How good is it? Can it realistically help with deep, deep crops where trying to get in tight with songbirds for example? As we all know, anything over about 30 feet even at 5 or 600mm makes them pretty small in the frame, even on DX.
Thoughts on Topaz GigaPixel AI
- Thread starter KCPhoto
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@KCPhoto. Like everything in life, you will always get good and bad reviews; however, if you search the threads here you will find the majority of users love the programs. I would suggest you start by reading this particular thread.
bcgforums.com
After that, download the free trials of each individual program they have and try it for yourself. The main thing you need to remember is, that there is never any magical answer to everything. You will find that you get great results with some images and pretty average to even very lousy results with others. Case by case. The best scenario is a combination of programs. The Topaz products also work as plugins directly from within other products such as LR, PS and Faststone, as well as others that I do not use so cannot comment.
Topaz DeNoise and Sharpen AI?
I just got a new 27" iMac to replace my old one, and stuffed it with 40 Gigs of RAM. Lightroom and Photoshop breeze along without all the old delays and occasional crashes I used to have. Now, with a good GPU in my new machine, I'm thinking of Topaz DeNoise and/or Sharpen. I've read many...
bcgforums.com
After that, download the free trials of each individual program they have and try it for yourself. The main thing you need to remember is, that there is never any magical answer to everything. You will find that you get great results with some images and pretty average to even very lousy results with others. Case by case. The best scenario is a combination of programs. The Topaz products also work as plugins directly from within other products such as LR, PS and Faststone, as well as others that I do not use so cannot comment.
What Peter Said above! Plus I think you will see the majority of People like it a lot.
Gigapixel AI is remarkably good for some images. It's best at upsizing to double the original, and larger sizes can have more issues with noise and texture.
If you are going to upsize, you need to avoid earlier steps that create problems. Use a light touch with clarity and texture. Clean up noise before upsizing. Don't sharpen in Lightroom until after upsizing if needed. Consider using a Topaz product for sharpening and possibly noise. For some reason the software seems to avoid oversharpening a little if it is done in Gigapixel, Sharpen AI or Noise AI - but that's a quick impression rather than a test. Sharpen, Noise, and Gigapixel all have sharpening operations.
I've used it mainly for landscapes. I had horrible results on a finished image with textured sandstone in the foreground, but I had great results in another image of a Smokies stream that had sharpening applied in Sharpen AI before going to Gigapixel.
Expect to have some images where the software works, and some where it doesn't. It's not a panacea - it's just a tool that works some of the time.
If you are going to upsize, you need to avoid earlier steps that create problems. Use a light touch with clarity and texture. Clean up noise before upsizing. Don't sharpen in Lightroom until after upsizing if needed. Consider using a Topaz product for sharpening and possibly noise. For some reason the software seems to avoid oversharpening a little if it is done in Gigapixel, Sharpen AI or Noise AI - but that's a quick impression rather than a test. Sharpen, Noise, and Gigapixel all have sharpening operations.
I've used it mainly for landscapes. I had horrible results on a finished image with textured sandstone in the foreground, but I had great results in another image of a Smokies stream that had sharpening applied in Sharpen AI before going to Gigapixel.
Expect to have some images where the software works, and some where it doesn't. It's not a panacea - it's just a tool that works some of the time.
Andy Work
Well-known member
The Topaz utility bundle is on sale now plus you can use a 15% off coupon code.
Thanks all for the replies. I had used trials of denoise and sharpen previously. I went ahead and Pyle the trigger on the bundle with coupon last night.
I've played with it on and off and I would echo what Eric said. I had a boatbill heron I tried it with and was blown away at what it could do, as well as a few other shots. However, then I run into shots where it just doesn't work as well and I think the image was better off before I attempted to enlarge it. It really does vary and depends on the shot. I haven't used it enough to really know for sure when it will or won't work though.
MorganP
Well-known member
I can't help but remember when cameras used film and how much simpler it was.
I bought it and it certainly works well when it works. Not so much on others. Don't feel like it is a wasted purchase over all like some other things
ruley74
Well-known member
I tried both Sharpen Al and Gigapixel Al and found that Gigapixel at the x2 setting did a better job at sharpening than Sharpen... however as far as detail go i was on the fence. I ended up buying neither but i may still grab Gigapixel eventually
Warren D
Well-known member
I'm on the fence regarding Gigapixel AI. My early trial gave decent results but when I used the same image as a starting point in Photoshop, using standard PS up-rez settings, I was hard pressed to see any difference. I haven't been back to it since as I don't up-rez very much so I can't say for sure based on just an image or two. Like Topaz Sharpen AI, the results seem to depend a lot on the image. I haven't had the time to see if certain cameras yield better results than others (I shoot with a D5, D6, D500 and D850 depending on the subject and conditions) so there may be variance due to that.