Topaz Photo AI’s potent combination of top-tier photo upscaling, noise reduction, and sharpening enables it to deliver results beyond the reach of other image enhancement applications. Jump to Conclusion
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TOPAZ PHOTO AI
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Table of Contents
- What is Topaz Photo AI 3
- What is new in Topaz Photo AI 3
- How much does Topaz Photo AI cost
- Topaz Photo AI Free Trial
- What does Topaz Photo AI do
- What is Topaz Photo AI like to use
- Alternatives to Topaz Photo AI
- Conclusion
- About the Author
What is Topaz Photo AI 3
Topaz Photo AI is an all-in-one photo enhancement studio for PC and Mac that combines AI-powered image upscaling, noise reduction, and sharpening into a single, easy-to-use application.
Because of its broad feature set, Topaz Photo AI is more useful than many photo enhancement applications simply because it does more. But what makes Topaz Photo AI so unique is the ability to combine these features and apply compound enhancements to a single image. For instance, while many applications can denoise a photo, Topaz Photo is one of the few that can simultaneously denoise and correct a blurred image.
Fortunately, getting the most out of Topaz Photo AI is easy. Its reliably excellent AutoPilot mode assesses your photo and chooses which enhancements will benefit your image most. Alternatively, you can take control and inch your way to your best result with manual adjustments. Your enhancements can be applied to a single image or batch.
Topaz Photo AI does more than enhance images. The Remove tool lets you erase unwanted elements from your photograph. The Adjust Lightning and Balance Color tools reduce Topaz Photo AI’s dependence on traditional photo editing applications and the likelihood of you having to bounce your image between different software applications.
Regarding other software applications, Topaz Photo AI can be used as a standalone application or a plugin for Adobe Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, or Capture One.
What is new in Topaz Photo AI 3
Topaz Photo AI 3 features a revised interface and two new tools: Super Focus and Remove Object. Super Focus expands on Topaz Photo AI’s ability to correct out-of-focus images. Meanwhile, the Remove Objects tool allows you to erase unwanted elements from your photo.
How much does Topaz Photo AI cost
A single Topaz Photo AI lifetime license will cost you a one-time payment of US$199 or $99 if upgrading from an older version. Buy Topaz Photo AI Now.
Topaz Photo AI Free Trial
Try Topaz Photo AI free for 30 days. Download Free Trial Now
What does Topaz Photo AI do
- Image Sharpening
- Super Focus
- Noise Reduction
- Image Upscaling
- Face Recovery
- Remove Object
- Adjust Lighting
- Balance Color
- Masking
Image Sharpening
Topaz Photo AI’s AI-powered image sharpening offers artifact-free sharpening and the ability to deblur out-of-focus and motion-blurred photos.
There are four different sharpening models: Standard, Strong, Lens Blur, and Motion Blur, each offering distinct results. Furthermore, you can adjust the strength and the denoise level of each or leave AutoPilot to make your adjustments for you. With Topaz Photo AI 3’s masking tools, you can apply sharpening to your entire photo or limit it to specific areas.
Super Focus
Super Focus improves Topaz Photo AI’s capacity to correct and sharpen poorly focused images. However, because Super Focus is so computationally demanding, you can only preview its effect on a small portion of your image, and applying it to an entire image can take more than ten minutes. Frustratingly, you cannot work on another image while the render takes place.
Nonetheless, Super Focus has the means to restore images you would have otherwise deleted and is a welcome addition to Topaz Photo AI.
Noise Reduction
Topaz Photo AI’s noise reduction removes photo noise while recovering and enhancing detail. The results can be so impressive that you might consider it equivalent to a sensor or lens upgrade but at a fraction of the price.
Topaz Photo AI offers several distinct AI Models for denoising JPEG and Raw files. Each AI model has separate adjustments for fine-tuning noise reduction strength and deblur. Alternatively, you can enable Autopilot, and Topaz Photo AI will make these adjustments on your behalf.
Image Upscaling
Topaz Photo AI’s Upscaling allows you to enlarge your digital photos by up to 600%. But unlike traditional photo enlargement applications, which turn one pixel into many, Topaz Photo AI’s artificial intelligence anticipates and inserts additional detail as it goes.
Topaz Photo AI includes four different AI models: Standard, High Fidelity, Graphics, and Low Resolution. Each feature has a separate adjustment, giving you granular control over Denoising, Deblurring, and Compression. Alternatively, you can switch on Autopilot and let Topaz Photo AI do the work.
Face Recovery
Topaz Photo AI’s Face Recovery mode leverages face detection technology to identify and preserve Faces from destructive over-processing – a situation I often encounter when testing AI enhancement apps.
Ironically, Topaz Photo AI’s natural touch means it doesn’t need a Recover Faces feature at all. Nonetheless, it has one, and it’s often best to leave it off as it’s likely to posterize your photo for oil-painting-like features and skin tones. Sadly, the Recover Faces tool in Topaz Photo AI 3 offers no adjustments; thus, you have no control over the severity of the effect.
Remove Object
Topaz Photo AI’s Remove Objects tool is an AI-powered erasing brush for ridding unwanted photo elements from your image. Brush over the undesired object and click Remove Selection. Like many other AI tools, Remove Object’s results can be unpredictable, but it can work exceptionally well at its best.
Adjust Lighting
With Adjust Lighting, you can rebalance and brighten your photo’s exposure by boosting shadows while preserving highlights. While Adjusting lighting is hardly an exciting feature, it does diminish the need to reload your Topaz-enhanced photo into your favorite photo editing application for a second round of adjustments.
Balance Color
Balance Color is a white balance tool for tinting, warming, and cooling your photo’s color palette. Like Adjust Lighting, it seeks to diminish your dependence on secondary Photo Editing applications.
Masking
You can use Topaz Photo AI to enhance your entire image or use its masking tools to limit your enhancements to select areas of your photo. There are two ways to apply a mask.
The first is to use Topaz Photo AI’s automatic selection tool to mask your photo’s subject or background instantly. As always, how well this works depends on the complexity of your image. Alternatively, you can apply your mask manually using the brush tool.
What is Topaz Photo AI like to use
Topaz Photo AI’s well-presented and concise interface is straightforward to use, and both beginners and experts in a rush will appreciate Photo AI’s reliably excellent Autopilot tool. As good as Autopilot is, a little manual tuning might yield even better results. To this end, Topaz Photo AI’s image enhancement features are divided into tabs, each populated with sensibly named tools and adjustments.
Regarding performance, Topaz Photo AI can be a mixed bag. Each time you apply or adjust an enhancement, you must wait a few seconds for the image preview to update and reflect your newly applied settings. Furthermore, the more enhancements you apply, the longer you must wait.
Personally, I find the waits entirely reasonable, given the quality of the results. However, I appreciate this is a highly subjective measure and that you may be using a faster or slower computer than I. For this reason, I recommend you try Topaz Photo AI for yourself. Download Topaz Photo AI Now – for Free.
Alternatives to Topaz Photo AI
Topaz Photo AI vs Gigapixel 8
Topaz Photo AI and Gigapixel are equally effective for upscaling good-quality images. However, thanks to its broader feature set, Topaz Photo AI is more capable of upscaling blurred and noise-ridden images. However, Gigapixel does have some tricks of its own.
Gigapixel’s Recover feature enhances or upscales poor-quality images for Topaz Photo AI-like results. However, the quality of the result is unpredictable, and it is so computationally demanding that it can take hours to render larger images unless you pay for them to be rendered in the Cloud.
Gigapixel’s Refine feature uses generative AI to enhance and transform your images. For instance, you can add snow and swap one person for a randomly generated other. Unfortunately, this feature suffers from the same problems as Recover.
Thus, despite Gigapixel’s new generative AI tools, I still prefer Topaz Photo AI’s reliability and speed when upscaling poor-quality images. But, if you only upscale good-quality images, Gigapixel is just as good and costs half as much.
Read my Gigapixel AI Review for more information, samples, and comparisons.
Topaz Photo AI vs Lightroom
Topaz Photo AI offers similarly capable noise reduction and vastly superior sharpening and upscaling compared to Lightroom. Specifically, Lightroom cannot correct blurred photos, and its Super Resolution upscaling is much less accurate and limited to 200% enlargements.
Nonetheless, I consider Lightroom’s upscaling and noise reduction decent value, given they represent only a fraction of Lightroom’s subscription. But in terms of quality, Lightroom is well beaten by Topaz Photo AI.
Read my Lightroom Review for more information, samples, and comparisons.
Topaz Photo AI vs ON1 NoNoise AI
Topaz Photo AI and ON1 NoNoise AI are equally excellent noise reduction applications. However, Topaz Photo AI’s sharpening is better at deblurring photos than ON1 NoNoise AI’s Tack Sharp feature, which doesn’t work well with its own noise reduction.
Unlike Topaz Photo AI, ON1 NoNoise AI lacks upscaling, and ON1’s upscaler, Resize AI, is vastly inferior to Topaz Photo AI and Gigapixel.
Read my ON1 NoNoise AI Review for more information, samples, and comparisons.
Topaz Photo AI vs DxO PureRaw
DxO PureRaw’s raw conversion and noise reduction are superior to Topaz Photo AI’s. Yet, DxO PureRaw doesn’t upscale, and while it can correct lens softness to an impressive extent, it can’t do much with motion blur or poor focus.
Thus, DxO PureRaw is an outstanding solution for sharpening and denoising in-focus images. But if you’re looking to correct blur or upscale, stick with Topaz Photo AI.
Read my DxO PureRaw Review for more information, samples, and comparisons.
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Conclusion
Topaz Photo AI is a formidable image enhancement application that blends first-rate noise reduction, sharpening, and upscaling into a single, easy-to-use application. Nevertheless, not everyone needs Topaz Photo AI—at least not all of it.
For much less, you can buy an equally effective denoiser, sharpener, or upscaler. For instance, DxO PureRaw offers best-in-class noise reduction and decent sharpening. At the same time, Gigapixel is as good as Topaz Photo AI when upscaling good-quality images.
Yet none of these otherwise excellent applications can do it all. In contrast, not only does Topaz Photo AI do it all, but it can also do ‘all’ at the same time. Thus, if you want something like Topaz Photo AI, you should buy Topaz Photo AI. Try Topaz Photo AI Now – For Free
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TOPAZ PHOTO AI
LIFETIME LICENSE
US$199
30-DAY MONEY-BACK
About the Author
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