In this Topaz Photo AI Review, we’re looking at Topaz Labs’ all-in-one image-quality enhancement studio for PC and Mac. And since Photo AI is based on the Topaz Trio, namely Gigapixel AI, Sharpen AI, and Denoise AI, expectations are high.
Fortunately, Topaz Photo AI doesn’t disappoint and is possibly the ultimate one-stop shop for denoising, sharpening, and upscaling your images. That being said, Topaz Photo AI isn’t all things to all people, and depending on your needs, you may be better off with an alternative product. So, is Topaz Photo AI right for you? Let’s find out. Jump to Conclusion
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Table of Contents
- What is Topaz Photo AI
- Topaz Photo AI Release Date
- How much does Topaz Photo AI cost?
- How to use Topaz Photo AI
- Is Topaz Photo AI any good?
- Topaz Photo AI Samples
- Topaz Photo AI Compared
- Conclusion – Is Topaz Photo AI worth it
What is Topaz Photo AI
Topaz Photo AI is an all-in-one image enhancement application for PC and Mac that will denoise, sharpen, and upscale your photos. In other words, Topaz Photo AI is what you get when you melt Gigapixel AI, Sharpen AI, and Denoise AI down into a single interface.
Auto Pilot
In addition to putting its greatest hits under one roof, Topaz has come up with Auto Pilot. With Auto Pilot enabled, Topaz Photo AI will automatically assess your photo, identify and mask your subject, and apply the appropriate amount of sharpening and noise reduction without you lifting a finger.
As you will see later in this Topaz Photo AI review, Autopilot effectively and reliably produces images on par with those processed with manual adjustments.
Best-in-class Image Enhancement
Having reviewed Gigapixel, Denoise, and Sharpen AI – I consider Topaz Labs a market leader in image enhancement. And as far as I can tell, Topaz Photo AI is using the same technology. But as good as the Topaz Trio is, it’s hardly convenient to be bouncing between 3 different apps.
Convenience. Almost
The immediate advantage of Topaz Photo AI is that it enables you to contain your noise reduction, sharpening, and upscaling to one software application.
But we must be clear on what Topaz Photo AI is not. Specifically, Topaz Photo AI is an image enhancer, not a photo editor. In other words, you cannot use Photo AI to crop your images, adjust exposure, or correct white balance. As a result, you still need to pair Topaz Photo AI with a traditional photo editing application.
Topaz Photo AI Release Date
15th September 2022
How much does Topaz Photo AI cost?
Topaz Photo AI costs US$199, excluding sales and promotions. Sign up for my weekly newsletter and be notified of the latest deals and discounts on Topaz and other products.
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How to use Topaz Photo AI
Topaz Photo AI is designed to be easy to use – especially if you leave it in Auto Pilot.
#1 Open your Image
Upon opening your photo, Topaz Photo AI’s Autopilot will assess your image and automatically apply noise reduction and sharpening as it sees fit. At which point, you could be done!
#2 Making your adjustments
Alternatively, you can ignore Autopilot and process the image yourself. There are five different adjustments. Noise Removal, Sharpening, Face Recovery, Enhance Resolution, and upscale. Adjust each until you like what you see. If you wet the bed, you can always restore the autopilot settings.
#3 Reviewing and Saving your image
Topaz Photo AI offers three different review modes. A full-screen option allows you to bounce between the original and processed image, while a side-by-side comparison view serves both versions to your eyes at once. Finally, there’s a good old before-and-after slider view. Once you’re happy with your image – hit the big blue Save button, and you’re done.
Is Topaz Photo AI any good?
Yes. Topaz Photo AI is, unsurprisingly, as good as Gigapixel AI, Sharpen AI, and Denoise AI, which is, to say, world-class.
If you are unfamiliar with the original Topaz Trio, you can expect class-leading noise reduction, stunning image sharpening, and good image upscaling. If you want to look at these products and samples in isolation, check out my Gigapixel, Sharpen AI, and Denoise AI reviews. Alternatively, hang tight, as some examples are coming up later in this Topaz Photo AI review.
Auto Pilot
Overall, Autopilot did an excellent job of auto-tuning my images, and I was very impressed with how accurately it was able to recognize and mask my photo’s subject. As a result, you can choose whether to apply your adjustments to the masked subject or the image.
Overall, I found Autopilot to be very effective and, for the most part, comparable to the best result I could get on my own with manual adjustments.
Speed
Speed has always been a weak point for Topaz products, and Topaz Photo AI is no exception. Each time you open your image, you’ll have to wait between 10-15 seconds for the image to render.
Furthermore, the image will pause to rerender each time you make an adjustment. Delays can be long – especially if you have applied a lot of corrections.
That being said, the results are worth the wait, and I’ve found almost all AI-image enhancers to be slow except for one – which we’ll get to soon enough.
Ease of Use
Topaz Photo AI is straightforward to use. For instance, leaving Photo AI in its automatic Autopilot mode means you’ll barely lift a finger. But even if you make the adjustments yourself – you’ll find the settings accessible, sensibly categorized, and well named.
Topaz Photo AI Samples
It’s time this Topaz Photo AI Review got serious. To that end, here is a collection of before and after samples. These are not whole photos but 1:1 100% crops, leaving no place for lousy processing to hide.
Fantail (100% Crop)
This is a 24-megapixel raw image of a fantail processed with Topaz Photo AI on Autopilot with a little extra sharpening for good measure.
Portrait
Topaz Photo AI is fantastic for correcting back/front-focused portraits. I left Topaz Photo AI on Autopilot for this one.
Kea
Like Topaz Sharpen AI, Topaz Photo AI excels in correcting motion blur.
Helicopter
This photo was taken with a 3-megapixel point-and-shoot, and I include it here as a stress test for Topaz Photo AI. Overall, Topaz Photo AI did a great job.
Topaz Photo AI Compared
Topaz Photo AI’s most immediate rivals are the Topaz Trio themselves. If you only want world-class image sharpening – I recommend you save some money, skip Topaz Photo AI, and buy Sharpen AI. Likewise, for noise reduction and Denoise AI.
However, suppose you want two or three of Topaz’s trio. In that case, Topaz Photo AI is better value, equally effective, and offers the convenience of containing all of the trio’s functionality in one friendly interface.
Outside of Topaz Labs, there’s ON1. NoNoise AI and Resize AI are almost as good as Denoise AI and Gigapixel and much faster. And if you want to contain your digital workflow to one system, ON1 Photo Raw is a fully-fledged photo editing and management tool with NoNoise AI and Resize AI built in. Read ON1 Photo Raw 2023 Review.
Conclusion – Is Topaz Photo AI worth it
Topaz Photo AI combines first-class image enhancement applications Gigapixel, Denoise AI, and Sharpen AI and places them into one single coherent application. In other words, Topaz Photo AI is the sum of its excellent parts with a little dash of convenience on top.
But as the sum of its parts, Topaz Photo AI also inherits some issues – namely speed. While Topaz Photo AI is no slower than most AI image enhancement tools, ON1 alternatives such as NoNoise AI and Resize AI do much the same thing faster. And you can have those tools AND a fully-fledged photo editor in the form of ON1 Photo Raw.
Furthermore, Topaz Photo AI is only good value if you want denoising, sharpening, and upscaling. For instance, if you just want a good noise reduction application, you’d be better off buying the equally effective Denoise AI as a standalone.
But if you want two or more of these products, Topaz Photo AI is the way to go. Topaz’s noise reduction technology might be the best there is, and its sharpening technology is so good it corrects poor focus and motion blur to the point where I’m impressed every time I use it.
So if you’re looking for world-class sharpening, noise reduction, and upscaling in a single ridiculously easy-to-use package – Topaz Photo AI’s is your ticket.
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More about Topaz Labs Software
Topaz Photo AI Review – 3-in-1 Excellence | Plus 15% Promo Code
How to use Topaz Denoise AI in 5 Easy Steps + Free Manual Download
Topaz DeNoise AI Review 2022 + Free Download & 15% Off Promo Code
Gigapixel AI Review 2022 + 15% Off Promo Code
Topaz Sharpen AI examples – Does Sharpen AI work?
Topaz Image Quality Bundle Review 2022 + 15% Off Promo Code
