Topaz DeNoise and Sharpen AI?

[Woodyg3]

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 opinions and watched a few vids, and these seem to be highly regarded products. Does anyone here have opinions positive or negative to offer? TIA.

 

[PhilM]

Both are great products.

I've found nothing better at noise removal, w/o negatively impacting subject sharpness than DeNoise AI. Don't be afraid to try the alternate processing engine (built in, menu option) AI Clear. It works better on "certain images.

Sharpen AI can convert some images from instant deletes to potential keepers.

Of the two, I use DeNoise far more than Sharpen.

I doubt you'd be disappointed with either, but certainly not with DeNoise. ;-)

 

[BobG]

I also like Gigapixel AI, sometimes it sharpens better than Sharpen AI. I've just seen a recent youtube video that shows "at least with some photos" using Sharpen AI twice (second time on output from first pass), can help with some really bad photos.

 

[JHJ]

I find that Topaz DeNoise excellent and it has some sharpening in it as well. Makes them really POP.

 

[cjh]

I too am using both and am completely satisfied. Whilst both seem very similar in some instances (both can sharpen, both can remove noise), I tend to select intuitively based on my starting image. My only top tip would be to ensure you use them as early on in the process as possible.

 

[Steve]

I have both and in my experience they are fantastic. I have Lightroom / Photoshop ways of dealing with noise too, but I'm surprised how often Topaz gets it perfect right out of the box. Sharpen was one I didn't think I'd use but I've found it can rescue images that have a small amount of heat distortion. Works really well for it in fact. This image was ISO 20,000 and I think Topaz Denoise did a great job.

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[Andy Work]

I downloaded the Denoise trial a few days ago and so far I'm very impressed. This owl was shot at 1/20, 200mm @ 2.8, 3200 iso. The first image is a SOOC NEF converted to a jpeg. The second one went through Denoise with low light mode on.

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[BorderBirder]

Nice one Steve! I love DeNoise and have found it works great in its standard settings. I noted Mark Smith thought it particularly beneficial for D500 images which he considers often to be a bit noisy. Anyway I’ve found it excellent for my D500. Sharpen on the other hand needs more hands on work experimenting with settings and using masking to avoid noise increase in backgrounds....and doesn’t always improve on judicious use of options such as sharpen and texture in LR for me.

But for DeNoise I would say just get it, Woody, it’s that good!!

 

[Capturingtheunseen.com]

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 opinions and watched a few vids, and these seem to be highly regarded products. Does anyone here have opinions positive or negative to offer? TIA.

DeNoise AI has totally changed my photography. I always found noise reduction in Lightroom to be lacking, and kept my ISO low because of it. I now use auto ISO with 12,800 as the upper limit. Images come out awesome. I no longer fret over high ISO. It is unbelievable software.

 

[JoostJ]

In my (until now short) experience with both of them, I think DeNoise gets it perfectly right almost every time. In my opinion Sharpen is another story. It improves some images, but kind of worsens others. I guess I have tot play around with it some more to find the right settings, but until now I am a bit reluctant tu use it.

 

[Keithm]

I almost exclusively use DeNoise AI for noise reduction. It seems to do a better job than Lightroom for me.

 

[Shanti]

I use both, mostly denoise & cannot live without them now, better than PS/Lightroom I find.Important to get the latest updates on these,as masking works quite well. Sharpen I find stabilize gives the best effects, and now with masking, easy to not sharpen the background. With my PF 300 & 500 ,backgrounds with grass,etc.. can get very 'noisy/busy'

 

[geok]

I too am using both and am completely satisfied. Whilst both seem very similar in some instances (both can sharpen, both can remove noise), I tend to select intuitively based on my starting image. My only top tip would be to ensure you use them as early on in the process as possible.

If you use DeNoise early on in post, is there a way to SAVE the DeNoise version back into LR as a RAW image for additional processing. I seem to only be able to SAVE it back to LR as a Tiff or Jpg file??

 

[Shanti]

If you use DeNoise early on in post, is there a way to SAVE the DeNoise version back into LR as a RAW image for additional processing. I seem to only be able to SAVE it back to LR as a Tiff or Jpg file??

you can save as a DNG file

 

[Ivan Rothman]

I recently acquired and started using Sharpen AI and Denoise AI and they have changed the way I post process. I feel they surpass any other method I have for sharpening or noise reduction. I now use them for almost every image. Usually I first do all my other processing in Lightroom and if necessary Photoshop. Then I select one of these programs as a final step. Incredibly, Sharpen beautifully eliminates noise while so effectively sharpening. And Denoise nicely sharpens images while removing noise. For other than a very noisy image, I usually pick Sharpen over Denoise. But you can try both to see which gives the better image. Finally, I feel that I can effectively remove noise without compromising sharpness. Even with a very fast processor, it can take some time for the operation to complete. But it is worth the wait.

 

[MartyD]

I agree with the comments that Denoise AI can do some sharpening and Sharpen AI can do some noise reductions but I prefer Denise AI. I shoot a lot of sports and I batch process my photos as the last step in my post processing. Topaz Labs will allow you to download and install a trial so give it a try for your own work.

 

[Jerryjaws]

I use both. Sometimes i feel
One works better than the other in certain situations.

 

[Geekomak]

I use Denoise AI. But I also use DxO PhotoLab 3 (prime), it has a great noise reduction as well.

 

[kontrolla]

I sometimes use Denoise AI if there is a lot of noise and it does a very impressive job.

However I have also found that you need to be careful not to overdo it. If you remove all noise from an image it can start to look unreal and plasticky. So I have now learnt that a small amount of noise is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Username]

I use both but Denoise is the first thing I do after any initial Cropping. I use Capture One and the Edit With option. In Denoise I Select the AI Clear in Auto which does a great job of capture sharpening and noise reduction but doesn't overdo it and is very fast. If it needs any more selective noise reduction then I'll go back again and use Denoise AI.

 

[Oztours]

@Woodyg3 Get the "Utility Bundle" which includes both Denoise and Sharpen as well as Gigapixel for enlarging pix and Jpg to Raw which will assist in editing. I'm a long time Lightroom/Photoshop user and bought the bundle because I started a project restoring albums full of very old photos and was looking for ways to decrease the workload. I am so glad I did. They are not always perfect in doing what they are designed to do, but used in conjunction with LR/Photoshop, I have a good combination for what I want. Saving up now for a new scanner so I can also start on old film and slides. Anyone had any experience with Epson Perfection 850? Perhaps I should start another thread for that question...

 

[kontrolla]

I use both but Denoise is the first thing I do after any initial Cropping. I use Capture One and the Edit With option. In Denoise I Select the AI Clear in Auto which does a great job of capture sharpening and noise reduction but doesn't overdo it and is very fast. If it needs any more selective noise reduction then I'll go back again and use Denoise AI.

Thanks for this. I also use Capture One and I had not thought of using the Edit With option. I am going to try it now. Which file format do you select? Do you go with DNG? Also interested to know what camera because I mainly shoot with the D850 and I find Denoise AI seems to really mess up the colours sometimes with the DNG format.

 

[Snapshot2020]

I have both Programs and I find DeNoise AI with the latest upgrade to work very well. I’m on the fence with Sharpen AI and like others I’m satisfied with DeNoise or AI Clear and tweak the Opacity slider for the final results.

 

[Username]

Thanks for this. I also use Capture One and I had not thought of using the Edit With option. I am going to try it now. Which file format do you select? Do you go with DNG? Also interested to know what camera because I mainly shoot with the D850 and I find Denoise AI seems to really mess up the colours sometimes with the DNG format.

In the Edit With option I select TIF and Capture One automatically creates a TIF variant that gets updated when you save in Denoise.

No problem at all with D850 images with TIF files though these days I’m all mirrorless with the Z6 and Z7.

 

[Tony]

I use both, probably Denoise AI more than Sharpen AI. After importing photo into Lightroom I tend to check white balance and lens correction and then use the plugin to send it to Denoise. After making any noise adjustments I save it and it automatically sends it back to Lightroom as a TIFF file. I then carry out any Lightroom adjustments and send the image to Sharpen AI at the end of the process if needed. Denoise seems to be more intuitive than Sharpen which I have to adjust the settings in a bit more, though the stabalise setting is the one I find usually works best. I also find Gigapixel AI quite useful, especially if you have had to do any heavy cropping in Lightroom