Topaz Glow

[DVC Mike]

Has anyone else tried Topaz Glow?

Here's a shot of the 1929 Cadillac in front of the Grand Floridian Resort.

DM_141211_055743_131 by DVC Mike, on Flickr

 

[Pic Stitch]

Hi,

I have never used, but have been hearing a lot about this 'Topaz'. Am i correct that it is an additional 'add-in' to Photoshop? and It comes at a cost?

I would be very interested to hear your thoughts about the product, as well as the simplicity/difficulty of using it with PS? {i have a very basic knowledge of PS, but know LR reasonably well].

Thanks and I like the different look topaz glow gave your photo above, well done!

Cheers!

B-

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

Topaz is a group of add-ons that I use with PSE. I assume it can be used with PS. I started with their Denoise and then added the Bundle. From time to time, they will introduce a new product that can be purchased and added to your bundle. They provide a free trial for their products. I tried Glow, however for what I do, I didn't see a practical application. I do use a part of my bundle on every image I process. For me, it's indispensable. The bundle is not exactly cheap, however every once in awhile you can catch it on sale. They do give you free upgrades. I found it very easy to work with. They give you a lot of presets that can then be tweaked to achieve what you are looking for.

 

[havoc315]

Topaz can work as a plug-in through Lightroom. It is a suite of products. They can be viewed as performing similar functions as Photoshop/Lightroom, but often in a streamlined, and sometimes superior, approach.

I make use of 2 of their products -- Detail and DeNoise. DeNoise is noise reduction, a bit better than Photoshop/Lightroom. I sometimes use it for very high noise images -- over 12800. For moderate noise, I just use Lightroom.

Detail is excellent as bringing out the details. Ultimately similar to using sharpen masking in photoshop, but much simpler. (Uses a bunch of pre-sets, you view the before/after and pick the level of detail that you want). I find it excellent as bringing out architecture details, etc.

Each of their products does one basic task-- They have a masking product. They have a focus correction product. B&W conversion, etc.

 

[boBQuincy]

Topaz (Adjust at least) works fine with PS, it shows up as one of the filters. It works with LR but there is a clunky workaround, or there was with LR4. No matter, if I need that much image processing I use PS anyway. Almost all of my images have had some tweaking in Topaz Adjust.

Out of all their products I feel Adjust may be the best one to start with, to get a feel for what Topaz can do for your photos.