This site is supported by partnerships with various hardware and softare vendors. I receive commissions on purchases made through our links to retailers. 

Topaz Sharpen AI Update – Stunning Performance

by | Jul 30, 2020 | Topaz Sharpen AI, Software Reviews, Topaz Labs | 0 comments

I’ve been an advocate of Topaz Sharpen AI since its release. Topaz has now issued an update with the following additional features:

  • Auto-detect masking tool to generate base masks.
  • “Auto-detect mode” capability which will allow Sharpen AI to select the best processing mode for your image.

The masking tool can identify 20 unique subject types, including people, animals, birds and cars. You use it to quickly select areas to sharpen exclusively or exclude from sharpening.

The auto-detect mode analyses your image and chooses the best options for you. Topaz Sharpen AI is unique in that it can, besides ‘normal’ sharpening, correct motion-blurred and out-of-focus images.

Is that possible? Look at this video and see it in action, or read on below…

Sharpen AI – The challenge

I gave Sharpen AI a picure that is soft. It’s one that I have never sharpened satisfactorily in the past. I choose it because it had people in it, so I could test its new auto mask feature. I was not expecting it to do what it did…

Here’s the original picture, opened in Sharpen AI but with no sharpening applied…

Sharpen Ai

The Original Picure

What I had not expected was that Topaz Sharpen AI’s ‘auto mode’ tool would automatically recognise that this was, not a soft picture, but one affected by motion blur.

It was a very windy day up in the Lake District in October 2004, and the tripod must have moved because of a gust of wind at the moment the shutter, which was on a 10 second timer, opened. It was the last picture we took on that trip – minutes later the heavens opened and heavy rain set in.

I was curious to see what Sharpen AI could do with this picture and marvelled at the result:

The sharpened picture

This is the sharpest result ever from this image!

Sharpen AI Auto-Mask

I chose this picture to test the ‘auto-mask’ capabilities of Sharpen AI. Creating the mask is simple – just click the ‘Find Objects button. Sure enough, it found us and produced a reasonable mask. As you can see on the video, I make a tiny tweak to it to complete it:

Auto Masking

Here are two pictures showing the results of selective sharpening, using the mask:

Sharpened

I have set the splitter to only show the sharpening of the person on the right…

 

Final Result

Selective Image Stabilisation…

Topaz Sharpen AI – Conclusion

Here’s a before and after comparison:

Topaz Sharpen AI - before and after

If you’d like a closer look, here are links to full resolution images:

Original Image

The Selectively Sharpened Image

The results speak for themselves – the picture was soft because of motion blur. Now it is sharp, but not over-sharp. It looks natural.

Purists may argue that the photographer should get it right at the time you take the picture. They are right. But people are not perfect. We all make mistakes. And all digital photos need a degree of sharpening, no matter how good the original image is. Topaz Sharpen AI meets all my sharpening needs… It’s one of my go-to tools you’d have to prise from my cold, dead hands before I’d stop using it.

Topaz Special Offer

Topaz is offering Sharpen AI at the discounted price of $59.99 until August 7, 2020. It’s a brilliant time to check it out – a trial version is available.

Please Support Us

This site supports me and my family.

Please use our links to visit the vendor’s pages. It helps us at no extra cost to you.

Please contribute or send a gift, because that will help me to keep this site active.

All content is Copyright Andy Bell 2024

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related posts

Focus stacking, Luminar NEO, Photo Software Reviews, Photography techniques

Focus Like a Pro: Luminar NEO for Photographers

Focus Like A Pro with Focus Stacking - Luminar NEO tested Focus stacking is a technique used by photographers to achieve a greater depth of field in their images. This method involves taking multiple photos of the same scene, each with a different focus point, and then combining them into a single image with sharpness [...]

|Feb 21, 2024

Luminar NEO, Photo Software Reviews

Unleash Your Imagination: Exploring the Power of Luminar Neo AI for Photographers

Introduction to Luminar NEO AI for Photographers Luminar NEO AI is an impressive photo editing software that incorporates advanced artificial intelligence features. It takes photo editing to a whole new level with its intuitive AI-powered tools. With Luminar NEO AI, editing becomes a breeze as it automatically enhances images, corrects imperfections, and optimizes colors with [...]

|Jan 19, 2024

DXO Photo Lab, DXO Pure RAW
DXO Photo Lab 7

DXO Photo Lab 7 Review

DXO Photo Lab 7 Review This is a look at DXO Photo Lab, a review of its features. This time, I am not comparing it to anything else, although I will refer to comparisons I have made previously, when appropriate. Introduction to DXO Photo Lab 7 DXO Photo Lab 7, which I will simply refer [...]

|Jan 6, 2024

DXO Photo Lab, DXO Pure RAW, Luminar NEO, Photo Software Reviews, RAW Conversion, Skylum Luminar, Software Reviews, Topaz Labs, Topaz Photo AI

The ‘Holy Trinity’ of Photography Software

This blog post looks at the 'holy trinity' of photography software. Three products that, when combined, provide everything you need to develop your RAW images and edit your photos. There is some overlap between the three, as each continues to add to and refine their capabilities. Yet I don't view them as competing with each [...]

|Dec 5, 2023

A.I. Gigapixel, DeNoise AI, DXO Photo Lab, Gigapixel AI, Photo Ninja

Noise Wars – Who Is Winning? DXO Photo Lab 6 vs Topaz Photo AI

Introduction There are only two contenders in the noise wars (IMHO) – DXO Photo Lab and Topaz DeNoise/Photo AI. These two have class leading image noise reduction and I have reviewed them numerous times. Towards the end of 2022, both DXO and Topaz issued new versions of their products. DXO released Photo Lab 6 with [...]

|Jan 21, 2023

A.I. Gigapixel, AB Photo Tools, Digital Image Workflow, Gigapixel AI, Photo Software Reviews
Enlarging a portrait - results

Image Resize Without Losing Quality using Topaz Gigapixel AI

How to do an Image Resize Without Losing Quality Easy! Just put it into Photoshop and do a re-sample, right? Absolutely not! If you are enlarging an image, you face this reality - pixels need to be added and your image's quality will suffer. But only if you use a standard method, such as bicubic [...]

|Jul 24, 2021

Cookie Consent with Real Cookie Banner