BIG Changes to my Noise and Sharpening Workflow

[@EnriqueLUrcia]

I've been using Topaz for over a year now, and as a biologist, I've noticed some interesting quirks in its performance. My colleagues and I have observed that Topaz sometimes generates details that aren't present in real animals. For instance, when working with lizards, shape, size, and arrangement of scales scales on their faces can be crucial for identifying species. However, Topaz occasionally adds extra scales randomly, which can make the animal appear to be an entirely new species. Because of this, I find myself reaching for Topaz Sharpen AI more often than Topaz Photo AI. In my experience, Sharpen AI does a better job of preserving authentic details in images. It's a reliable tool that helps maintain the integrity of the biological features we study.

[@paullutvak5422]

Excellent video. I’m hopeful that Adobe improves their sharpening as they did with their noise reduction so I can just stay in LR.

[@iainbremner8909]

Thanks, Matt. I renewed my Topaz licence just a couple of weeks ago! Would have loved getting the free pdf guide.

[@JohnDoe1999-lg7mh]

I enjoy learning about you new techniques and I add them to mine as required. Hi Matt. I stopped my renewing my Topaz licenses a couple of month back. I like the result for noise reduction in DxO way better. I got less and less impressed with their function for improving slight blur or slight OOF images. For me, the artifacts just got worse with each new release (update). I have a few images that I use to test out the feature. It takes longer and I have to mask out areas that it just added horrible artifacts. When I asked about this, they said that it is just my graphics card. Some people swear by it and other swear at it. I know several people that are having similar issues. Hey, if it works for you, that is great. Also don't like their new license model. I have been using another product for upscaling images that I want to print larger and has and still works just great. My 2 cents.

[@simonjpierce]

Thanks Matt! Hadn't realised I could process as a dng... I do find the default sharpening is often a bit aggressive in Photo AI, but it's easy to pull it back. Very useful tool at times.

[@the-birdman-of-panama]

I previously had quality issues with earlier versions of Adobe Denoise (too soft), DxO PureRAW (too crunchy), and Topaz Photo AI (made stuff up). However: Adobe Denoise is slowly improving (still not sharp enough, though). And DxO PureRAW 4's November 2024 update that introduced DeepPRIME XD2s is super-clean. But it seems from your bird shot that Topaz Photo AI is still making stuff up. There are strong lines in the bird that didn't exist before. Feathers, even when tack-sharp, should look soft, and these look as hard as plastic. And you're right, Matt -- it's painterly. Even blending it with the original doesn't get rid of the squiggly "painting" effect. I saw it in the building bricks on the second pic, also. We like what we like, but I'd love to see you work on the same two images in the latest version of DxO PureRAW.

[@SteveSSBB]

I agree. I think there is a point where algorithms will tighten things up and make them look like a better, sharper version of the original. Push it too far and we have an algorithmic interpretation of what feather or fur detail is supposed to look like. In the video example I think a slightly enhanced version of an environmental portrait would have been much better than an over cropped, over processed snippet of the original. As for DXO PR4 I have been running comparisons between it and Topaz AI trying to decide which Black Friday discount I'll take advantage of. Generally, I find DXO gives cleaner, more realistic results for noise reduction, but you can't beat Topaz when you've missed focus and need some specialized sharpening.

[@08Lasse]

Thank you. I will order that

[@scottvk75]

Thank you, Matt. I Have Topaz Photo AI and I also have Denoise and Sharpen separately. Rather than use Photo AI, I feel more comfortable using Topaz Denoise first, then doing all my post processing. The last thing I do is go into Topaz Sharpen. I've never felt comfortable sharpening at the beginning of my processing I've always felt that the rest of my processing also will enhance the sharpen that was added and could make it a little over sharpened. I have no proof, but that's how I work. Yes, the Topaz softwares are absolutely amazing.

[@MatsSoomre]

I think (not 100% sure) that you just give step by step order wich enhancment is done first - with help of PhotoAI.

[@MattKloskowski]

Hi. Glad you have a good workflow. Just know that those apps are for the most part discontinued and haven’t had feature or ai model updates in years. They were good back then but I don’t think they were great. Now I believe they’re great in Photo AI. Plus it pretty much tells you the order in which to do things on the raw photo so you can’t really mess anything up. I’d definitely take another look if you get the chance.

[@scottvk75]

@@MattKloskowski I'll definitely try because, yes I noticed they are not updated anymore. Thanks for your reply. Much appreciated.

[@EdBacon]

You could replicate your workflow by using Photo AI in two passes. First only do (RAW) noise reduction w/o sharpening and at the end invoke Photo AI for sharpening,

[@JasonGambone]

Hey Matt! I was actually next to you when you took the photo of this bird in Cape May. I've been a long time user of Topaz and it's constantly surprising me at how well it either denoises or sharpens. Looks like a great time to renew my license. Appreciate the great content!

[@MattKloskowski]

I remember that morning. Great seeing you! :-)

[@ickledotco]

Another excellent video Matt, thank you. I’m currently highly impressed with Adobe’s Denoise as it processes sport pictures taken at crazy ISO levels and makes them acceptable whereas previously I found Topaz made text and numbers on shirts crunchy and illegible. However, after hearing your thoughts and seeing your examples, I’ll give it another go. Have a great weekend!

[@bentleybloodworth4282]

Some things to maybe try. In LrC for the out of focus background I apply the Lens Blur then use the focus and blur brushes for fixes. Then the noise in the background is gone now you can work on the subject: do denoise but to a lesser amount not having to worry about the background because noise has been removed in lens blur. Then do your masking with sharpening. If you do your sharpening in another app only work with the subject and not worry about background noise because when back in LrC do the lens blur then. I find this lens blur very useful if the background is already out of focus to use this feature to remove noise. Sure if the background is in focus you most likely won't use the lens blur. As for sharpening in any software, I don't think will ever be great because it has to make things up or replace areas copied from images other have taken to remove the noise. If AI does too much to fix the image then we might as well just generate the shot. AI has it's place but maybe we can become to reliant on it.

[@RetrieverTrainingAlone]

I used Topaz for several years. Now I use ON1 Photo Raw 2025 which I prefer for noise reduction and sharpening.

[@alaikens6353]

Thanks for your input and review. This is another good tool for the toolbox. Another aspect of Photo AI is the ability to manually mask in and out sharpening. This is useful to me to avoid sharpening portions of photos that I don't want sharpened like cascades and waterfalls where more detail is not wanted or need. Thanks again.

[@MattKloskowski]

Thanks. It's a good feature but their masking is... well... wonky. If I had to make I'd open it in Photoshop and use it's masking tools.

[@royceahr]

Matt, it did not take me long to figure out Adobe tools for sharpening and denoise were not on the same level as Topaz...I figured this out long ago.

[@martincregg]

Matt - I have been a fan for years…but the demo of the bird did not seem to create a good result and when you reduced the opacity it actually seemed to make it even worse. One of the things I have heard you say over the years is to be careful of halos: the beak on the bird had a very noticeable halo to me. Based on this demo, I’m struggling to see the benefit of the product you are promoting. Sorry!

[@MattKloskowski]

It’s halod because I didn’t align them properly by accident. It would normally look fine but I accidentally nudged one layer in setting the demo up. There is no halo.

[@marclabro]

nice video. I took pictures of ducks with a7rv + 70-400 F/5.6 and tried topaz, ACR... but was disapointed by sharpness and noise. I tried ON1 PR2025 standalone on raw just activating brilliance ai which generated masks for animal and water, applied nonoise ai 2024 and a AI exposure. amazing sharpness and denoising. I just added a big softy vignette and a cropping around duck and it was ok infew clicks. amazing ! So, for wildlife I think it is worth to give it a try !

[@marclabro]

i also tried DXO pureraw but was disapointed of results applied on a huge picture of a small duck with wrong exposure. Pureraw processes raw so it is not able to process a tif with LRC adjustments like correct exposure and tight crop.

[@allentim1]

Matt you used LrC Edit>Plugin Extras>Process with Topaz AI in your demonstration. I've been using Photo>Edit In>Topaz AI. What is the difference between the two? Is there an advantage to using one or the other. Thank you.

[@MattKloskowski]

Hi. Plug in extras send the raw photo, the other way does not. Thanks.

[@M31glow]

Wow! Matt is there a way to add more than one external editor into Lightroom? It seems like you can only add one... so you have to pick which one to use.

[@alecdannphotographyclass4503]

The "additional external editor" setting in Preferences lets you choose from any apps that can be used. The settings, however, can only be edited for the current selection and cannot be saved as a preset. Not ideal.

[@anna82865]

I'm glad you're back to Topaz.. I never really liked the LR sharpen. Anyway, I just added on to my current subscription. I love Topaz. How do we get your cheatsheet?

[@edwardinedgewood]

Thank you

[@alecdannphotographyclass4503]

Matt, I have done a lot of testing comparing High Pass Sharpening with Topaz AI (Denoise and/or Sharpenting) and have found that the results vary by image. In some cases, Topaz seems to blow out high-highlights. I've also found that Topaz Denoise does some sharpening so I always try with and without the sharpening. And given the image, I may blend in both types of Sharpening in PS.

[@1234clarknj]

So Matt. We have Topaz Photo AI, Topaz GigaPixel, Topaz Sharpen and Topaz DeNoise. Am I thinking correctly that sharpen and DeNoise are now in Photo and they r old apps?

[@MattKloskowski]

Hi. Correct. They are discontinued. Thanks!

[@randydietmeyer5883]

I hop quite a bit between Topaz's noise reduction and On1's and really see very little to no difference between them, because both are very good. I even tried Dx0's Pureraw4 but just couldn't get myself to pay what they are asking (don't get me started with them and their Nik Collection 7 -LOVE it but they are charging an insane amount in my opinion).

[@DavePruett]

Thanks, Matt. I use Topaz AI sometimes, but I think I will use it more.

[@RandyPollock]

Long time user of Topaz Photo AI and love the results even on jpeg or tiff files.... I only hope Topaz doesn't jump the shark as they are starting to try and mess with lighting and color.... just please stick to noise, sharpening and upscale.

[@MattKloskowski]

Agreed!

[@gordonmcintosh3159]

You are correct Matt, they are not even close, however. We see all the time, over edited photos on many photo share sites like Flickr and your "new" Topaz version is one of them, it's terrible! If you ever saw a bird like that in real life you'd say there is something wrong with it and not even bother to take a photo. I have found that the new Topaz Photo AI is nowhere as good as the proper flow out of LrC & then through the old Denoise AI, and then perhaps Sharpen AI if a bit more is required.

[@MattKloskowski]

I disagree. My file was highly zoomed in and if you saw it online it’s pristine. But you’re entitled to your opinion, and edit how you like. Thanks

[@the-birdman-of-panama]

I agree with you, @gordonmcintosh3159. The zoomed in photo was at 200% and there's no way a real bird looks like that at 200%.

[@fuvillegas]

@@MattKloskowski What? Pristine? 🤣

[@the-birdman-of-panama]

@@fuvillegas 😂

[@godsinbox]

if you shoot raw, and you shoot a white bird in partial full light, and process it in topaz, does it still ruin the highlights by baking in the clipping (that detail is otherwise recoverable in the original raw)? you may think that is such a random situation but I live in a country that has sunlight. I tried previous topaz ai version that appeared to be making the output a lossy and compressed format and throwing information away - inexcusable.

[@MattKloskowski]

Hi. Not sure. I bet they have a trial though so give it a try.

[@JoshuaHolko]

I'm not being rude, but I don't believe you understand how sharpening works in LR under the hood. You show an image with a lot of high-frequency detail (fine detail in the birds feathers for example). This absolutely needs a lower radius than 1. And you really didn't move the default amount for sharpening - which is a conservative amount at best. That's why it never looked sharp. It's also important to understand that Sharpening and Noise Reduction are interactive. If you de-noise an image (smooth it), you need to add additional sharpening. Bruce Frasier did incredible work on sharpening (as did Jeff Schewe). Again, not being rude, but I recommend you do some more homework on how sharpening actually works. FYI. Your end result in Topaz looks like plastic. The feathers don't even look like feathers anymore. Topaz AI struggles with both feathers and animal fur and you need to be very careful how much you apply or you end up with this sort of plastic result.

[@MattKloskowski]

Not being rude… but if you feel Lr sharpening is anything close to good and comparable to what I showed you may also need to do some homework. But again… not being rude :-)

[@JoshuaHolko]

@@MattKloskowski If you had correctly sharpened that image in LR instead of doing 'nothing', it probably would have looked quite good. Seriously, take a few minutes from your day and read this book: Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Lightroom by Bruce Frasier and Jeff Schewe. These guys pioneered sharpening in the digital realm. You will learn how to optimally sharpen your images in LR. Happy processing! :-)

[@MatsSoomre]

Nit being rude ... but you are not in right place with this comment. Have you compared both LrC and Topaz side by side? First of all Topaz sharpening has more functions than LrC to fixing photos. You can set how much Sharpening you need. But ... not being rude ... just you have to work more on this topic.

[@MattKloskowski]

I have read the book. And if you had correctly interpreted it and correctly edited the photo, you would know that Adobe sharpening simply cannot compare in any way. But here's the wonderful thing about the world we live in... you're free to do it your way and I'm free to do it mine. I'm very aware of how to optimally sharpen my photos and this is the way I choose. You are welcome to choose something different. Happy processing back to you. :-)

[@hughmoore2]

Hi Matt, do you have an affiliate link to the Full Topaz Bundle $299, as Im want video AI as well and they have a good deal. Happy to support you via the link.

[@MattKloskowski]

Yep. Just click the link and you can buy anything and I’ll get a little extra something :-)

[@MattKloskowski]

Yep. Just click link in description I appreciate it! :-)

[@petermendelson5839]

My issue with Topaz AI is with how it really mangles text on things like signs in my photos (try it on street photos where there is signage with small type in the photo). For those photos I often just go with LR Denoise and sharpening instead - looks way more realistic and the text on signage doesn't turn into some alien language! Thank you for the video.

[@dezyboy7]

The Ai version is shocking!

[@renestaempfli1071]

I am a sports and concert photographer and changed my workflow a long time ago. I am using dxopureraw as a pre process to captureone for years with good results. Never used LR.

[@Mark-qn9xl]

I still find Topaz's Sharpen AI does a better job despite being no longer developed than Photo AI, you can get a more natural looking result. The credit system they are moving towards is going to cost more $ on a continual basis. I prefer DXO for noise reduction.

[@krimke881]

Why are ALL these denoise demos and tutorials given with ONLY wildlife photos? Even many landscape photographers does this.

[@MattKloskowski]

If it works on a 6000 iso photo it’ll work great on a 800 iso landscape :-)