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Scottelly said:
Dark slide said:
Does anyone have info on whether this sharpening program is better than other standalone or plug-in offerings? Or if there is a sharpening review from recent times?
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I'd like to know how it compares with PhotoZoom Pro.

http://www.benvista.com/photozoompro
Click to expand...
I can answer that. (You might deduce that I currently have too much time on my hands...)

Here is a comparison of the original image (LHS) with the PhotoZoom Pro result (RHS). I chose a region of the image witch had a person, rock, and vegetation.

3ced41deff6d422798d2b63ba2c1f423.jpg

And the direct comparison Topaz (LHS) vs PZP (RHS)

ef1228859d5f4d94a0ac9c6c117c342b.jpg

In both cases, these are 200% zooms after 400% enlargement. Topaz took 17 minutes, PZP 8 minutes. IMO the Topaz image looks more natural than the PZP, but neither could be confused with an actual OOC digital image.

Maybe a comparison at only 200% enlargement would have been better, but my enthusiasm has waned...

David
 
An example of superresolution techniques.
An example of superresolution techniques.

Single image superresolution was able to recover rail detail at the base of the windows. My guess is the program is operating at (c) not (d). As CPU speeds increase, implementing d becomes more feasible for home computer owners. This is from a single image (not stacked or a series of images).
 
joe173 said:
xpatUSA said:
... posted for those who even bemoan Quattro H image sizes, yeah even 'S-Hi', this may be of interest:

http://plugsandpixels.com/blog/new-topaz-ai-gigapixel-upsampling-app-w-unadvertised-discount/

Which supports the view that the future of Foveon lies in ever-fancier post-processing rather than sensor development!
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There's only so much you can do with optics/sensors. The field of AI processing has hardly been tapped. For example, in the photos you posted
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I haven't posted any photos in this thread.
 
I have been shooting SD15 for several years - and when i needed printing from an on-line printing company, they always complained that the files were too small. Then i found PhotoZoom Pro (http://www.benvista.com/photozoompro ) and have used it ever since.

It is my experience, that pictures are very different in how they can be enlarged - and PhotoZoom offer a number of algorithms for the conversion and several ajustments to further improve the result. The editor is ok responsive, so you immediately see the result of the adjustments you make. The conversion of the final result is not so fast - a 10Mp crop scaled to 200% takes about 1½ to 2 minutes.



f12a7a02713f4be7bdc28cb9a8aa98ff.jpg

--
/Henrik - Denmark
(SD14 and 2 * SD15 and SD-quattro and SDQH ... and about 7 kg glass)
 
DavidWright2010 said:
DavidWright2010 said:
DavidWright2010 said:
nd the direct comparison Topaz (LHS) vs PZP (RHS)
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
ef1228859d5f4d94a0ac9c6c117c342b.jpg

Shutter speed1/10000 secCapture dateTue, 21 Aug 2018 18:14:36 GMT

View: original size

In both cases, these are 200% zooms after 400% enlargement. Topaz took 17 minutes, PZP 8 minutes. IMO the Topaz image looks more natural than the PZP, but neither could be confused with an actual OOC digital image.
Click to expand...
Interesting comparison. On my monitor the man at bottom is better defined, Topaz gives him a hand with digits, PZP one digit and a paddle. The plant is better defined, too. PZP gives better definition to the rocks.
 
motomanDK said:
I have been shooting SD15 for several years - and when i needed printing from an on-line printing company, they always complained that the files were too small. Then i found PhotoZoom Pro (http://www.benvista.com/photozoompro ) and have used it ever since.

It is my experience, that pictures are very different in how they can be enlarged - and PhotoZoom offer a number of algorithms for the conversion and several ajustments to further improve the result. The editor is ok responsive, so you immediately see the result of the adjustments you make. The conversion of the final result is not so fast - a 10Mp crop scaled to 200% takes about 1½ to 2 minutes.

f12a7a02713f4be7bdc28cb9a8aa98ff.jpg

--
/Henrik - Denmark
(SD14 and 2 * SD15 and SD-quattro and SDQH ... and about 7 kg glass)
Click to expand...
Thanks Henrik for putting some time and effort into illustrating this up-sizing app ...

--
Ted
 
Thanks David. It looks like PhotoZoom Pro doesn't quite match the abilities of Topaz, but it's a close second. I think maybe the time saved is worthwhile though. The professional version is more expensive though, and frankly, if someone is doing professional resizing, they should probably have a dedicated machine or be willing to batch a few images overnight. Since Topaz is a plugin (right?), and most professional shops use Adobe products already, that is probably going to be a common choice, though the more expensive PhotoZoom Pro 7 is both a stand-alone program and a plugin. I dislike supporting the Adobe monster myself, so I think when I'm ready I'll buy the cheaper version of PhotoZoom Pro . . . or some open-source option. I might try scaling up an image in RawTherapee.

Here is just plain scaling in an old version of GIMP vs PhotoZoom Pro 5. Frankly I'm not particularly impressed with either one, but I was a little surprised by how using Sinc (Lanczos 3) was able to match or exceed what I could produce with PhotoZoom Pro 5. I'm sure the latest versions of PhotoZoom Pro are better though. I'll post the original jpeg first, followed by a screen-capture showing some detail of the 500% up-scaled image from GIMP and in PhotoZoom Pro 5.

d9f02c6d86224689b6d5024945031a27.jpg

ad7a4ed367f34adea895870b5db34372.jpg

Here's part of the distant building:

95db2278a8b54a1781b4b008a764def3.jpg

Here are some people and cars:

bdd3c4b00abd4389a1a2f28b64c1a663.jpg

Frankly, if I can improve the look I might like the PhotoZoom Pro 5 image better. I'm just not sure if I can improve the look. There are so many adjustments to be made, and I don't really know if I'm able to do a better job. I've played with the sliders and other settings a lot, and this is about as good as I can get it. Feel free to play with the original jpeg in whatever program you like.

I tried changing the settings in PhotoZoom Pro 5 a little, and this is how the comparison looks near the front door of the building, a little closer to the center of the frame:

40bca58f30d249ac9b662135edc89d91.jpg

The detail looks to be slightly improved, so here's another spot on the building further up:

591ccf54b13b4b1eaa4983c291b722b4.jpg

I guess I'll have to try PhotoZoom Pro 7.

;)

EDIT:

I couldn't resist, so I went and downloaded PhotoZoom Classic 7, which was only about 10 MB in size, surprisingly. It's the stand-alone $69 version only, but that seems fine to me. I'm pretty happy with it. I'm only trying it for now, but for the price it seems pretty decent. Probably worthwhile purchasing, if I was contemplating making a few really big, $300 prints. Luckily I work at a print shop though.

;)

Here's the result I got after a minute or two of playhing:

2430b2be31484dcc868b1de800b5194e.jpg



--
Scott Barton Kennelly
http://www.bigprintphotos.com
 
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xpatUSA said:
... posted for those who even bemoan Quattro H image sizes, yeah even 'S-Hi', this may be of interest:

http://plugsandpixels.com/blog/new-topaz-ai-gigapixel-upsampling-app-w-unadvertised-discount/
Click to expand...
Apparently, the plugsandpixels guy gets a referral from Topaz:

NEW Topaz upsampling product: A.I. Gigapixel

Release date: August 16. A.I. Gigapixel is a new image resizing app contender, for both JPEG and RAW images. See my blog post with examples. An unadve
www.cambridgeincolour.com

Not made clear in his OP ...
 
xpatUSA said:
xpatUSA said:
... posted for those who even bemoan Quattro H image sizes, yeah even 'S-Hi', this may be of interest:

http://plugsandpixels.com/blog/new-topaz-ai-gigapixel-upsampling-app-w-unadvertised-discount/
Click to expand...
Apparently, the plugsandpixels guy gets a referral from Topaz:

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/forums/thread62950-post719783.htm#post719783

Not made clear in his OP ...
Click to expand...
Thanks Ted, but isn't it obvious by this?

"(Note: Topaz is not offering a coupon code or discount for this release but we are! Use coupon “plugsnpixels” here to save 15% off the $99.99 retail price (this discount also applies to ALL Topaz products)."

I generally expect just about every review with a link to a product that is offered for sale is done for financial gain. Maybe it's because I've been exposed to the marketing side of things on the Internet for so long, being a part-time webmaster for almost twenty years.
 
Last edited:
Scottelly said:
xpatUSA said:
xpatUSA said:
... posted for those who even bemoan Quattro H image sizes, yeah even 'S-Hi', this may be of interest:

http://plugsandpixels.com/blog/new-topaz-ai-gigapixel-upsampling-app-w-unadvertised-discount/
Click to expand...
Apparently, the plugsandpixels guy gets a referral from Topaz:

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/forums/thread62950-post719783.htm#post719783

Not made clear in his OP ...
Click to expand...
Thanks Ted, but isn't it obvious by this?

"(Note: Topaz is not offering a coupon code or discount for this release but we are! Use coupon “plugsnpixels” here to save 15% off the $99.99 retail price (this discount also applies to ALL Topaz products)."
Click to expand...
Have to admit I didn't read it that close ...
 
Although nice to see software like this. What percentage of photogs actually print large prints? I would say not too many these days
 
fusoexplorer said:
Although nice to see software like this. What percentage of photogs actually print large prints? I would say not too many these days
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I agree. I only personally know a handful other than myself. I'd have to say it's probably less than 19% of us. Still, in a few year 8K screens will become popular, and such software will gain more popularity, no doubt.
 
I DO like enlarging scenics for printing, and as most know, the Merrill files take uprezzing without much "damage".

The AI software is good....and SLOW. I use Photoshop most of the time as well.

side note: I've used most of the earlier versions (I still remember when PS3 came out, introducing layers! That was several popes ago....) There was a technique that someone posted in a forum somewhere, a technique that improved image quality -- instead of going directly to double size in a single step, one would uprez only 10% at a go, repeated 9 times. Doing that gave you an image that was about the same final double size, but gave a higher quality end result in terms of details. I just tried it, side-by-side with "preserve details" and I cant see a visible difference, so perhaps they've incorporated it into the latest algorithms?

I find the other Topaz Labs products more interesting -- both the jpeg-to-raw and blur minimizing tools do what they advertise. They aren't fast either, but eliminating motion blur isn't easy

Happy Holidays!
 
ascotinitaly said:
I DO like enlarging scenics for printing, and as most know, the Merrill files take uprezzing without much "damage".

The AI software is good....and SLOW. I use Photoshop most of the time as well.

side note: I've used most of the earlier versions (I still remember when PS3 came out, introducing layers! That was several popes ago....) There was a technique that someone posted in a forum somewhere, a technique that improved image quality -- instead of going directly to double size in a single step, one would uprez only 10% at a go, repeated 9 times. Doing that gave you an image that was about the same final double size, but gave a higher quality end result in terms of details. I just tried it, side-by-side with "preserve details" and I cant see a visible difference, so perhaps they've incorporated it into the latest algorithms?

I find the other Topaz Labs products more interesting -- both the jpeg-to-raw and blur minimizing tools do what they advertise. They aren't fast either, but eliminating motion blur isn't easy

Happy Holidays!
Click to expand...
Same to you!

I tried this a while back:

petapixel.com

A Practical Guide to Creating Superresolution Photos with Photoshop

We’ve seen it in plenty of thriller/crime solver TV shows and movies: upon reviewing some grainy and very low-resolution surveillance footage, someone
petapixel.com petapixel.com

Takes a while because of stacking images, but does work quite well. I have no need of it because I don't print though ...
 
xpatUSA said:
ascotinitaly said:
I DO like enlarging scenics for printing, and as most know, the Merrill files take uprezzing without much "damage".

The AI software is good....and SLOW. I use Photoshop most of the time as well.

side note: I've used most of the earlier versions (I still remember when PS3 came out, introducing layers! That was several popes ago....) There was a technique that someone posted in a forum somewhere, a technique that improved image quality -- instead of going directly to double size in a single step, one would uprez only 10% at a go, repeated 9 times. Doing that gave you an image that was about the same final double size, but gave a higher quality end result in terms of details. I just tried it, side-by-side with "preserve details" and I cant see a visible difference, so perhaps they've incorporated it into the latest algorithms?

I find the other Topaz Labs products more interesting -- both the jpeg-to-raw and blur minimizing tools do what they advertise. They aren't fast either, but eliminating motion blur isn't easy

Happy Holidays!
Click to expand...
Same to you!

I tried this a while back:

https://petapixel.com/2015/02/21/a-...eating-superresolution-photos-with-photoshop/

Takes a while because of stacking images, but does work quite well. I have no need of it because I don't print though ...
Click to expand...
 
xpatUSA said:
... posted for those who even bemoan Quattro H image sizes, yeah even 'S-Hi', this may be of interest:

http://plugsandpixels.com/blog/new-topaz-ai-gigapixel-upsampling-app-w-unadvertised-discount/

Which supports the view that the future of Foveon lies in ever-fancier post-processing rather than sensor development!
Click to expand...
It works especially well with Foveon images. Yes, if you have older equipment it can be slow, but with more modern equipment and expecially a decent video card it's plenty fast enough.

I have several comuter systems. My "favorite" is an old core2 duo Dell with a decent old nVidia graphics card and maxed out with 32 bit RAM. Of course this program doesn't run on it at all because it's running Win XT and it's a 32 bit OS.

My best system used to have an nVidia GTX 760 Ti video card with 2 gig RAM. It's an i7 intel with 32 gig RAM and had a 30" 2560x1600 (2K) display. I decided to upgrade the video card to an nVidia 1660 Ti with 6 gig RAM and in the process somehow crashed my 30" display. Don't ask - I have no idea! I ended up buying a 28" Samsung 4K display (thank God for credit at B&H and BestBuy). So now both my system (Win 8.1), GPU and Display are more than decent and believe me it makes a difference.

The software does justice to Foveon enlargement. I also have several interpolation programs but I seriously like Topaz AI. As many have said, it's dog slow unless one has updated equipment, but having 64 bit, a GPU with 6 gig RAM and an i7 fast CPU with 32 gig RAM makes it work very quickly.

Best regards,

Lin
 
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