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Most photographers I know would rather spend time creating new images than painstakingly enhancing recent captures. Topaz Labs has introduced four new programs that use artificial intelligence to take some of the drudgery out of post-production.
Letâs sharpen this photo now. We need to merge all the layers into a new one, and then use Topaz Sharpen AI from the plugin menu. There are multiple processing modes available in Sharpen AI to target specific problemsâSharpen, Stabilize, and Focus. With a landscape photo, you can use all of them.
From improving image quality in smartphones to creating software presets that emulate prominent paintersâ styles, the branch of AI called machine learning is changing the imaging world. Firms including Adobe, Skylum, CyberLink, and Topaz are using AI to extend the capabilities of their products.
Topaz has released Sharpen AI, DeNoise AI, Gigapixel AI, and JPEG to Raw AI. Each one functions as a standalone application, while Sharpen and DeNoise are also plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic, and the free Topaz Studio.
The product names make their primary uses self-explanatory, but each goes beyond its obvious purpose. Sharpen AI has learned the difference between image information and image noise. It sharpens the image, actually seeming to slightly smooth out-of-focus areas, and ignores noise. But there are two additional tabs to the Sharpen mode: Stabilize and Focus.
© Stan SholikOriginal image before Sharpen/Stabilize© Stan Sholik Final image after Sharpen/Stabilize with camera movement eliminated and a much sharper flower
Stabilize reverses and often eliminates image blur caused by handheld camera shake. Similar to but better than Photoshopâs Shake Reduction, it eliminates the artifacts sometimes found in Shake Reduction. The Focus module actually improves focusâwithin limitations. Topaz claims it can correct up to 10 pixels of defocus. With high-res sensors, 10 pixels isnât much, but Iâve found it helps with macro photos. Applying Focus to an entire image can create artifacts. Itâs often best applied by compositing the newly sharpened area back into the original image.
© Stan SholikOriginal image before Sharpen/Focus© Stan Sholik Final image after Sharpen/Focus. The eyes are much sharper with sharpness decreasing naturally with no change in out-of-focus background.
Image noise reduction hasnât advanced much since it was first introduced, with the exception of DxO Prime noise reduction in the Elite edition of DxO PhotoLab 2, which to me remains the gold standard. Using AI machine learning, Topaz reportedly fed its noise algorithm millions of images to teach it the difference between noise and image detail. The result is DeNoise AI, which incorporates AI Clear, the Topaz application that formerly provided noise reduction and image sharpening. I found it superior to any noise reduction software other than DxO Prime in its ability to eliminate noise while retaining and even enhancing image detail. DeNoise eliminated noise in my high-ISO Milky Way images without eliminating the stars.
© Stan SholikOriginal image (cropped) before noise reduction and captured at ISO 6400© Stan Sholik Final image (cropped) after noise reduction© Stan Sholik Denoise AI interface showing split-screen preview and settings
Image enlargement algorithms have improved over the years, but even the best from ON1 Photo Raw 2019 and Alien Skin Exposure X4 are based on pixel interpolation. Using machine learning on millions of images, Topaz has trained its Gigapixel AI algorithms how to add detail into areas to increase image detail and resolution. In testing I found impressive sharpness and detail in regions where there are natural, random textures such as grass, foliage, stone, water, and even skin. Enlarging images that predominately feature these textures shows amazing results. With images containing straight lines, buildings, and the like it does less well under close inspection. Gigapixel AI performs enlargements up to 600% and has a batch processing mode for multiple images or processing an entire folder of images. The ability to turn a 1,260x720-pixel smartphone image into a 24x14-inch inkjet print with improved highlight and shadow detail is now in the realm of possibility.
If youâve captured images in JPEG format but you wish you had the image enhancement controls available for raw files, you need JPEG to Raw AI. Not only does the program output a DNG file that makes all raw file enhancement options available, JPEG to Raw AI improves highlight and shadow detail, removes JPEG artifacts, and enhances dynamic range along the way.
The four Topaz AI programs have a nearly identical look. The controls in each are a minimal set of sliders, and there is no learning curve to their operation. You do need to refrain from pushing the sliders to their maximum setting in either direction so that you donât create artifacts somewhere in the image.
A movable vertical partition in the preview window allows you to see the effect of each slider adjustment. I wish there were a way to see the full image in the preview so I could choose the area to magnifyâall of the programs default to at least a 50% magnification. This would allow you to preview artifacts in areas of the image that are not magnified.
But it would likely slow the process further as speed is the biggest issue with these programs. There is some heavy GPU processing going on behind the scenes in each. While my home computers arenât the fastest, even my latest iMac at the studio kept me waiting for a few minutes while processing a focus correction. Each pan to a different area of the image and each slider adjustment is met with a corresponding pause while the preview processes. Fortunately, a button is available to disable the automatic preview updating.
Both Topaz Sharpen AI and DeNoise AI are major improvements over most competitive offerings and deserve to be in every photographerâs toolbox. Sharpen AI and DeNoise AI are available from Topaz for $79.99 each, Gigapixel AI and JPEG to Raw AI for $99.99 each, and the bundle of four is $249.99. A 30-day trial version of each program is available. If you decide on the bundle, the Topaz recommended order of use is: JPEG to Raw AI (if your original image is a JPEG), Sharpen AI, DeNoise AI, and last, Gigapixel AI.
Stan Sholik is a writer and photographer in San Clemente, California.
Tags:post capture
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Today Topaz is launching Sharpen AI to âhelp photographers create tack-sharp images in real-world conditions by mitigating camera shake, focus problems and general softnessâ. Topaz goes on to say, âSharpen AIâs main differentiator vs. other sharpening tools is that the machine learning training process allows it to understand the difference between detail vs. noise. This means that it can selectively apply sharpening to just the image features it perceives as detail, which ends up in a much more natural-looking result.â
â¢The 2-week intro discount for Sharpen AI will be $59.99 (normal price $79.99), so take advantage of that!
To prepare this blog post Iâve been spending time testing several pre-release beta versions of Sharpen AI with various sharpness-challenged images. I shot them over the years with devices ranging from a Kodak DC265 (1-megapixel), a Minolta DiMAGE S404 (4-megapixel), an iPad 2 (5-megapixel), a Nikon Coolpix L810 (16-megapixel) up to a Canon EOS Rebel T3 DSLR (12-megapixel).
BTW, Sharpen AI is intended to replace Topazâs earlier InFocus plug-in, since, as Topaz says, âSharpen AI beats InFocusâs deconvolution algorithm in almost all images weâve tested for both motion and lens blur.â As a result, Topaz is activating Sharpen AI for all current InFocus owners for free and deprecating InFocus.
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Hereâs what you will see when launching the new Sharpen AI: a simple interface with three processing modes (Sharpen, Stabilize and Focus) and three sets of sliders (Input Blur Amount, Input Noise Amount and Add Grain):
The split view allows you to preview the before-and-after results once you make the desired adjustments and click the Update Preview button. When youâre happy with the preview and ready for the final render, click Save As to begin the full processing, which (be prepared!) could take some time depending on your source image, settings and computer hardware.
Letâs start our examination with a shot from the Canon Rebel T3, shot with its stock 18-55 Canon zoom lens at the widest angle setting (full-frame, reduced):
The image seems reasonably sharp until you look at a section of it at 100%:
After running it through Sharpen AI with Sharpen mode settings of Blur=90, Noise=30, Grain=0, the improvement becomes apparent:
â¢The 2-week intro discount for Sharpen AI will be $59.99 (normal price $79.99), so take advantage of that!
Hereâs another example from the Canon with the same lens, taken at a location near the one above (full frame, reduced). After running it through Sharpen AI I was surprised at how soft the original was (this is true for all of the Canon images, hmm)!
Comparing 100% crops from the original with the result of Sharpen AIâs Focus mode with Remove Blur=70/Suppress Noise=1.0, you can see the details pop as if I had used a better lens:
Hereâs a zoom shot of a crow made in 2005 with the Minolta DiMAGE S404. The focus is almost there, but slightly soft (full-frame, reduced):
A trip through Sharpen AI did wonders for it (100% before-and-after view):
Note the highlight in the eye as well as the details in the feathers, also the popped detail in the branches.
Now we go back to 1999 and the Kodak DC265 1-megapixel camera. The waterfall image (flash+daylight) is both soft due to being lo-res and suffering from some subject motion, both of which problems were improved with Sharpen AI in Stabilize mode (100% crop views, original first):
Sharpen Ai Topaz Photoshop
â¢The 2-week intro discount for Sharpen AI will be $59.99 (normal price $79.99), so take advantage of that!
Sharpen Ai Topaz Jewelry
The Nikon Coolpix L810 gave me this mushy handheld evening shot. Here is a 100% crop from the larger scene (which you can see in the Sharpen AI interface screenshot below):
Sharpen AIâs Focus module helps restore a majority of the original detail while removing noise. There are some artifacts present, but I expect the final build and subsequent updates to improve on this:
The palm tree shot below was taken in similar circumstances as the one above but with the Canon EOS Rebel T3, a handheld and zoomed in grabshot. Here we are dealing with motion blur (camera shake) even more than focus softness. Sharpen AIâs Stabilize module was used to undo most of the damage. 100% crops from a larger image, before and after:
And now for the iPad 2 shots! I was on break during jury duty back in 2013 and took photos outside the courthouse. Of course the results were mushy, but Sharpen AIâs Focus mode salvaged the shot for the most part (before and after):
Finally: Will Sharpen AI work miracles? Maybe not, but itâs really trying, even in its pre-release form! I am excited to see where this technology will go as it develops.
Hereâs the zoom/focus-challenged Nikon Coolpix L810 up to its tricks again, and a fine college try by Sharpen AI (in Focus mode) to recover some detail from the mess. The results remind me of Gigapixel technology!
Is Topaz Sharpen Ai A Plug In For Photoshop
(Note: Topaz is actually using this image to train the AI in an upcoming release of Sharpen AI and they eventually expect to offer even better results.)
Topaz Sharpen Ai Tutorial
Note: Sharpen AI will run as a standalone or directly as a plugin to Photoshop/LR or as a standalone application. Itâs not a Topaz Studio Adjustment or Gigapixel-style batch processor. Topaz will be using this format in the future for utility-type applications such as sharpening and noise reduction.
Sharpen Ai Topaz Ring
â¢The 2-week intro discount for Sharpen AI will be $59.99 (normal price $79.99), so take advantage of that!
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