Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 5   Go Down

Author Topic: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)  (Read 5223 times)

plugsnpixels

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1034
    • http://www.plugsandpixels.com

Within this last hour, Topaz released an update to Gigapixel AI, version 6.1.0 and you need to see what it now does!

I've been beta testing this version and have been extremely excited about the greatly improved Face Recovery feature. Prior to this feature being added, the only other place you could get this level of facial enhancement was with one of the expensive subscription-based online genealogical services.

Attached are a couple of quick examples of old family photos being enhanced at 4X. I'll be working on a blog post with more examples and details soon.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2022, 01:09:56 am by plugsnpixels »
Logged
Digital imaging blog, software discounts:
www.plugsandpixels.com/blog

plugsnpixels

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1034
    • http://www.plugsandpixels.com
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #1 on: May 12, 2022, 01:51:07 am »

That photo of my great-grandmother was taken about 1905 and was printed on some tiny 2"x3" photo paper and stored in a little cardboard vignette frame along with several other poses.

In this example I used Gigapixel to enlarge my scan 6X and Photoshop to colorize it (Neural filter), then Topaz Studio to add a vignette and bit of Clear.

Viewed at 100%, it's a far cry from the gritty original!
Logged
Digital imaging blog, software discounts:
www.plugsandpixels.com/blog

Bart_van_der_Wolf

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 8913
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #2 on: May 12, 2022, 07:41:35 am »

[...]
Attached are a couple of quick examples of old family photos being enhanced at 4X. I'll be working on a blog post with more examples and details soon.

Yes, really impressive.

Old family album images, images needed for larger printed output than anticipated, even an image capture from a movie of your favorite moviestar or scene. Most of them will benefit greatly.

Cheers,
Bart
Logged
== If you do what you did, you'll get what you got. ==

plugsnpixels

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1034
    • http://www.plugsandpixels.com
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #3 on: May 12, 2022, 03:17:45 pm »

Thanks Bart, this is my favorite Topaz app – besides enlarging it also does a bit of cleanup, so it overlaps with DeNoise and Sharpen.
Logged
Digital imaging blog, software discounts:
www.plugsandpixels.com/blog

Eric Myrvaagnes

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 22814
  • http://myrvaagnes.com
    • http://myrvaagnes.com
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #4 on: May 12, 2022, 08:14:01 pm »

Very impressive results.
Logged
-Eric Myrvaagnes (visit my website: http://myrvaagnes.com)

plugsnpixels

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1034
    • http://www.plugsandpixels.com
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #5 on: May 12, 2022, 08:25:17 pm »

Thanks Eric, I've been experimenting with more old family photos... No end to the fun!

This is the daughter of the girl in color above, from 1931.
« Last Edit: May 15, 2022, 01:49:59 am by plugsnpixels »
Logged
Digital imaging blog, software discounts:
www.plugsandpixels.com/blog

plugsnpixels

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1034
    • http://www.plugsandpixels.com
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #6 on: May 13, 2022, 11:32:18 am »

I'm not seeing a sale on the new Gigapixel AI release yet but a 15% coupon is always available off any Topaz app or product.
Logged
Digital imaging blog, software discounts:
www.plugsandpixels.com/blog

Wolfman

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 314
    • www.bernardwolf.com
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #7 on: May 13, 2022, 05:42:26 pm »

How well does it work on non-people subject matter....landscapes?

plugsnpixels

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1034
    • http://www.plugsandpixels.com
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #8 on: May 13, 2022, 06:20:27 pm »

How well does it work on non-people subject matter....landscapes?

Fair question for the LL audience! While the face enhancement is the big news this time around, of course landscapes are the main topic here.

Here are a few circa-2003 4-megapixel scenics being improved at 4X by Gigapixel (split among posts as I wanted to keep the JPEG quality high). You can see that Gigapixel AI is also doing a bit of the work of DeNoise AI and Sharpen AI. I did these screenshots on a 2020 M1 MacBook Pro.

Of course your camera is better and your results will look even better ;-)

I tend to use the Low Resolution and Very Compressed options the most, though you need to compare models on each photo (you can view 4 results at a time).
« Last Edit: May 13, 2022, 06:29:18 pm by plugsnpixels »
Logged
Digital imaging blog, software discounts:
www.plugsandpixels.com/blog

plugsnpixels

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1034
    • http://www.plugsandpixels.com
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #9 on: May 13, 2022, 06:23:03 pm »

Another also from 2003, non-DLSR.
Logged
Digital imaging blog, software discounts:
www.plugsandpixels.com/blog

plugsnpixels

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1034
    • http://www.plugsandpixels.com
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #10 on: May 13, 2022, 06:24:23 pm »

And another from 2003, non-DLSR.
Logged
Digital imaging blog, software discounts:
www.plugsandpixels.com/blog

plugsnpixels

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1034
    • http://www.plugsandpixels.com
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #11 on: May 13, 2022, 06:27:46 pm »

One more...
Logged
Digital imaging blog, software discounts:
www.plugsandpixels.com/blog

plugsnpixels

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1034
    • http://www.plugsandpixels.com
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #12 on: May 14, 2022, 12:16:17 am »

Somebody in the UK just posted a blog in response to my blog, wondering if Gigapixel could upscale a small image pulled off of eBay as well as it did the faces I showed.

I have many such images and maybe this one passes as a scenic, so I'll answer his challenge and show the original plus 4X results here:
« Last Edit: May 14, 2022, 12:24:07 am by plugsnpixels »
Logged
Digital imaging blog, software discounts:
www.plugsandpixels.com/blog

Bart_van_der_Wolf

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 8913
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #13 on: May 15, 2022, 11:55:10 am »

[...]
I tend to use the Low Resolution and Very Compressed options the most, though you need to compare models on each photo (you can view 4 results at a time).

Yes, a lot depends on the source image. I tend to take relatively Low-ISO shots, and then i can reduce the (auto-detected) 'image default' amount of noise reduction in GigaPixel to very low values. This will make Gigapixel work even harder to find details. After all, some of the noise (shot-noise) is part of the recorded image itself. This also prevents a too 'plastic' look, and it minimizes hints of edge halo (if any).

Depending on the image, if there is mixed content such as vegetation and architecture, one can also create multiple upscales and then blend them with masking in Photoshop / Affinity Photo.

Cheers,
Bart
« Last Edit: May 15, 2022, 06:49:57 pm by Bart_van_der_Wolf »
Logged
== If you do what you did, you'll get what you got. ==

plugsnpixels

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1034
    • http://www.plugsandpixels.com
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #14 on: May 15, 2022, 12:27:16 pm »

Yes, a lot depends on the source image. I tend to take relatively Low-ISO shots, and then i can reduce the (auto-detected) 'image default' amount of noise reduction in GigaPixel to very low values. This will make Gigapixel work even harder to find details. After all, some of the noise (shot-noise) is part of the recorded image itself. This also prevents a too 'plastic' look, and it minimizes hints of edge halo (if any).

Depending on the image, if there is mixed content such as vegetation and architecture, one can also create multiple upscales and then blend them with masking in Photoshot / Affinity Photo.

Cheers,
Bart

Very good points Bart! I usually do my examples at default values to show what an app is capable of even without further tweaking, but your suggestions are great and I'll experiment with them.
Logged
Digital imaging blog, software discounts:
www.plugsandpixels.com/blog

plugsnpixels

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1034
    • http://www.plugsandpixels.com
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #15 on: May 18, 2022, 02:33:13 pm »

**Topaz just announced a $20 off sale on Gigapixel 6.1, starting tomorrow (5/19) and good through 6/2.**

Visit Topaz' website to get the discount, or better yet, visit the Plugs 'n Pixels Discounts page, use the Topaz link and coupon code there and get an additional 15% off!
« Last Edit: May 19, 2022, 11:28:37 pm by plugsnpixels »
Logged
Digital imaging blog, software discounts:
www.plugsandpixels.com/blog

deanwork

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2400
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #16 on: June 10, 2022, 01:29:55 pm »

Wow. Thought the portrait looked a little “ air brushed”, but this landscape capability is really impressive. I have a client who has shot a lot of nice street scenes, architecture in the past hand holding medium format film cameras and many are just too soft to make big prints from, but this looks like it could save them.

Is there a free trial version available?

John






One more...
Logged

plugsnpixels

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1034
    • http://www.plugsandpixels.com
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #17 on: June 10, 2022, 01:46:24 pm »

Wow. Thought the portrait looked a little “ air brushed”, but this landscape capability is really impressive. I have a client who has shot a lot of nice street scenes, architecture in the past hand holding medium format film cameras and many are just too soft to make big prints from, but this looks like it could save them.

Is there a free trial version available?

John

Sure, just go to their Downloads page and grab any app to try.

Another approach is to go in this way to request a trial.

As for the "air brushed" look, you have control over the amount of treatment to apply.
Logged
Digital imaging blog, software discounts:
www.plugsandpixels.com/blog

deanwork

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2400
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #18 on: June 10, 2022, 02:07:18 pm »

That is mind blowing. I’m wondering if this is trickle down AI research from the cinema world. I’ve seen very similar demo on YouTube one time from special effects lab in California cleaning up resolution of details of scenes in AI created landscapes. Thank you a lot for posting!

John



quote author=plugsnpixels link=topic=140784.msg1240901#msg1240901 date=1654883184]
Sure, just go to their Downloads page and grab any app to try.

Another approach is to go in this way to request a trial.

As for the "air brushed" look, you have control over the amount of treatment to apply.
[/quote]
Logged

plugsnpixels

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1034
    • http://www.plugsandpixels.com
Re: JUST OUT OF BETA TESTING: Topaz Gigapixel AI 6.1 (need to see!)
« Reply #19 on: June 10, 2022, 02:14:57 pm »

You're welcome! Gigapixel has long been my favorite Topaz app (it helps rescue my decades of stock photos shot with "technology-challenged" cameras) and the recent addition of the face recovery feature helps with my genealogical hobby (I've gathered tons of old family photos).
Logged
Digital imaging blog, software discounts:
www.plugsandpixels.com/blog
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 5   Go Up