Your DeepPrime denoise AI is world class! Even better is the XD version. How about a sharpening AI to match?
(I’m experimenting with Topaz’ Sharpen AI, but am wishing it were already in the program for a MUCH smoother RAW workflow. If they can do it, so can you! Go, go, DXO!)
And thank you for freeing me from Lightroom.
Hi and welcome,
Have you tried using Lens Sharpness? You must have a supported camera and lens to use it. It is not technically “AI” but the lens modules are tailored to each specific lens in DxO’s labs. IMO it is better than Topaz Sharpen AI which I only use for unsupported lenses.
BTW, don’t forget to vote for your own proposal.
I use PL5 with the lens sharpness corrections, along with Topaz Sharpen AI.
Both applications do have their own place.
Don’t forget, lens Sharpness corrects for known optical characteristics of a lens, however it does not correct for when there is slight mis-focus, camera shake or subject motion (blur).
I use Topaz AI when I need a solution to help with any of the three causes of less than optimal sharpness listed above, and it does an excellent job too (imo).
I for one would also love DxO to include a similar offering to Topaz Sharpen AI within Photolab. This would be a preferble workflow to my current one of exporting the edited image from PL, opening the exported file in Topaz, applying the sharpening (and often refining a mask to sharpen only the areas requiring it), and then exporting again. This is a tedious process, I have to admit.
DxO is getting there with the new DPXD available in PL6 Elite. It is not as effective as the Topaz app in correcting slightly missed focus(and DxO doesn’t claim any such capability, this is just my observation). I agree that Topaz is excellent for this purpose, but IMO DxO is making some progress.
In my tests Topaz Sharpen AI excels in saving many images that are not in sharp focus. However, with my current gear I rarely capture an image so out of focus that it would require that treatment, and when I do I will usually delete it anyway for that and other reasons. For me, its just not worth the cost and effort to own and use Topaz Sharpen AI . Obviously, for others it may be a more valuable asset.
Mark
When I was shooting film I became enamored with a soft focus filter for shooting portraits, I practically had one glued to my lenses. Now after scanning I find the effect to be dated and less than desirable. Sharpen AI, used judiciously, helps eliminate the softening caused by those filters.
I agree that with today’s gear Topaz is not very often necessary, DxO’s Lens Sharpness does just fine.
Agreed, I use it very infrequently. But when I need it, it is invaluable…
Sometimes the one shot that isn’t quite sharp is the one that captures a moment better than any of the others, and Topaz AI allows that shot to be used.
I can’t argue with that. I haven’t needed it badly enough yet to purchase it, however if the need arises I could always change my mind.
Mark
I would actually use it more if the workflow was more simple and quicker. Also, I’m not a big fan of the Topaz UI, I much prefer using DxO!
Thanks! I don’t think I have played with Lens Sharpness, but will the next time I dive in. I have some older Canon EF equipment, and have all the profiles downloaded, so I’m curious how much it can help.
I’m honestly inspired by how DXO’s denoise AI has brought new life to so many of my old, low-light images from the last 20 years. Photos I probably would have thrown away if I weren’t such a…digital archivist/packrat. And I’m so glad I didn’t!
I similarly have a lot of slightly (or very) blurry images that I’ve kept because they were the ones that had the best facial expressions. (Especially in the years of having kids.) And what can I say, sometimes I’m the one who left the shutter speed at 1/20 and didn’t think notice or think about it until it was too late. Or how about a portrait with one person just behind the other, and blurry because I didn’t close down the aperture a bit. Ugh, this one really kills me.
Yeah, I haven’t finished poking around with the trial version of Sharpen AI, but it hasn’t gone great so far. I was able to open my 6D’s RAW files in Sharpen AI without problem, but when I exported a DNG, PhotoLab 6 couldn’t read it. I guess I need to try other export settings and options, but I really want/need a good DNG out of it, not just a tiff. Is it possible?
I still might buy it on sale so I could just use it after export, but I think using at the beginning, in RAW would be far better. Plenty of advantage to be gained by DXO crafting the feature themselves. They could make it part of PL7 and PR3!
I do have old gear. But even if I had new gear, I’d still have plenty of old photos from that old gear that could use a bit of sharpening. There are old smiles to be saved!
I certainly understand why you would want to use Topaz Sharpen AI. It is a worthwhile product. However, I don’t currently have a need for it. Even my earlier images, especially those with available DxO lens modules, can be sharpened to my satisfaction in PhotoLab 6 Elite.
Mark
I assume those are all RAW’s Mark? Like many people I have a bunch of old jpgs that I am trying to ‘spruce up’. Unfortunately, I can’t use much of the magic of PL on them. For these The Topaz products are often wonderful.
I have many hundreds of old jpegs but none of them are so bad that I can’t tweak them in PhotoLab if I ever decide to go to the trouble do it. If they were bad to start with I would have deleted them long ago. I don’t hold on to images that don’t satify me.
Mark
This. I have found XD output needs very little tuning in Topaz
Same. Topaz and DxO corrected DNG outputs don’t play nicely together at all - I don’t pretend to fully understand why though I believe it’s to do with the conversion from RAW to linear DNG, there is a lot of technical advice elsewhere in this forum that explains it I’m sure but it’s over my head.
My workflow - all RAW edits (including sharpening if you have the lens module) and DeepPrime or XD first in PL6, “export to application” (Topaz) as 16-bit TIFF, sharpen and/or gigapixel it, done
The presentation of the screenshot is too small to show what I mean. Another attempt:
The first screenshot shows the image processed with the Photlolab Standard preset and DeepPrime XD. The second screenshot shows the image processed with the Standard preset, DeepPrime XD, no sharpening in Photolab, sharpening with Topaz Sharpen AI.
Hello AreDub,
I share your opinion. Lens Sharpness is no more state of the art. The default setting of Lens Sharpness destroys very fine structures. In the screenshot you see a 1:1 comparison of two images. The image on the left is processed with the Standard preset and DeepPrime XD. The image on the right is processed with the Standard preset and DeepPrime XD, but without Lens Sharpness. It is sharpened with Topaz Sharpen AI instead after the processing in Photolab.
The problem is that the Global slider in Lens Sharpness widens the edges.
One can try to reduce the amount of Global and to increase the amount of Detail, but increasing Detail leads to artifacts.
Hi DKE,
I’m not talking about Topaz AT Sharpen, which I don’t know at all,
but the example you put out with PL Lens Sharpness + DeepPrimeXD.
When you know, what’s the problem in PL, but present your example with PL’s standard settings – what’s the point? All you say & show is that you don’t get your desired result with the “standard settings”.
note – this is not for “bashing”, but to encourage you to explore PL
