Review: Topaz Photo AI - The AI Works Great...Until It Doesn't!

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Topaz's Photo AI can do some amazing things - but then it also does some weird things. I'll take you through four different photos to give you examples of when it succeeds, and when it has troubles.
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#sports #nikon #nikonz9 #sportsphotographer #sportsphotography #camerasettings #camera #topaz #topazdenoise #topazphotoai #topazgigapixel #lightroom #nikon #nikonz9

[@RSV9]

I agree with what you say. This is the only test that I saw in which images with one or more faces are tested. The vast majority of the tests are done with images of nature and perhaps one object (for example a bird) and of course the best results are that way. But what you showed now is something that I was already criticizing in GigaPixel AI and apparently in Photo AI it has not changed. Thanks for this extensive test.

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Yeah, you noticed that too? I was going to call out those videos but decided not to.

[@NOTLeavingLV]

I purchased the Black Friday deal and now have Sharpen, Denoise and gigapixel. I don’t use Photo AI any longer but it is a great program nonetheless. The programs used on their own are far better than what Photo AI does, and if you’re serious it’s a great investment to have all of them.

[@EastPh1lly]

Im standing on front of the decision to buy the programs itself or photo AI. What was the BF offer you purchased? :-)

[@SecretMan299]

how much did you pay Black Friday,.. TIA

[@NOTLeavingLV]

@@SecretMan299 I can’t remember! I believe it was around $130 for all of the software (denoise, sharpen, Gigapixel, photo ai and video ai) but again I bought photo ai before and this may have been an existing customer special because it wasn’t advertised anywhere.

[@MrKing1990]

Do you have an update? I just did the Black Friday deal this year for all the topaz programs.

[@NOTLeavingLV]

@@MrKing1990 Photo ai got considerably better over the year since posting this but I still feel there are applications where the stand alone have an edge. Photo AI is great for the AI brush when you want to refine what is being sharpened, it’s very clever vs how most masking brushes work. In all though, topaz has changed how I view cameras and lenses. I know that I can use smaller sensors that light not produce the best image noise and lenses that might be a tad soft and I can work with the files with topaz confidently.

[@hellopsp180]

interesting - Denoise = Good Face = Bad when players wear masks or helmets or any obscurement of faces reduces sharpness Feels like TOPAZ is a must buy for photographers. Literally enhances image quality further from any lens and any camera

[@crowleyvt]

You do realize that Topaz AL has sliders and a brush to give you more control other than just relying on the initial adjustments. Each week new features are included. I think eventually this will be their main product once all the tweaks are finalized.

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

It's maturing every day, so I would agree that eventually, it will probably be a great product. Every time I open it (at least weekly, lately), there's a new update. I just wish it had been a bit more mature when they launched it.

[@Schnoizl]

as usual, paying users are beta testers

[@TrevorDennis100]

Is all this happening with the RAW file? I'm thinking that if yes, then not so easy to work on a copied layer and mask.

[@JWStreeter]

Topaz is incredible now. It takes some fine-tuning but it can bring insane clarity and fidelity to photos and videos with very minimal effort. Just adjust some sliders and let it go to work. The batch processing/queuing is also incredibly well designed.

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

I'll admit, it's been improved since I made this video.

[@peterjackhandy]

That's big of you, Jack: You 'reviewed' a work-in-progress & let your opinion stand for almost a year. The least you can do is post an updated, unbiased review.

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

@peterjackhandy Oh, I plan to. Guess what - it still has issues.

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

@@peterjackhandy Well, funny you say that. I plan to do another one. Guess what - it still has problems.

[@echelon-thepanamanian_papi6144]

@@JackBeasleyMediacan you make an updated version of this video since it’s been updated

[@maxie6990]

I think Topaz works in 8bit color which damage the RAW sometimes when I pushed the color grading at some point. Unlike the PureRaw work in 16bit which retain all the original info from RAW file

[@mikeyb9819]

Topaz recommend you start with a RAW file. Apparently this will get better results than using a Tif or Dng.

[@jta1]

DNG is a raw file format.

[@elwelkin]

Pros only shut in jpeg although apple fans do only heif

[@kittyinasock]

I have two major issues with Topaz Photo AI, compared to Topaz Gigapixel. First, you have to spend 10 minutes getting a result that isn't over-sharpened, especially with an image that is already sharp and all you want to do is enlarge it while retaining its original sharpness. And to rarely happens that this can be achieved. Gigapixel AI, however, worked great in this respect. And two, what is the point of a Photoshop/Lightroom plug in if using either doesn't permit you to enlarge the image? Again, Gigapixel worked great for this with regard to workflow.

[@russelltate6481]

It is so mind-numbingly slow, and yeah, there is no bulk editing. That’s disappointing. Ultimately, it is supposed to be a one stop replacement for their trio of other AI products , but it has a ways to go. Each update has been an improvement, though. Love what you offer here, Jack. Thank you!

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Thanks for watching!

[@spear4food636]

Your rendering time seems ok, what GB graphics card did you use please?

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Don’t know, I replaced that computer a year ago.

[@erik5024]

My version (stand alone) doesn't have the ability to select faces. Not sure why. OK, just updated Photo AI and it's there. That was my biggest complaint because often there are faces in the background, so this is a huge improvement. I've found that Photo AI is good about half the time with it's autopilot settings, so I'll have to go through a bunch of pictures and make sure the settings work for each picture. Very time consuming for workflow, and I'm still balancing the time/benefit ratio.

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Yeah, I think I'll be using it sparingly, to try to solve specific problems.

[@crowleyvt]

I just edited a 1963 picture of a high school football team and it did a great job on 50 faces of the players. Very cool!

[@jpatrick_studios-joshgarza5980]

Does there have to be a face? If I was to use this it would be for ny artwork and tattoo portfolio. would it work well for that?

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

No, it can be used for any genre of photography.

[@echelon-thepanamanian_papi6144]

@@JackBeasleyMediawould be nice to see it being used for that type of work as well

[@RetrieverTrainingAlone]

I like Topaz photo AI for wildlife photos. Denoise, Lens Blur, Sharpen for motion in RAW files.

[@uhoh7541]

Great video! You mentioned using your Z9 in crop mode with the soccer image. Is there an advantage to this versus shooting in FX and then cropping in post?

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Not really, other than smaller file sizes

[@uhoh7541]

@@JackBeasleyMedia Thank you for quick response. I remember when cellphones came with one lens and their so called zoom only cropped the photo- it was suggested to take full photo and crop later. Wasn't sure if that advice would apply to Z9 as it's a more advanced piece of equipment. Maybe AF worked better shooting DX on something far away or some other advantage? To be honest- the Z9 is above my skill level, but i figured buying it would help me get back into photography and keep me from buying a vette or camaro I've been eyeing when i already have a toy car i don't have enough time to play with 😢. I can also leave the camera in a bag for months if I'm busy versus letting a vehicle sit can cause issues.

[@josebrivera1716]

Thanks for the review. I tried trail version of Topz Photo AI and did not see it sharpen or denoise at all. I tried it about 7 times on different photos. I am surprise to learn via your review that AI chooses what to do or not to do. One should be able to choose if it sharpens or denoises, etc.... I also found the interface confusing but that's because I am unfamiliar with it. Lastly, I recommend that when you are showing a photo that you not insert your face in any of the frame. It does not add to the information you are talking about to see a talking head in the frame. Just my recommendation.

[@_SYDNA_]

"One should be able to choose if it sharpens or denoises, etc..." Yeah maybe. If you know what you are doing. The vast majority of people go right to denoising as the first step. At which point the computer falls flat in remaining stages because there isn't anything left to work with.

[@SergiMedina]

Thanks, very interesting. Very excited about the future of AI.

[@djteknovibe93]

At 2:48 her face looks like it's been kind of half animated like a cartoon it doesn't look real but the sweat on her forehead and her hair continue to look realistic. I do photography and have been doing for more than 15 years. Then at 10:47 the girl's face once again looks kind of cartoonized. I say nah, forget Topaz AI.

[@Ashley-sd5xn]

My jaw dropped when I saw the difference in the face quality for the first photo!

[@henrywestridge7298]

So even if you buy the bundle, you can use each program independently?

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Yep

[@al404]

Does this software replace the other 3 or does it has limitation over separate versions? Thanks

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

I suspect Topaz will eventually replace the others with just this product. As of right now, the separate programs have greater levels of control than Photo AI does.

[@tollarplennie]

Can this only be used as a plug in, or can it be used by itself. I use Luminar so I did not plan to also use Lightroom:)

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

It can be used standalone or as a plug-in for Lightroom. I haven't tested it with Luminar yet as a plug-in.

[@bigrobotnewstoday1436]

I like DXO PhotoLab and DXO PureRaw the best for noise reduction. I do like DXO PhotoLab better then DXO PureRaw because you have more control. I shoot the Olympus OMD E-M1ii and I like to turn the luminance to 50 or 55 to remove the noise in the bokeh. DXO PureRaw there is no luminance slider. When I move the luminance slider in DXO PhotoLab the sharpness is the same from 40 to 55.

[@Stephen_Baker]

Please let us know if Topaz AI learns from the users likes and dislikes based on particular types of image (sport, street, or say low light bokeh) and applies those as settings? So is it possible for it to keep blurry all background faces as is?

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

See my latest video!

[@SimplyMariaC]

I noticed in recover faces it will redraw the eyes on some pics!! I usually have to reduce the recovery so the eyes are not redrawn.

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Yes, I’ve seen that too

[@Pierceb2]

I would be concerned that the program is actually substituting face parts like eyes, lips, and nose from it’s machine learning picture database. If so is that really AI or just fake part substitution and then scaling and blending it in. In a prior comment someone mentioned one eye color changed, if so I would suspect it was swapped out. Luminar Neo is suspected of doing this per one or more of their Ambassadors on other KZbin channels with examples shown. Noses, eyes and lips were apparently changed as well as eyeglasses added and even an earring added.

[@sverrearnes7769]

Waiting for a software that can handle and improve old videos. Will it happen?

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Topaz Video AI

[@MrJgonzo23]

Great video. I use photo AI I picked up some good tips

[@johnclarke1319]

If it is using AI on line do you get permission from each face for their image to be on-line? seems very wrong. Severe privacy issues. Can this work offline?

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

You don't have to be online for it to work. You'll have to take up the privacy issues with Topaz.

[@am.olaveTT]

great video! I want topaz but it is just too much for me I'm getting into photography, and I want to edit my photos to be the best but lightroom and topaz cost too much I'm wondering if anyone knows a cheaper option or how to download them for free I've downloaded topaz video enhancement for free so I'm wondering if there is a free download for photo ai I'm looking but some seem like they don't work I'm on windows 11 so if anyone can help me that'll be great!

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

They always have short-term trials to try them out for free. Of course, eventually you'll have to pay.

[@echelon-thepanamanian_papi6144]

How’s your journey been

[@am.olaveTT]

@@echelon-thepanamanian_papi6144 I have ended up paying for them, It is a big cost but I think it’s worth it. Currently I only have Lightroom I have not bought Topaz yet but I’m looking to in the future.

[@jbr84tx]

Faces have to be unobstructed and not have lighting that's too uneven. A deep shadow over part of the face will throw off the AI. I've gotten some monstrous results with those kinds of images. Sometimes eyes will look very different, with each a different color. Sometimes they don't even look human. Everything has its limits.

[@Agoode-xo3un]

Love your videos bro 🤙🏾

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Glad you like them!

[@ryandreger5946]

Can you drop 50 photos in to process at once, or do you need to adjust 1 at a time?

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Yes, you can do hundreds at once and let the AI handle it - but I don’t think you’ll like the results.

[@volvoman2324]

great real-world review...

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Thanks!

[@search620]

The photos you chose to demonstrate it on are a bit disturbing lol

[@umut-g4c8k]

Mine isn't working, why?

[@RWROW]

Hope you have submitted this video to Topaz so they can fix these problems you found.

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

They know who I am. They’re the ones that first contacted me.

[@westoneichner8089]

When I export raw photos out of Topaz DeNoise, they turn out very dark. Any help?

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Yes, it's a quirk with Topaz Denoise. I just raise exposure in Lightroom and they come out fine.

[@Mr.T-q4d]

I use the free editing software Photoscape. So, after I edit, I download the photo to Topaz at let it do it's magic?

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

I’m not familiar with Photoscape. However, assuming it works like most editors, I recommend you let Topaz do it’s magic on the RAW file, saving as a DNG. Then edit in Photoscape.

[@creightonholub]

You are the hidden gem of sports photography. Thank you for sharing all your technical knowledge with us!

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Wow, thanks! I just wish I wasn't so hidden! LOL

[@kevinhunter6624]

good video, thanks

[@carlosrobayo7984]

the idea of this programs is somehow to increase the quality of the photos......but one thing is to make MIRACLES and other thing as i said to get better quality on the photos, i think you are ASKING TO MUCH!!!!

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

I think I’m asking it to do what it’s advertised to do. By the way, I used it on some wedding photos I did recently where the focus was missed on the face. It did a very good job of fixing those faces.

[@brentpolk2431]

Waste of money... Topaz Denoise-then-Sharpen-then-Upscale or Sharpen-then-Denoise-then-Upscale done...

[@rainman3594]

Ive seen less adverts in 30 min tv show. I stopped watching after the third one. Really!!! Video is only 12 minutes long!! Annoying. So so video.

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Thanks for the feedback. KZbin sets the adverts, but I’ll look into manually reducing them.

[@alsteiner7602]

Paid KZbin has zero ads. Helpful video, starting to think this software would not be good for old photos unless you can scan them in as raw files

[@rainman3594]

Hey Al...unless you live under a rock everyone knows if you pay there’s no ads. Thanks for pointing that out duh!! I don’t mind the ads it helps pay for the videos. I’m just saying some instances too many for such a short video.

[@alsteiner7602]

@Rainman everyone also knows the KZbin algorithm decides how many ads to show during a given video, NOT the content creator. Unless of course the content creator lives under a rock 🤣

[@rainman3594]

@@alsteiner7602 ohhhh....tube master...your so smart. Now everyone knows how smart your are.

[@ivanstoiljkovic9455]

Just like god, AI does not exist

[@yuyanglong225]

Can it enhance jpeg files at 72 screen?