
I recognize your experiences here. I have been a long time user of both Topaz DeNoise AI and Topaz Sharpen AI and I really like both of these programs. But working at my older images from years back with my Nikon D80 I preferred the denoising at the RAW level that only DxO PhotoLab 4.0 offers.
I recently purchased DxO PhotoLab 4.0 and was blown away with the quality of the noise reduction available, especially DeepPrime.
I agree and I’m also a fan of DXO in general and enjoy the “mellow” (?) view compared to LR. I am also a customer of Topaz Noise and Sharpening and they do deliver. I’m just in the process of digitizing old images and right now on some 1982 Kodachrome slides – scan in VueScan, catalogue and edit in LR and get most of the processing done via Matt K’s presets. On some images, I use DXO with some lovely results but it will not deep prime denoise on the TIFFs. I used Topaz to sharpen and denoise and it’s better but not startling – presumably as it has no original pixels to work with!
Stay well.
Hmmmm … Perhaps you should start following Anthony Morganti. He’s been talking about Denoise AI for MONTHS!
yes Martin, Morganti did nice video on that topic and helped to improve
the latest version which has some bug.
These two plug ins are amazing. Have been using them for close to two years and they just get better and better. Even better than that is their customer service it will blow you away if your used to Adobe’s version of help.
Lastly I would say to Matt ‘good on ya mate ‘ to change your mind. Now you just need to change your mind believing that LR b&w conversion is as good as Nik’s silver Fx. Not even close.
I have been using Topaz plug-ins for years, especially the tools for giving an image a painterly look. I’ve used prior versions of the denoise and sharpen tools, as well and have upgraded to the AI versions. However, I have found in several occastions, too many actually, the tools leave behind artifacts that actually make the image worse. No amount of fiddling with the settings can correct the problems. Also, Topaz plug-ins will not work with many Mac configurations because they lack a sufficiently powerful GPU. I have an external GPU on my 2018 MacMini. Rendering times are slow even with the eGPU. A big minus.
I have just downloaded a trial versoion of DXO PureRaw. You can get the same features from DXO PhotoLab4. The results are impressive. However, it, too is slow.
True, Adobe can’t get you quite the same results. But the other software is slow and the advantage is often only apparent at the pixel level.
Kudos to Topaz Labs for their customer support. I followed Matt’s link to check the prices. A bit pricey but probably worth it. A chat window popped up, and I asked if there was an upgrade path from my 2016 collection of Topaz plugins. (I haven’t used them for a long time, but why not check?) Answer: They checked my account, and I qualified for free upgrades, and they gave the link for downloads. Yahoo—I am a super happy camper. Thanks, Matt, for sharing this “confession” with us. 🙂
hello Timothy,
I am happy you could update your plugins for free but I am surprised.
topaz studio updates and legacy amazing plugins are free updates but you need to
pay 99usd per year for the whole AI collection updates and another 130 usd for video enhance AI.
I started using Denoise about 6 months ago on high ISO images, do you recommend using it on all images even ISO 800 and below? Also, in your workflow when do you use these apply the denoise and/or sharping?
thanks
Has anyone compared Topaz Denoise to the new (in the last several days) stand-alone DXO PureRaw?
Yes – see my post.
I’m putting off the $99. renewal until after vacation, but I’m glad to see good things about the updates.
Have you tried AI Clear? It’s great on most photos, does just enough sharpening and noise reduction. Maybe sharpening isn’t the right word – it’s more like clarity. The only down side is that it turns the photo into a TIFF file. On the rare occasions it goes too far, there’s a handy opacity slider to tone it down and you can mask areas you don’t want to emphasize.
Topaz DeNoise AI includes the newer DAI model as well as the “classic” AI Clear, and a new-ish low light version (that works well for night photography). The old, AI Clear only product is no longer supported/sold as a new product. But it is very good for the vast majority of images!
Hi Matt,
This is pretty fascinating and my question may seems weird but here goes. I’m not likely to do much wildlife photography in the future, but I do not use a tripod for landscape photos (too heavy for me these days). Do you think the Topaz sharpening program would help these admittedly not “tack sharp” images?
Yes, it does. The latest version allows you to compare results side by side. You can go with recommended or alter.
Try the trial. It’s the full program but saves with a watermark if you don’t own it.
The new topas sharpen AI is amazing
Hi Matt;
I’ve used Sharpen AI for quite a long time and DeNoiseAI to a lesser extent (I keep trialing the Topaz product against DXO and it’s pretty much a wash). Sharpen AI (I don’t know what artificial intelligence is in there) works -very- well for my birds in flight photos.
My note is this: the AI products need top end computer hardware. I know you use Apple products but for Windows, you can upgrade your computer very effectively by replacing the video card with a newer, faster one. You don’t need a bleeding edge gaming card but whatever is offered in the roughly $300 price range. I use NVIDIA cards and like them but the AMD products are fine too.
Hi Matt, well! Honest as they come and you are notalone. Anthony Morganti has also eaten humble pie. I’ve been a Topaz fan for ages, but this latest AI DEVELOPMENT HAS BLOWN ME AWAY. I also purchased Gigapixel as I like to display some of my work. Having cropped some I turned to Gigapixel and sharpen to correct the inevitable noise caused by cropping. Such great tools and anyone who used them will understand, totally, your honest reappraisal.
Thanks for your video! I have been using several of these Topaz tools for a couple of months now and I am very consistently surprised by the job they do in sharpening and removing noise in my wildlife photos. They are a regular part of my workflow for many of my photos especially those involving wildlife movement. I am a long time follower of yours, have purchased many of your courses, and look forward to checking out your wildlife editing tutorial when it is released.
Matt,
It’s great to see you find a better set of tools and this is due to sharing, which is your merit and privilege, triggering healthy answers.
Now, I have seen you elsewhere bringing up similar topics between re-sampling in PS vs. other plug-ins and you ventured right from the start PS being quite sufficient to do the job. Now, I have heard PS 2021 has gotten much better in re-sampling than ever before, but before that, I have never been as impressed with a Topaz plug-in or perhaps any other brand plug-in as with Gigapixel. Now, you may have tried the latter by now, but if not so, it’s about time! I have had many large prints out of very modest files, sometimes from smartphones, sometimes from old files from older gear. It can be a photo life changer.
Keep on smart & relevant investigations,
André
I returned topaz lab sharpening AI after watching Anthony Morganty’s video on it. Now i am buying it again. Thank you Matt
Yes PS 2021 update is giving you approx 2x but none of the controls in Gigapixel AI
In what order do you use them? DeNoise first? AI Sharpen second? After your LR adjustments?
It depends Denoise has a sharpener and Sharpen has a form of denoise. It depends on your needs. If you had the free trials you could experiment to see your preference.
Jim, Typically (but it could vary) it’s good to DeNoise 1st before Sharpening so you don’t accentuate the noise when sharpening. I, personally, wouldn’t add a lot of sharpening when using DeNoise AI. I’d save the sharpening functionality to Sharpen AI (and keep the denoise sliders low if I already denoised or it might soften your image more than desired).
Thanks Matt for your enthusiasm and honesty.
The Topaz DeNoise was well worth it..especially with your discount.
I’m still testing the Sharpen AI, but will probably buy it too in the near future.
Matt
I have been using Sharpen and DeNoise since they first came out and have seen the improvement in the technology. That being said, Topaz now requires an annual renewal fee of $49 per program or $99 for all your Topaz software in order to continue with updates. In my opinion, you need to use this software quite a bit to justify that annual cost.
I do pay the subscription cost for LR and PS, but I use these programs for all my photos as well as cataloging. I just want people to be aware of this as they begin using this software.
Thank you Bob for letting us know of the annual membership Topaz requires. My annual processing cost would double after paying for LR/PS and now to include Topaz. Unfortunately, this would be a hard pill to swallow when including all the other photography subscriptions that I am paying for besides LR/PS.
I spent the last two days thoroughly comparing the newly released DxO ‘PureRaw’ with Topaz ‘Denoise AI’ and ‘Sharpen AI’, and was left feeling underwhelmed and very disappointed with DxO ‘PureRaw’, for two reasons (there are other reasons as well):
1) The same varying 20 low light/high ISO images I processed, and compared, with both DxO ‘PureRaw’, and, Topaz ‘Denoise AI /Sharpen AI’, all showed better results after the Topaz processing.
2) DxO ‘PureRaw’ refuses to process DNG files produced by Lightroom’s “Photo Merge > Panorama” feature. I have absolutely no problem processing the same panorama DNGs with Topaz.
This was a game stopper for me for the new DxO ‘PureRaw’ offering.
Agreed and fewer choices in DX Pure Raw to make adjustments.
I’ve been using DeNoise AI since it came out, and AIClear before that, and SharpenAI only for the most severe cases. I assume you are using them as PS plug-ins on layers, round tripping from LR rather than standalone apps. Applying as PS layers, you can try different settings in DnAI and/or ShAI on multiple layers, and then mask in/out what you want. For example, an intense Sharpen can fix a soft bird’s eyes and small face details but often leave artifacts in the background, while DnAI might do a better job on the background and the wider body feathers.
Hi Matt
I have purchased Topaz AI as it seems that I have tried it before and used the free trial time. I have used it via PS. It took my CPU to 100% and its temperature to 101 deg C. It is an i7 intel processor running at 5.0GB with 64GB RAM. It took just under 5 minutes to render and locked up PS until it finished.
I will try again tomorrow using it as a standalone and then from Lightroom but I feel that I shall be asking for a refund. No program should cook my PC.
I have a quite old computer (I built it in 2011), with a six core processor. Like you, Sharpen AI and DeNoise AI brought my box to its knees. I replaced my old video card with a mid-range NVIDIA card and recovered much of the lost performance running those two apps.
Older versions were slow but new versions of each have listened to the criticism and it is very quick now.
I could not find your Wildlife Editing Secrets on your site, how do I find it?
Matt, I own both of the Topaz products and depending on a file’s scenario the results are amazing. Recently I have been using Iridient X-Transformer. BEST I have used for noise and it features demosaicing. Saves as dng. https://www.iridientdigital.com/products/xtransformer.html.
Free demo.
I forgot to use it. I bought both back in 2019. Super demonstration. I used the discount to update Sharpen. I can’t wait to try it out.
There is nothing like an honest Matt! Yes it is incredible technology for Wildlife photography. If the image has sharpness issues, I use Sharpen AI at the beginning of my workflow. And it is amazing how often the issue is identified as camera shake. At the end of my processing in Photoshop, after I’ve resized the image, I use DeNoise AI as my output sharpener. That gives me terrific detail in feathers and fur.
Like others have said, I have found DXO’s RAW conversions to be far better than ACR, and ultraPRIME Noise technology can be applied as part of the RAW conversion, yielding a very detailed and clean starting point for Photoshop.
Isn’t a raw conversion at the beginning of your workflow?
I’ve been using a lot of the Topaz software for years, but these two are really groundbreakingly good. The first shot I tried with Topaz Sharpen AI was just plain out of focus, and it completely fixed the image. It makes me feel smart for not automatically having deleted all those out of focus shots over the years. I think it has often been able to fix old out of focus shots my parents took before I was even born (scanned negatives). That said, I feel that the last couple of software updates actually made it less reliable. Hopefully they figure out their issues, because this is great stuff.
Very good video, Matt. I have both of the Topaz products you use here, but also purchased DXO Photolab 4 because I found DeepPrime slightly better than Denoise AI on some images. DXO also seems to produce fewer weird artifacts. The disadvantage of DXO is that it only runs Prime and DeepPrime on RAW files. Topaz works on several file types.
It will be interesting to see a comparison between Topaz Denoise and the stand-alone DXO PureRaw that was just released a couple of days ago. I have tried DXO PureRaw with Lightroom Classic and was very easy to integrate into my normal workflow. You can batch process RAW files in PureRaw first and then automatically export them over to LR/PS before you start your editing as normal.
Hi Matt,
As a dedicated wildlife photographer, I started using Topaz AI Clear as part of my standard workflow about two years ago. Now, since they have updated Topaz Sharpen and Topaz DeNoise, these plug-ins have become my “go to” as I edit. AI Clear doesn’t seem to work as well, or maybe it’s because Sharpen and DeNoise are so much improved. At any rate, glad to hear you are so enthusiastic as I highly value your opinion on matters of photography.
Jules
Did you compare noise reduction with the Nik filter Dfine? Its auto noise feature is pretty decent and it used to be free.
I use Denoise AI since it’s available and love it. My main editing software is On1 Photo RAW and noise reduction here is similar to Lightroom.
My wildlife photos with high speed, low light, and a lens with f 5.6 at 600 mm frequently need noise reduction. DeNoise AI does it in seconds and as good as it is shown in Matts Video.
I remember this guy called Matt, I don’t remember if he lived in Florida or not but he sure didn’t care for or get those people that took all these bird photos.
Interesting video and transition here….lol.
I’m just smiling watching this. I’ve had the Topaz suite since ancient times – I think I first bought it at one of your Kelby one-day workshops. Topaz hasn’t been on a straight line up – they’ve had their challenges and there were times when it wasn’t worth the time to round-trip from LR or PS.
But, in the last 2 years they have made huge strides in the AI world – I’d be unhappy without DeNoise AI, Sharpen AI, and Gigapixel AI for my wildlife and restoration work.
Welcome!! Nice to have you onboard.
Matt I always enjoy your videos and presentation style. I commend you for your willingness to try the plug ins and your honest evaluation. I use Topaz DeNoise and Sharpen frequently for my wildlife shots.
Thanks for the video! I have been using Topaz Studio 2. Are the sharpening and denoise components the same as the stand alone DeNoise and Sharpening AI tools that you purchased separately?
I shoot primarily high school sports so definitely see noise issues. Another pro that I shoot with also has recommended Neat Image (https://ni.neatvideo.com/?s=rsl21157)
I use both of these products at different times and wouldn’t say I have a personal favorite for all scenarios but either can produce better results than Lightroom alone in most cases.
Welcome to the club!! I’ve been using DeNoise for a few years – and LOVE it for my wildlife images.
I love Topaz Sharpening AI as well.
It also does some NR so sometimes I just use the sharpening to do both and vice versa.
And yes, the sharpening is better than the built-in LR/PS as well. So is the Gigapixel AI as tested by some on YouTube in comparison to Photoshops new Enhance.
I have followed you since PS2 with much approval. I was so glad to see this video and welcome you aboard to Topaz Labs and also take a look at Luminar AI.
Do you use both Topaz Denoise AI AND Sharpen AI on the same photo?
Thank you for the video, is there a situation where you would use both DeNoise and Sharpen together on one image?
Matt, did you say there was a link for a discount with Topaz at the bottom of your latest “Wrong” video? I didn’t see one and am interested. Can you repost that link again, please?
Hi. It’s directly above the video on the page you’re reading this on.
I use and likeTopaz DeNoise AI quite a bit. Also available, DxO PhotoLab 4 incorporates a great DeepPrime Denoise panel within the app. May be worth checking out.
Hey Matt,
No need to apologize!!! We’ve all gone through this stuff. Like you I gave up on Plug ins about after PS CC came out. I did get some free updates to Topaz AI DeNoise and Sharpening and used them and like you, got some really good results. Having said that, the blurry photo that you showed in the Tutorial knocked my socks off!! I just never figured that any program could do that. Now I’ll have to get one of mine and give it a go!!!
Thanks for letting us know!
Dennis
Very convincing testimonial Matt. I heard you say that Sharpen AI appears to have noise reduction built in BUT, if I were to need to use both plug-ins (Sharpen and Denoise) on the same image, which plug-in should I use first? Thanks for all your contributions to my photo education!
Hi James. I would use whatever problem looks worse first – then see if it helps the other less-problematic issue. Thanks!
oh my, so if “you” are shooting f2.8 or F4 and “your camera” in pin setting for focus ( nikon) is slightly off exact spot on close up woo hoo. thank you. I had swore off plug ins also!
Matt
Thanks for turning me on to Eagle photography (dvwildlife.com)
Matt… Great video and very, very convincing. I’ve recently purchased Topaz Sharpen and, prior to that, Gigapixel AI as I’m going back over older images and hoping to resurrect them and enlarge them for prints. This may be a stupid question but, after you use Topaz Denoise, do you recommend or, have you ever, felt a need to apply any sharpening afterwards? I heard you say that Sharpen has auto-noise reduction integrated but, does Denoise adjust potential sharpening loss automatically? Thanks very much.
Hi Brad. I would use whatever problem looks worse first – then see if it helps the other less-problematic issue. If not, give the other plug-in a try. Thanks!
Thanks so much for the prompt reply. And, thanks for the video lessons.
Been using Topaz AI for about a year… total game changer! I can’t imagine editing without it.
Always blame the camera! hahahah
I stumbled across Topaz at a convention trade show and was wowed by the presentation. Bought a suite and have been so grateful ever since. I swear it’s magic!! I love my Topaz plug ins!
Been using the Topaz Denoise for a while. Sharpen to a lesser degree. My workflow brings the images into LR for cropping and light adjustments. I then export them in full size jpg. At that point I start Denoise as a stand alone program which allows me to do batch processing. This works well for my sports photos taken in poorly lit gymnasiums. Sometimes at ISO of 6400-8000. I just queue up about 50 images and let Denoise do its thing. This product makes me look like I know what I’m doing! LOL!
haha. I’ve known this for a while. Topaz AI is amazing!
Also, I see your t-shirt. Wait till see sharpening & noise issues underwater.
Matt – so….the ‘sharpen’ will deal with some of the noise – do we actually need both of those (noise & sharpen)? Does it come down to – each works best on the named issue, but – the sharpen one does a little noise reduction too?
Hi Mike. I would use whatever problem looks worse first – then see if it helps the other less-problematic issue. Thanks!
Thank you so much for sharing! I’m going to give this a try!
Wow what a difference will have to download and try