Topaz Photo AI is a revolutionary tool in the realm of photo editing, offering photographers an advanced suite of features powered by artificial intelligence. This software enhances image quality with minimal effort, making it a must-have for both amateur and professional photographers.

I have used Photo AI since its release, and review it regularly. This brief review is intended to describe its features and show some example images.

Key Features

• AI-Powered Enhancements: The software uses AI to detect and enhance various aspects of an image, such as sharpness, noise reduction, and colour balance. This feature is particularly useful for those who want quick edits without compromising quality.
• Noise Reduction: Topaz Photo AI excels in reducing noise while preserving details, making it ideal for low-light photography. The AI intelligently distinguishes between noise and detail, ensuring that the final image remains crisp and clear.
• Sharpening: The sharpening tool is another standout feature. It enhances image clarity by focusing on edges and fine details, which is perfect for bringing out textures in landscapes and portraits.
• Batch Processing: For photographers dealing with large volumes of images, the batch processing feature is a time-saver. It allows users to apply consistent edits across multiple photos, streamlining the workflow significantly.

User Experience

The user interface of Topaz Photo AI is intuitive and user-friendly. Even those new to photo editing will find it easy to navigate. The software provides real-time previews, allowing users to see the effects of their adjustments instantly. This feature is particularly beneficial for making precise edits.

Performance

Topaz Photo AI performs exceptionally well, even with high-resolution images. The processing speed is impressive, and the software efficiently utilizes system resources, ensuring smooth operation without lag. However, it does depend on your PC having a modern, high performance graphics card. It works well with lesser cards, but much more slowly.

Topaz Photo AI Examples

Noise Reduction

Photo AI removes noise from both RAW and regular images. And it does it superbly. For JPEGs and TIF files there is nothing better. DxO Photo Lab has a tiny edge with RAW noise removal, although you need to examine the images at 100% or higher to notice. If you shoot RAW and don’t have DxO then Topaz Photo AI should be your go to tool for noise removal.

Here is an example of what it can do. Firstly, a RAW image:

(In all the examples, the unprocessed image is on the left and the Topaz Photo AI results are on the right.)

As you can see, Photo AI has eradicated the noise without compromising the colours or the detail. A few years ago this would have been impossible. Photo AI makes noise removal so easy.

Regular image

How does Topaz Photo AI fare with a ‘regular’ image? In a word, superbly:

Another excellent result. It’s not quite as good as with RAW images, but that is not surprising. For regular images, Topaz Photo AI is the best noise removal software.

Image Sharpening

Almost all images benefit from some sharpening. If the original image is sharp, then most tools will sharpen it acceptably. However, most struggle with soft images. Topaz Photo AI works wonders with soft images and sharpens good images superbly. Here are a couple of examples. First, an already sharp image:

This image represents some challenges – the sharpener doesn’t want to sharpen the clouds, but sharpen everything else without overdoing it. Photo AI has done a great job!

An out of focus image

But what about a poor image. Just look at this:

Topaz Photo AI has rescued an image that was previously too soft to use. 

Upscale / Gigapixel AI

Photo AI features superb image upscaling. Topaz also market this module as a standalone application called Gigapixel AI.

Although modern cameras produce large enough images to print at A3, there is often a need for bigger enlargements, especially if you have cropped an image. But legacy images taken with low megapixel cameras benefit from enlargements; I have images taken with an old Canon 100D (6mp) camera. Thanks to Photo AI I can enlarge them enough to make a 48 inch wide print!

Unlike some other tech that limits what you can do, Photo AI offers enlargements up to 6x, with full control of the settings. Here are a few examples:

Other options

In addition to the above, Photo AI can:

• Balance an image’s colours
• Adjust an image’s lighting
• Intelligently remove objects in an image

Photo AI is not (yet) a full blown RAW image processor. But it is an image finisher, par excellence.

Conclusion

Overall, Topaz Photo AI is a powerful tool that leverages the capabilities of artificial intelligence to deliver stunning photo enhancements. Its ease of use, combined with advanced features, makes it a valuable addition to any photographer’s toolkit. Whether you’re looking to make quick adjustments or perform detailed edits, Topaz Photo AI offers the flexibility and performance needed to achieve professional results.

Highly recommended.

I am an affiliate for Topaz labs and receive a small commission should you purchase it based on this review. This does not affect your purchase price. I use Photo AI in my photography, and purchased my own copy of it.