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Home » Topaz Sharpen AI Review 2024 – Nearly Perfect but needs to be Faster

Topaz Sharpen AI Review 2024 – Nearly Perfect but needs to be Faster

topaz sharpen ai review

Topaz Sharpen AI is an artifact-free photo sharpening tool capable of correcting poorly focused and motion-blurred images. Moreover, Topaz Sharpen AI is straightforward to use and well-priced. Thus, for these reasons, Topaz Sharpen AI is the best photo sharpener I have tested.

However, Topaz Sharpen AI is no longer been sold. Instead, Topaz Sharpen AI’s feature set can now be found in Topaz Photo AI – an outstanding all-in-one photo enhancement application that combines sharpening, upscaling, and denoising. Read Topaz Photo AI Review for more information, samples, comparisons, and pricing. Jump to Conclusion

REVIEW CONTINUES BELOW


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Topaz Sharpen AI Review – Contents

What is Topaz Sharpen AI

As the name suggests, Topaz Sharpen AI is a photo sharpening tool for PC and Mac that provides an artifact-free alternative to traditional image sharpening.

Fixing a blurry picture with Sharpen AI
Topaz Sharpen AI

But what elevates Topaz Sharpen AI is its ability to correct poorly focused and motion-blurred images. As the sample below illustrates, Topaz Sharpen AI enables you to transform your ‘nearly’ photos into keepers.

Topaz Sharpen AI is a standalone application and works independently of any other photo editing software. However, you can use Sharpen AI as a plugin for Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom Classic.

How much does Topaz Sharpen AI cost

US$79.99. Check today’s Price

Free Topaz Sharpen AI Trial

Try Topaz Sharpen AI for 30 days – free. Try Now.

Topaz Sharpen AI System Requirements

Topaz Sharpen AIRecommended System Requirements
OSWindows 10, 11, MacOS 10.14 or higher
CPUIntel i3, AMD Ryzen 3 3GHz equivalent or above. Apple M1
RAM8GB Minimum – 16GB Recommended
GPUOpen GL 3.3 Compliant (minimum Nvidia GTX740/AMD 5870)
GPU RAM2GB Minimum – 6GB Recommended
Display Resolution1024×768 Minimum
For more information on System Requirements – Visit Topaz Labs

How to use Topaz Sharpen AI

Sharpen AI is a specialized AI image-sharpening application, and thanks to its singular purpose, Topaz Sharpen AI enjoys a simple, easy-to-use interface.

#1 Open your image

Begin by opening your image. After which, Topaz Shapren AI will automatically assess your photo and apply the AI model and adjustments it thinks will work best. If you want to make adjustments, click on the Change button.

Charing the Sharpen Model in Sharpen AI

#2 Making your adjustments

Sharpen AI features ten different AI models, each featuring adjustments such as Remove Blur and Suppress Noise. Which model is best varies from photo to photo, and it’s worth clicking through each model until you find one that looks best.

Sharpen AI features ten separate AI-sharpening models.

#3 Comparing multiple AI models simultaneously.

Comparing the effect of different AI models is much easier with Topaz Sharpen AI’s split screen model. To set up a slider view or a 2-way or 4-way split screen, click on the icons at the top-right of your image.

Use two-way and four-way split screen modes to compare results.

#4 Export your sharpened image

When you’ve finished sharpening your photo, click Save Image. You’ll be presented with various options such as Image Format (JPEG, TIFF, etc.), quality, and filename. When you’re done, click Save.

Exporting the sharpened version of your photo.

Topaz Sharpen AI Tutorial (Video)

Topaz Sharpen AI Tutorial Video

Topaz Sharpen AI Samples

Sample 1

Topaz Sharpen AI
Out-of-focus portrait

Topaz Sharpen AI does a great job correcting this portrait while preserving the subject’s natural features.

Sample 2

Topaz Sharpen AI
Correcting Motion Blur with Topaz Sharpen AI.

Topaz Sharpen AI did a great job correcting this photo’s motion blur while preserving the Giraffe’s fine detail. In retrospect, I was a little heavy-handed on the detail slider, leading to a somewhat overprocessed look you can easily avoid.

Sample 3

Topaz Sharpen AI
Correcting poor focus with Topaz Sharpen AI.

Watching Topaz Sharpen AI correct front/back focused images for the first time was jaw-dropping. Looking back, I have deleted many photos Topaz Sharpen AI could have saved.

Sample 4

This is a poorly focused, low-detail image taken at high ISO. Nevertheless, Sharpen AI handled this hopeless scenario pretty well.

Sample 5

Topaz Sharpen AI
Topaz Sharpen AI is a superior alternative to traditional non-AI sharpening.

So, we now know that Topaz Sharpen AI is great for correcting blur. But what about regular sharpening? Topaz Sharpen AI delivers artifact-free sharpening, vastly superior to traditional sharpening tools.

Is Topaz Sharpen AI any good

Topaz Sharpen AI’s ability to sharpen and correct blurred photos is impressive. I was particularly impressed with Shapen AI’s delicate touch and ability to resolve fine details without making the image appear over-processed.

However, as Sample 4 demonstrates, Sharpen AI does have its limits. Yet, at the same time, it shows us that Sharpen AI has the potential to improve even the poorest image quality – at least to an extent.

Ergonomics and Performance

While Topaz Sharpen AI produces excellent results, it is slow to create them. For instance, when you change your AI model or adjust your AI model’s parameters, Sharpen AI will take between 5 and 15 seconds to rerender the image.

The before and after view in Topaz Sharpen AIr
Topaz Sharpen AI is great for sharpening Macro shots.

This issue is somewhat exacerbated thanks to Sharpen AI’s unreliable Automatic mode. This is not to say the Automatic mode is terrible – as it isn’t. However, I often got even better results, suffering the delays and making the adjustments myself. Yet these delays can be minimized thanks to the four-way comparison view, which makes finding the best result manually relatively straightforward.

But critically, Topaz Sharpen AI does feel responsive to your inputs, and the waits never feel unreasonable given the caliber of the result. If you are concerned about speed, try Topaz Sharpen AI for free.

Topaz Sharpen AI Compared

Topaz Sharpen AI vs ON1 NoNoise 2023

Tack Sharp AI is new to ON1 NoNoise 2023 and offers similar functionality to Topaz Sharpen AI. While NoNoise AI 2023 is one of the best noise reduction applications you can buy, Tack Sharp is no match for Topaz Sharpen AI.

That being said, Tack Sharp runs much faster. So, if you’re looking for an outstanding Noise Reduction application with an effectively free sharpening tool, check out ON1 NoNoise 2023. Read ON1 NoNoise AI Review.

Topaz Sharpen AI vs Topaz Photo AI

Topaz Photo AI is an image enhancement application combining the capabilities of Topaz Sharpen AI, Gigapixel AI, and Topaz Denoise AI into a single user-friendly interface. This means two things.

First, Topaz Photo AI provides a one-stop shop for sharpening, upscaling, and denoising, making it more useful more often. Second, you can unleash all three of these tricks on a single photo, delivering a compound result well beyond Topaz Sharpen AI’s reach.

But, if you don’t want upscaling and noise reduction, Topaz Sharpen AI is just as good at correcting blur as Topaz Photo AI and costs much less. Read Topaz Photo AI Review


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Conclusion

Topaz Sharpen AI is one of the best photo-sharpening applications today. As demonstrated earlier, Sharpen AI blows traditional methods out of the water, and Sharpen AI’s ability to correct out-of-focus and motion-blurred images verge on spectacular.

Topaz Sharpen AI Before and After comparison
Topaz Sharpen AI – Before and After

Furthermore, Topaz Sharpen AI is pleasant to look at and straightforward to use, whether you’re leaving Sharpen AI on its automatic mode or making your adjustments. The ability to compare different AI models simultaneously via two and four-way split screen modes makes it easy to find optimum results.

However, Topaz Sharpen AI is imperfect in that processing your images can be slow. For instance, when you change your AI model or adjust the model’s parameters, Topaz Sharpen AI will pause for around 10 seconds to rerender the image. And if you are as picky as me, you’ll want to try several models and adjustments, leading to multiple rerenders for each image you work with.

Topaz Sharpen AI Before and After comparison
Topaz Sharpen AI – Before and After

If this is a problem, ON1 NoNoise 2023 features Tack Sharp AI – a much faster equivalent to Topaz Sharpen AI. However, TackSharp AI is less able and consistent. So, I’d find the time to use Topaz Sharpen AI instead.

But in reality, I don’t use Topaz Sharpen AI; I use Topaz Photo AI because it is, effectively, Topaz Sharpen AI, Topaz Denoise AI, and Gigapixel AI all rolled into a single one-stop interface. But if you’re only looking for a sharpener, Topaz Sharpen AI is as good as Topaz Photo AI and significantly cheaper.

Is Topaz Sharpen AI worth it?

Topaz Sharpen AI is inexpensive, affordable, and highly effective. If you’re looking for world-class image sharpening, you’re looking for Topaz Sharpen AI. Try Topaz Sharpen AI now.

If you’re also looking for discounts, subscribe to my weekly newsletter and be notified of the latest deals on Topaz Sharpen AI and other photography software and gear. Subscribe Now.

Topaz Sharpen AI
Topaz Sharpen AI is an artifact-free photo sharpening tool that can also correct poorly focused and motion-blurred images. Moreover, Topaz Sharpen AI is straightforward to use and well-priced. Thus, for all of these reasons, Topaz Sharpen AI is the best photo sharpener I have tested.
Rating 4/5

GET TOPAZ PHOTO AI

BUY TOPAZ PHOTO AI

DENOISE, UPSCALE, AND SHARPEN

US$199

30-DAY MONEY-BACK

TRY TOPAZ PHOTO AI

30 DAY TRIAL

$0

NO CREDIT CARD REQUIRED


About the Author

Richard Adams

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