Topaz

swiftflo

swiftflo

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Peter
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I have heard talk from various sources about Topaz software for processing your photo's. Just looked it up on the net but there seems to be many differant variations.

Which is the best variation to get to replace Photo shop.
 
As far as I'm aware Topaz is a set of plugins that you use from within your existing photo editing software (photo shop, lightroom etc) ... not aware if it can be used as a replacement for them as such.
 
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swiftflo said:
I have heard talk from various sources about Topaz software for processing your photo's. Just looked it up on the net but there seems to be many differant variations.

Which is the best variation to get to replace Photo shop.
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Hi Peter I have Topaz plug-ins that wotk in LR6 and PSE15. The ones I have and use are, Clarity,Adjust and Detail.
 
They do trial versions which are worth having a bash with alternatively download Googles Nik software suite as this does a similar job and is free!
 
As per @PaulButler Topaz is not a standalone photo editor but rather a set of plugins that work within the likes of Lightroom and Photoshop.

If you are looking for standalone photo editing but not from Adobe then a Google search will give you alternatives.
 
Thank you all for your replies. I had obviously got the wrong idea about Topaz.
 
swiftflo said:
Thank you all for your replies. I had obviously got the wrong idea about Topaz.
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Not entirely, Topaz is now pushing their new Topaz Studio which is a stand alone tool that includes some cut down form of all their plugins, which together give most of the tools that photographers commonly go to Photoshop for, and they have said they will be progressively adding missing features as part of Topaz studio.

Topaz Studio with basic capability is free, so you can download and try it. You then pay for more advanced capability as you feel the need.

Topaz studio also works as a plugin for Photoshop and Lightroom, and it seems that the current Topaz plugins will probably fade away, as Topaz have said that the multiple plug in approach was impossible for them to manage. It was also confusing for the user.

It's still all a bit complicated at the moment, with some features in Topaz studio more powerful than the plugins, and some plugins more powerful than the equivalent Topaz studio capability. But, you can also run all the original Photoshop Plugins as Plugins for topaz studio.

I would ignore the original plugins, and download the free Topaz studio, and use that as a starting point to give it a try and learn what its capable of.

Cheers,

Graham
 
myotis said:
Not entirely, Topaz is now pushing their new Topaz Studio which is a stand alone tool that includes some cut down form of all their plugins, which together give most of the tools that photographers commonly go to Photoshop for, and they have said they will be progressively adding missing features as part of Topaz studio.

Topaz Studio with basic capability is free, so you can download and try it. You then pay for more advanced capability as you feel the need.

Topaz studio also works as a plugin for Photoshop and Lightroom, and it seems that the current Topaz plugins will probably fade away, as Topaz have said that the multiple plug in approach was impossible for them to manage. It was also confusing for the user.

It's still all a bit complicated at the moment, with some features in Topaz studio more powerful than the plugins, and some plugins more powerful than the equivalent Topaz studio capability. But, you can also run all the original Photoshop Plugins as Plugins for topaz studio.

I would ignore the original plugins, and download the free Topaz studio, and use that as a starting point to give it a try and learn what its capable of.

Cheers,

Graham
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Thanks
 
If you do decide you like Topaz and consider buying, I'd recommend waiting until Black Friday as the discounts are HUGE!
 
myotis said:
It's still all a bit complicated at the moment, with some features in Topaz studio more powerful than the plugins, and some plugins more powerful than the equivalent Topaz studio capability. But, you can also run all the original Photoshop Plugins as Plugins for topaz studio.


Graham
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All the original Topaz plugins will work within Studio (obviousy you have to purchase them.)
 
Brian G said:
All the original Topaz plugins will work within Studio (obviousy you have to purchase them.)
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Indeed, I should have made that clear.

But the big change since that post is that the latest update to the Detail plugin only applies to the Topaz Studio version and the stand alone plugin (if that makes sense) will not get these updates. Which for me further supports the idea that the stand alone plugins will fade away.
 
myotis said:
Indeed, I should have made that clear.

But the big change since that post is that the latest update to the Detail plugin only applies to the Topaz Studio version and the stand alone plugin (if that makes sense) will not get these updates. Which for me further supports the idea that the stand alone plugins will fade away.
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I think you did make it clear, I just didn't read the second line carefully enough.
I have most of the Topaz programs and I currently use them as plug-ins with both Lightroom and Photoshop,
If what you say is right, it looks like if I want the latest edition of Detail I'll need to download Studio, although I can't see any other reason to use it.
I'll have to check my Detail plug-in to see if there's an upgrade, since it's one of the Topaz programs that I use regularly.
 
Brian G said:
If what you say is right, it looks like if I want the latest edition of Detail I'll need to download Studio, although I can't see any other reason to use it.
I'll have to check my Detail plug-in to see if there's an upgrade, since it's one of the Topaz programs that I use regularly.
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Topaz explained (somewhere) that there were some technical reasons why they could not incorporate the features of the new version of Detail into the original plugin. I misread this and only picked up on the update bit and went as far as asking Topaz support why I couldn't find an update for the original Plugin, before discovering there wasn't one to find.

In Photoshop it doesn't make much difference to how you do things, instead of going "Filter | Topaz Labs | Topaz Detail 3", with Topaz Studio you go "Filter | Topaz Studio | Detail", which opens the Detail page of Studio.

I actually like Topaz Studio as it makes keeping things up to date easier, and as I use Capture One rather than Lightroom, I can use Topaz Studio as a Plugin for Capture One, and get access to all the Topaz tools within the multi layered/masking environment that Topaz Studio offers. For the occasional use that I make of Photoshop, Topaz Studio may well replace it for me, once they round out the features. But to be frank, I rarely find the need to leave Capture One, as it lies somewhere between LR and PS in capability


However, this transitionary period between Plugins and Studio is still a bit of a mess at the moment, and see this thread on luminous Landscape about Detail http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=120831.0
 
Just a thought.....
Are Topaz eyeing the Nik set up? Google bought this for their own purposes and now that they have extracted what they wanted - the control point ability - they are no longer supporting it.
It is not too hard to see that it will eventually wither and die.
There was always a lot of overlap between the Topaz plugins and the Nik stuff. Could Topaz be looking to take over that sector?
 
Dave70D said:
Think I will just stick to using my Topaz plugins, as tried to download the studio and it will not let me register it at all.
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I had no trouble with this, but I know others did and its seems to be related to your existing Topaz account needing to have the same log in details as your Topaz studio account. These also need to be the same for you to get the free upgrades in Studio based on your existing Plugin License.

Lots stuff in support forum and faqs on this, but I haven't really paid attention as this aspect just worked for me, and I had other problems to deal with :-(

I am sure Topaz have been tearing their hair out over all the issues this switch to studio has caused, but as they have said that the current Plugin set up is unsustainable, I assume they are being forced to accept it as a necessary evil.
 
Dave70D said:
I just changed my password 4 times and Still topaz studio wont have it, so I give up with the studio. They are good to take the money for plugins that are good, but then screw up on studio.
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That seems a lot of work to go in and change your Topaz account password and your Topaz studio account password four times: there are obviously still some glitches but if you are confident all three passwords and user names match and you still can't register Studio, its obviously something for Topaz support, or to just give up on, if its not that important :-)

Its a pity this has been so troublesome for so many people.

I found this if its of any help
 
Well I've downloaded the basic Studio plug in with no problem. Just logged into my Topaz account with normal password and away it went. Easy peasy.

Trouble is it doesn't work. Just crashes CS6 whether I open it direct or via LR.
 
Studio simply won't work with my Dell Core i5 laptop because it doesn't have the required OpenGL (IIRC) version and cannot be upgraded, which is a shame.
 
I've just been through the help pages on Topaz site.
Looks like Studio will only work with the latest most up to date hardware.
I'm, anything but an expert but it looks like if your machine is much more than 12 months old then you are stuffed, as am I!!!
 
mickledore said:
Trouble is it doesn't work. Just crashes CS6 whether I open it direct or via LR.
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gramps said:
Studio simply won't work with my Dell Core i5 laptop because it doesn't have the required OpenGL (IIRC) version and cannot be upgraded, which is a shame.
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:-(

Guess I am lucky, my issue is that the studio free plugin update mechanism based on you already owning an original plugin doesn't work for me, because I bought an "all plugin bundle" which the update verification system doesn't recognise.
 
mickledore said:
I've just been through the help pages on Topaz site.
Looks like Studio will only work with the latest most up to date hardware.
I'm, anything but an expert but it looks like if your machine is much more than 12 months old then you are stuffed, as am I!!!
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Mmm, my Mac Mini is a mid 2011 model , and it all seems to work fine for me.
 
mickledore said:
I own a couple of individually bought plug ins going back a few years. They still work fine.
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I got my ones this year, so as long as they stay working then I will be happy, but imo they need to sort out the login screw up for studio even if they do, I wont have it :)
 
All my plugins work fine on CS6.
 
myotis said:
I had no trouble with this, but I know others did and its seems to be related to your existing Topaz account needing to have the same log in details as your Topaz studio account. These also need to be the same for you to get the free upgrades in Studio based on your existing Plugin License.

Lots stuff in support forum and faqs on this, but I haven't really paid attention as this aspect just worked for me, and I had other problems to deal with :-(

I am sure Topaz have been tearing their hair out over all the issues this switch to studio has caused, but as they have said that the current Plugin set up is unsustainable, I assume they are being forced to accept it as a necessary evil.
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I can login great to my Topaz account, it just wont have it for trying the studio. Keeps coming up wrong email.
 
Dave70D said:
I can login great to my Topaz account, it just wont have it for trying the studio. Keeps coming up wrong email.
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Did you watch the video I gave the link to?

I admit I haven't, but as I remember (and I might be wrong) you need a Topaz account AND a Topaz studio account and if you want to get the free upgrades to Topaz Studio (based on owning existing plugins) both accounts need to have the same user name and password. That was why I asked if you were sure all "three" user names and passwords matched.

I know, its horribly confusing :-(
 
Ah! It's all coming back to me now.
It's been a while since I visited the Topaz site and initially I had the same (lack of) log in problem that others are experiencing..
Then I remembered, although it's asking for an email address, if you've already registered on the site, what it wants is your USER name, not your email.
Once I entered my user name, it logged me in just fine and I see a list of all my plug-ins plus a link to "Go to Topaz Studio Account" (which I haven't actually tried yet.)
 
Dave70D said:
I can login great to my Topaz account, it just wont have it for trying the studio. Keeps coming up wrong email.
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Enter your user name, NOT your email address.
 
myotis said:
Did you watch the video I gave the link to?

I admit I haven't, but as I remember (and I might be wrong) you need a Topaz account AND a Topaz studio account and if you want to get the free upgrades to Topaz Studio (based on owning existing plugins) both accounts need to have the same user name and password. That was why I asked if you were sure all "three" user names and passwords matched.

I know, its horribly confusing :-(
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Brian G said:
Ah! It's all coming back to me now.
It's been a while since I visited the Topaz site and initially I had the same (lack of) log in problem that others are experiencing..
Then I remembered, although it's asking for an email address, if you've already registered on the site, what it wants is your USER name, not your email.
Once I entered my user name, it logged me in just fine and I see a list of all my plug-ins plus a link to "Go to Topaz Studio Account" (which I haven't actually tried yet.)
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I have watched the video a few times in the past and even tried to get help from the topaz lot, and have done all the above, but still no chance and still waiting for a reply from them, wont hold my breath though as it was ages ago. I will just leave it as can`t be bothered to waist my time with it.
 
I've just downloaded and installed with no absolutely problems (once I used my User Name and not my email.)
I notice in the "System requirements" section that this is 64-bit program, so it won't install on a 32-bit system.
 
Dave70D said:
I have watched the video a few times in the past and even tried to get help from the topaz lot, and have done all the above, but still no chance and still waiting for a reply from them, wont hold my breath though as it was ages ago. I will just leave it as can`t be bothered to waist my time with it.
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OK, I've nothing left to suggest. I have had a few issues with Topaz Studio (as described in another post) and support has got back to me within hours on every occasion. I hope they get all these issue properly ironed out before the inevitable death of the Plugin option.
 
An interesting development, that I can't explain.
I've just seen that an icon has been created on my desktop. When I open that up I get the Studio to open and I can work with it.
I've still not been able to open it up from either LR or CS6.
Very odd. It seems to have downloaded as a stand alone product, and not as a plug in.
Think I'll ask them.
 
mickledore said:
An interesting development, that I can't explain.
I've just seen that an icon has been created on my desktop. When I open that up I get the Studio to open and I can work with it.
I've still not been able to open it up from either LR or CS6.
Very odd. It seems to have downloaded as a stand alone product, and not as a plug in.
Think I'll ask them.
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Ah, I have an answer for that you need to install it as a plugin with a utility there is a link and instructions here

https://help.topazlabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004587027-Accessing-Topaz-Studio-in-Adobe-Photoshop
 
mickledore said:
An interesting development, that I can't explain.
I've just seen that an icon has been created on my desktop. When I open that up I get the Studio to open and I can work with it.
I've still not been able to open it up from either LR or CS6.
Very odd. It seems to have downloaded as a stand alone product, and not as a plug in.
Think I'll ask them.
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According to their install guides, you should close Lightroom/Photoshop, install Studio and it should then appear in the "Edit in" menu of LR or the "Filter" menu of PS, so there doesn't seem to be any distinction between using it as a stand alone or as a plug in.
 
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