Adobe to buy TopazLabs
In a startling move, Adobe will acquire TopazLabs by the end of 2026.
Recently, Adobe embedded Gigapixel in Lightroom Cloud and PS, calling it Generative Upscale. It will be interesting to see what more is added, considering that’s about the only thing Topaz was better at.
I’m curious about how Topaz sales have gone since they went to a subscription model and had the insane audacity to charge more per month than Adobe does for the Lr (only) package, especially since Topaz Photo has considerably less capability and is basically a glorified Denoise and Sharpen plugin.
Maybe there are some algorithms or tech behind Topaz video work that has attracted Adobe. Rarely did I find that Topaz’s Denoise and Sharpening out-performed Lightroom’s, often making feather and fur seemed groomed, not natural.
According to the article in Digital Camera World,
The move could also bring more on-device AI into Adobe software, as Adobe notes that Topaz Lab’s Neurostream technology, which allows larger complex AI models to run locally on devices, is part of the acquisition.
On device is good; certainly better than relying on data centres for processing. Time will tell. Let’s hope it’s an improvement for all.
Discover more from photographs by Terry A. McDonald – luxBorealis.com
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I use Topaz for sharpening slightly blurred images. I couldn’t achieve it with Photoshop alone.
Agreed. Topaz is helpful for slightly blurred images.
I can’t really decide when to use upscale. I think it gives me poor results all the time. So I use sharpen even for low resolution after cropping.
Hi Mike,
Are you upscaling within Lightroom? Using Generative Upscale? Or upscale upon Export? Or are you using topaz Gigapixel? Let me know and perhaps we can sort out the upscaling issues you’re having.
Hi. I used Topaz Photo AI but the result wasn’t very satisfying. Fortunately, I don’t really need upscaling because I have 36MP, so plenty of room to crop. I usually use sharpening.