Topaz Photo AI v3.0.3

[dakota.wixom]

Hello everyone,

This release for Photo AI version 3.0.3 brings the application up to date with a number of important fixes and optimizations, alongside a new dynamic light mode.

With this release, we are further improving memory usage with additional optimizations and fixing color shift issues for the Nikon Z8.

In the last release we enabled exporting DNGs from our popular Lightroom Classic plugin, and in this release we also fixed an important related issue so that you can now copy DNG files in the LrC plugin instead of overwriting them.

We have also added Light and Dark mode to Photo AI, which is configurable or automatically set based on your system settings.

There’s more too - we have also updated the Autopilot for RAW Denoise to be more consistent and achieve better results out of the box for images with various ISO settings.

Photo AI is getting better every day, and we won’t stop here.

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v3.0.3
Released May 30th, 2024
Mac: Download
Windows: Download

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There’s other important changes and optimizations under the hood in this release. Let’s dive into it here:

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Fixed Color Shift with the Nikon Z8

The Nikon Z8 is in the top 10 most popular cameras used with Topaz Photo AI.

If you are importing RAW files from the Nikon Z8, you should now see dramatically improved results with more consistent color and exposure settings in Photo AI.

In this update, we fixed color rendering for this camera in Topaz Photo AI so the preview will be faithful to the output from the camera.

Here is a comparison of the color before the fix (left) and the more accurate color in the beta (right).

This should also enable us to improve the consistency of results with other popular cameras inside Photo AI.

DNG Files in Lightroom Classic

As a part of this update we have also fixed a problem with a common workflow when calling Photo AI through Lightroom Classic for editing DNG files.

Previously, DNG files were overwritten with changes. Now when using File > Plug-in Extras > Process with Topaz Photo AI you will be asked whether you’d to “Edit a Copy” or “Overwrite Selected” so that your DNG files are no longer overwritten by default.

RAW Denoise Improvements in Autopilot

We have updated the default strength settings for RAW Denoise (Normal and Strong), leading to more consistent and improved results when Autopilot runs on your images.

Above (right) updated RAW Denoise Autopilot values compared to (left) original

Autopilot should tend to select stronger RAW Denoise models depending on the ISO setting by default, but the associated strengths settings have also been adjusted and tuned to optimize for this change.

Please let us know if these adjustments improve your Autopilot results on RAW files.

Note: certain cameras may be more affected by this change than others. If you notice an over-aggressive strength setting for your images, please let us know which camera model and ISO setting you are using and the auto-set strength value vs your preferred value.

Dynamic Light and Dark Modes

Many of our users prefer light or dark backgrounds depending on the type of photo they are editing. In this release, we have added the ability for Photo AI to dynamically toggle between light mode and dark mode based on your system settings.

You can also configurable your preferred mode using preferences:

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A full change log is listed below.

Please give us any feedback or report issues with this release. We’ll be updating TPAI regularly to address those pieces of feedback and issue reports.

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Full changelog for version 3.0.3:

• Further improvements to memory usage with RAW files
• Implemented light mode (including many UI/UX tweaks)
• RAW Denoise default value strength and triggering scenario adjustments
• Ask to copy DNG files in LrC instead of overwriting by default
• Added grid selection controls for upscaling
• Fixed color shift issue with the Nikon Z8
• Fixed Nikon D800 baseline exposure for 320 ISO
• Fixed an issue with LrC version < 6 failing
• Fixed Face Recovery selection not showing when hotkey is pressed
• Fixed installer repair issues with custom install paths
• Fixed an issue with Intel Macs downloading models repeatedly
• Fixed issues with Mac full-screen mode
• Fixed some menus not being wide enough on Windows
• Automatic Lensfun Update

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Cheers,

Dakota Wixom
Product Manager
Topaz Labs

[mark.johnsen]

Nikon Z8 photos look SO MUCH BETTER. Thank you!

[david.123]

Posting this again as it’s still a problem and may only be happening for folks running multiple monitors (I run triple screens) :

Bug: when I minimize then restore the application window, instead of going back to the previous window state (maximized) it goes to some weird 2/3 sizing:

Before minimize:

After restoring from minimize:

[plugsnpixels]

Quick noise removal test on a 20-year old digital image (manual override). It even removed the dead pixels

[david.123]

When an image is upscaled, I’d like to see the upscaler model name appended to the file name instead of just ‘enhance-2x’, the same as Gigapixel already does. Otherwise I have no way of knowing that autopilot is actually working and selecting different models from image to image:

Photo AI export naming - this is not useful or informative:

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Gigapixel - much better!:

Thanks

[ducky124]

I have four monitors and do not have this issue

[paddy_69]

Still doesn’t work for Capture One. Still exporting as a TIFF. When we can expect a solution to this problem?

[marco.schoenenberger]

Hi

In my case (MacOS 14.5) Photo AI v.3.0.3 does no longer allow me to use separate Denoise settings for different selections (e.g. background vs subject). I can add two Denoise Filters to the panel, but whenever I change the selection on the second, the first one also changes (and vice versa).

Has anyone observed the same issue?

Addendum:
The problem only occurs when using a preset. If I start building a “filter” sequence from scratch, it works. However, the above behaviour occurs as soon as I save it a preset and then want to reuse it. Makes presets rather useless to me.

[rien.meijer]

Same with me. C1 raw-> dng → Topaz → tiff………
So back to version 2.4.2………When will Topaz AI work with C1???

[Paul_Coddington]

I also get that vertical black bar on the right side in the second image. It is always there for a normalised window when the application has been launched.

Since last update, the window chrome for Photo AI seems to consist of two independently resizable windows overlayed together: one black window with no controls, one dark grey window with controls.

Each of these windows is restored to different sizes/coordinates, which creates the gap that looks like a vertical black bar (the grey window with controls is restored narrower than black window underneath it).

The black window snaps to a PowerToys FancyZone, but the inner dark grey window misses the mark. The inner grey window can be dragged with the mouse to snap with the underlying black window, but it disconnects from it the next time the application is launched.

I suspect this bug was added when the ability to snap windows was implemented.

[Paul_Coddington]

I have one monitor connected as two monitors (only one is active at a time for obvious reasons) and I am seeing the broken window state depicted in the second screen capture every time the application launches (I never maximize it, I only use it normalised).

I doubt it is a monitor count issue, I suspect it is a bug introduced when the application was made snappable.

[david.123]

With powertoys fancy zone disabled do you get the same weird window positioning after restoring from minimized?

[kenhumble (Ken H)]

Updated from within the app, now I am missing the menu bar and can’t move the window. I have to close from the task bar.

Trouble shooting steps

• downloaded update from link and reinstalled, same problem
• checked current beta, ran fine
• Un/Reinstalled from the previously downloaded file and reactivated license, now working

[dakota.wixom]

Awesome! We’re excited that this fixed the issue for you, and we’re also taking a close look at other cameras that we can fix with a similar process. Our engineers are working hard to improve results across the board.

Cheers.

[Captain_Dream]

Some motion blur and bright specks appear on the Standard v2 model at 2x enlargement without any other enhancements. (Basically, the auto-defaulted mode, just set 2x enlargement).

I’m not sure how you guys test your product. Why don’t you take 500 random images and run them through Topaz AI, highlight the differences in Before and After, and have a human review them? You can find all these bugs in 10 minutes of human labor

[a_braun (AB)]

Sadly the improvement for the Z8 is only with lossless compressed RAW not the new High Efficiency Compressed RAW Files, which I use mainly. With these Files there is still the same issue!
Please correct this too!
Thank you.

[kevin.murdock]

Dakota and the Topaz PAI Engineer Team, Thanks for correcting the color shift problem with Z8 photos. My lossless compressed RAW images appear much improved. Regards, Kevin

[Imo]

Sometimes this version messes up images like to be seen here. The issue is related to the Denoise Strengh. When set to zero the issue is gone.

[arussberg-141762]

The only issue I found using the Nikon Z8 in this latest update is that the upscaling never completed otherwise everything else worked fine.

[dnfrick]

Still exporting to TIFF when using with Photoshop Elements