Topaz Labs
dreamfarmer
Posts: 2,128
in The Commons
I'm thinking of splurging on some of their filters. If you use them with Daz, which ones do you like (and which ones aren't very useful?) Also... is Topaz Labs the kind of site where I should wait for some kind of discount sale because there's another one every couple weeks? Or do their prices remain pretty much fixed?
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I don't own any of the Topaz products, but to me, Topaz Clean and Topaz Simplify both look great. What I plan on doing is downloading the free trials and trying them out before deciding if I want to purchase.
I own several and love them. Topaz star effects is actually the most useful- for me, but you must be prepared to layer to get the stars where you want them. But I tend to be a layering queen so this is not an issue. Topaz impression is useful for painterly effects, and is fun to mess around with.
Nik Tools is also just about as useful and it is a free download.
I just now tried Topaz Simplify 4 for the cartoon effects, so I'm no expert with it by any means. Here are two cartoon versions and the original. All I did was select a preset for the first, and the preset with detail tweaks on the second. Click a preset, adjust sliders and done in seconds.
Edit: The first image has the "Cartoon by D. Pacheco" preset in the "Line and Ink" collection. The second image is the Cartoon preset under the "Simplify 3 Preset List" collection.
I've been thinking of getting Topaz Simplify for awhile now and several people have mentioned it to me for the Toon effects. I'll be trying the trial version soon. I'd be interested to hear if they ever go on sale. I haven't seen anyone mention if they tend to go on sale or if they are always that price. Most of the others look like the NIK Collection can do the same things. Ones that look different that I'm also thinking of trying are Impression and Texture Effects. I like that fact that they have free trials since I want to see if I can get them working in Gimp since I don't have Photoshop.
I'll be happy to refer anyone who wants a referral. You get 20 dollars off your first store purchase. =-)
I've tried both Simplify and Impressions and they're on my list (I've used Nik filters too but Impressions seemed to blow it out of the water for certain painted looks I like). I'll take you up on that, Serene Night, although I won't be purchasing immediately.
I'll take you up on that soon once I find out whether I can get everything working in Gimp. I'll let you know. Thanks for the offer.
Yep, that's why I've been looking at those in particular. I don't think I've seen anything in the NIK filters that comes even close to do what those look like they do.
Just discovered 'Clean' also does some quite nice cartoon shading. I was actually thinking that one would be one somebody using super-smooth Daz skins wouldn't need! But hey. Yay free trials.
Thanks! I'll give it a try.
I'm on Topaz's mailing list, and I'd say they put one or two of their filters on sale every month, with each one getting a discount about twice a year. I like how they will give you credit for individual filters you may have already bought if you decide to get the full suite of them. I have Clean and Simplify which I love to use, Re-mask which is not as much fun, but does a great job if you need to knock out backgrounds, and my wishlist is for Adjust, Clarity, and Detail. I *think* all the filters can be used as a standalone, so you don't strictly speaking need Photoshop or an image editor at all. I have them installed as a plug in for Paintshop Pro. It is a great idea to get the trials so you can find out which of the filters you would actually use before you buy them.
I'm pretty sure they're all standalone too. I use Impression a lot as I sell some painterly style images, and Simplify is good depending on what you want. All the Topaz family mixes and matches/overlaps a bit, as in you will get "glow" effects in Impression, etc. I like Nik for straight-forward photo edits but Topaz has some great stuff. I don't think a lot of them are as useful for renders as they are for photos, so it depends on the kind of work you do. The trials are fantastic. Note also some are more expensive.
I own all the Topaz filters, and use Adjust, Clean, Simplify, Impression, and ReMask the most so far having owned them probably since September or a little earlier. They're fantastic, imo. FilterForge didn't work for me due to crashing reasons, and I just think the Topaz filters work better for me for the looks I'm going for.
Every time Topaz Labs comes out with an updated filter, it goes on sale for a slight discount. In addition, you can buy the whole collection for about half the price of the individual filters and every Black Friday the entire collection is put on for about half off its usual bundled price.
Two of the coolest things about Topaz: 1) Once you own a filter, all updates to it are free forever. 2) If you choose to buy the whole collection, the percentage of the collection you have already bought is subtracted from the price.
For example, I owned four filters, I think, when the collection went on sale this past Black Friday. I had been expecting the sale and automatically bought it. The price I paid was the Black Friday price, minus the percentage of the package the four filters I bought already cost. (It wasn't the straight cost, since the collection was on sale.) That's true no matter when you buy the collection. Anything you already own will be discounted from the current price.
These look great. I really appreciate how clear the information on the website is presented. I did not know about these plugin's before.
Been a YUGE
fan of Topaz filters for a few years now...
They work just fine using PS CC 2017 too!
I own several Topaz filters. I am a big fan of Topaz Impression and Topaz Simplify for 3D renders.
Filter Forge is another PS filter I would recommend for 3D renders.
Topaz frequently have their plug ins on sale at a very discounted price.
I use Topaz Adjust, Detail, and Restyle frequently with my daz renders. I'll mix them with other photohsop layers and filters. Its a great set up tools. You may want to experiement with Google's Nik Collection which is free and see if it yields what you want. Check out ShibaShake's gallery and his art is amazing using Google Nik tools.Otherwise splurge on Topaz or get them all.
I just suddenly got confused. Maybe because I played with a bunch of filter plugs too close together.
So for Topaz...I can use the FREE version, but buy the additional plugs from the store?
AND the included free version plugs get EXPANDED with more plugs or just more presets for the free version?
In other words, I already have a menu of Simplify Presets. Simplify is on sale now in the store.
What would I be buying by picking that up? More presets?
Topaz has their Black Friday sale going on Pro Pack and Studio. 75% off (Additional 50% off the Go Pro Pack (totaling 75% off) for Black Friday/Cyber Monday).
The free version includes presets and some made by users. The actual software, can be used in studio but also in photoshop. but also has a different app with more options.
I usually use impressions a lot for some reason. But studio is also very useful.
I love Topaz and have several of the stand alone plugins as well as Topaz Studio. Dreamfarmer got me into it!
My favorite so far are Impression. Star Effects and Glow. I use Star Effects and Glow on many of my images. The next one I'd like to get is the Texture one. That looks very cool. I did the trial of the plug in version and it was very easy to organize textures.
I find nick collection color effects pro to be one I use nearly as much as topaz Studio.
So, I can BUY the extra bits and use them with with the free version? It seems to say that to buy ANYTHING I have to be a subscriber.
I hate that idea. And the sale price is $249 as Cyber Monday discounts.
That's still a lot.
And the FREE version is (in my looks) the same as Photoshops plugs.
AND a lot of the extra plugs in the store look great as demos, but not the same when used- especially with the limited options for editing (as a free user) so......
It'd also be nice if we saw before and after demos.
Photo Donut was cool.
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I'm leaning towards Topaz, but I don;t see a comfortable fit for price Vs useage.....
What's everyone else doing?
Mostly, I'll probably stick to free and buy a few plugs here and there, but the store won't open. I think it's that thing - where you have to be a subscriber to BUY plugs....
Anyone know for sure?
Impression is with the price for me. I would test the trial and see how much you us3 it
I have Topaz Studio and the products I had already purchase individually were moved under Studio except for my stand alones (e.g., Impression, Glow, Texture Effects, etc.). I bought everything on sale and I've had free updates ever since. There is no subscription involved. I've been working on my collection of Topaz plugins for about four years. I couldn't have purchased it all at once. Another plugin suite (and can be used as a stand alone product) I use extensively for photos and my 3D renders is On1 software. It's amazing.
Trish
@avxp - by subscriber do you mean you have to pay monthly? If so, you might be mixing photo donut pro with Topaz. For Topaz, you straight out buy each effect or bundle of effects. If you mean you have to give them your email, that's true, but in my experience, they don't bombard you with stuff.
I recommend you download a trial and see if the filters are something you would use. I use them a lot for changing color tones (similar to what Tonal Rage can do), masking to separate a complicated picture from a background, to bring back details that a photo has lost, and to get a more tooned effect. Now many of these effects are more useful if you are photo compositing or working with photos rather than nice, already crystal clear Daz Studio renders. But if you want to get a cleaner/toonier look of a Daz render, then some of the Topaz plug ins are amazingly useful. Same if you want to change color tones in post work rather than in the original renders.
Now many of these effects are more useful if you are photo compositing or working with photos rather than nice, already crystal clear Daz Studio renders.
Ahhhh yes....to both..
I maybe be confusing them. I've been demoing a bunch of these this week.
I think you are right! Like, I don't see these big sweeping changes and sometimes I prefer the Daz render to the filtered version, so I wasn't sure.
I think it will probably be a combination or products and effects. I bet like everything else, they'll have to work together to be what I need.
Between the Nik Collection, Topaz Studio, FotoSketcher, and PhotoDonut (all free), I have no need to buy an after effects program.
I rendered the Poser Grey Alien in Daz Studio 4.10 with the 3D Delight renderer.
I then used Photoshop CC 2018 & Topaz Studio Impression to achieve this effect...
Same filter but used on a 3D render in 3D Coat...
Filter Forge filter 6 on a 3D render in 3D Coat. I modeled the space ship in Groboto3D & 3D Coat as well as the skycar above.