Five stars for both Denoise and Sharpen AI.
Topaz DeNoise and Sharpen AI?
- Thread starter Woodyg3
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IIRC Denoise does some sharpening and Sharpen does some noise reduction. If this is so, do you need both programs and if not, which is preferrred? I also read that Sharpen works best on shots that are slightly out of focus. Is this true?
@BCcanuck. Yes, they both do a bit of each as does also the Gigabyte program. I don't know the technicalities of it, but I have found it is a case by case scenario. Sometimes you get a better result out of one or the other, but I would say in 90% of my uses, Noise nails it first time. The best and cheapest option is to buy the bundle with all 3 products plus Jpg to Raw. I did and am glad I did; however if budget restraints have an influence, my money would be on Noise. I blew my budget when I bought 
because I also wanted Gigabyte. I am trying to restore a ton of old photos and it has made resizing old, badly scanned digital images (no original available to rescan) much easier.
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because I also wanted Gigabyte. I am trying to restore a ton of old photos and it has made resizing old, badly scanned digital images (no original available to rescan) much easier..
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I downloaded the Topaz DeNoise AI trial version and have been using it sparingly. I find myself moving the "Sharpen" slider to 0% and the "Remove Noise" between 15 to 25% on most of my noisy shots. On most shots, I like the results better than "AI Clear" in Topaz studio. maybe.....
Problem I have; when I click "Apply" it saves the image as original then closes as if it crashes. I see no "Save As" options. ??? Is this a problem with the trial version or maybe my end?
I do have the paid version of Sharpen AI and I only used it once or twice maybe a year ago. I think my expectations were too high.
Problem I have; when I click "Apply" it saves the image as original then closes as if it crashes. I see no "Save As" options. ??? Is this a problem with the trial version or maybe my end?
I do have the paid version of Sharpen AI and I only used it once or twice maybe a year ago. I think my expectations were too high.
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Snapshot2020
Well-known member
I use Topaz Studio2 to process my files and DeNoise AI is a Plugin as are my other Topaz Programs. When DeNoise is finished it reverts back to Topaz Studio and if I like the final adjustments the file can be saved thru Topaz Studio. I don't use AI Clear as often since DeNoise AI has more options for adjusting Noise and Sharpening. Just my opinion .
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Thank you very much for you reply. I just now checked and it shows my other purchased programs as plugins but not the free trial. Probably why it is not working correctly. I will have to decide if we need to upgrade to Topaz studio 2 and then purchase Denoise AI, as I am sure I want to keep it.
Thanks again.
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I was using it as a stand alone app
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Thanks I just ran it on a raw file in Lightroom and that was much better.
Not sure why I wanted to run it by itself.
The only problem is I may want to save it unedited, so now I will have to open a copy first I guess???
@Hut, That crashing is a problem that I have had also in both situations, using it as a plugin and as a standalone. It is very well known to Topaz and they are suggesting it is because of different video cards. This may well be why they have been updating the software so frequently lately trying to iron out bugs.
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Thanks for the reply that makes sense. I had 2 updates in a row the other day. I will still buy it though. I was surprised how well it cleans up some older files without over sharpening or removing detail. I'm sure they will get the bugs out eventually
Thanks I just ran it on a raw file in Lightroom and that was much better.
Not sure why I wanted to run it by itself.
The only problem is I may want to save it unedited, so now I will have to open a copy first I guess???
When you select Edit In... from the Photo Menu, Lightroom will give you the option of editing a copy with Lightroom adjustments, editing a copy, or editing the original.
I would be interested to hear your opinion on Studio 2. When I was first looking at Denoise and Gigapixel, I tried Studio at the same time but focused more on the other two so really wasted my trial on Studio because at the time it seemed more like it was aimed at people wanting to do artistic style of changes. I am now rethinking that!!!! My main goal is in photo restoration and whilst I can do everything in LR & PS, I have found that using Denoise and Gigapixel, I can do in seconds with satisfactory results, what takes much longer manually in LR/PS.
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I had just gotten that prompt moments before posting the previous reply, lol
On the topic of Topaz, anyone who is interested in reviving old photos, particularly if all you have is an old scan without an original, Topaz Gigapixel comes in handy.
Before taken about 1988, old Canon? image 578 X 510 Sturt Desert Pea | After Gigapixel did auto denoise and sharpen and resized it to 2312 X 2040 |
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Yellowboard
Well-known member
Thanks for your post about this artifact. I've gotten it before but until I read your post I thought it might be something I was doing (or not doing) wrong. Anybody out there know what causes this artifact?
I agree...I have been using both Denoise and Sharpen for about a year now and am running them as plugins in Lightroom. I can usually tell which program I need for the photo I'm processing, but sometimes need to experiment with both. I've found that both programs have improved a lot over the year. and I seldom use the denoise and sharpening tools in Lightroom anymore. I've also found Topaz to be very helpful if I have any questions. Money well spent!@BCcanuck. Yes, they both do a bit of each as does also the Gigabyte program. I don't know the technicalities of it, but I have found it is a case by case scenario. Sometimes you get a better result out of one or the other, but I would say in 90% of my uses, Noise nails it first time. The best and cheapest option is to buy the bundle with all 3 products plus Jpg to Raw. I did and am glad I did; however if budget restraints have an influence, my money would be on Noise. I blew my budget when I bought
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danbeaudet
New member
From Topaz Labs, this is their recommendation for hardware configurations to effectively run the AI suite of products.
Warren D
Well-known member
I've been using sharpen AI with no issues. Intel I7 chip with nVidia video card.
Chad Huff
Well-known member
I'm using both and agree with the others, they are fantastic post processing tools.
Doing some research before I made the jump and got the utility bundle, I saw that Topaz AI. Products benefit from the maximum amount of image data . Have you tried just adjusting WB, then closing down LR noise and sharpen to zero then editing the image in DeNouie or sharpen before cropping as this apparently assists the AI software in optimises the results. Any thoughts?
I learned a lot of this thread on Topaz products; trying to use effectively LR postprocessing by myself (I followed the course part 1 of Steve on Lightroom library...a most!!!) , the next step for me will be purchasing the Steve's Noise reduction workflow and practice a lot.
Calson
Well-known member
Denoise has been the best NR when used with its auto settings which helps with batch processing of files. It does the best overall job of preserving tonality with subjects as well as details.
Before sharpening it pays to adjust Levels and the contrast. What often seems to be a lack of sharpness is actually a lack of contrast from the Raw file. I do sharpening as the very last step after an image file has been resized for the desired output. A great deal more sharpening is needed for a 800 x 1000 ppi file for the Web than for a 3000 x 2000 image file that is going to be used to produce a print. Often with my product photography I need three different output sizes and so I do a resize and then sharpen and then go back to the original file and resize it and then resharpen it and so on.
Before sharpening it pays to adjust Levels and the contrast. What often seems to be a lack of sharpness is actually a lack of contrast from the Raw file. I do sharpening as the very last step after an image file has been resized for the desired output. A great deal more sharpening is needed for a 800 x 1000 ppi file for the Web than for a 3000 x 2000 image file that is going to be used to produce a print. Often with my product photography I need three different output sizes and so I do a resize and then sharpen and then go back to the original file and resize it and then resharpen it and so on.
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