Adobe buy Topaz Labs

Box Brownie

Box Brownie

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techcrunch.com

Adobe acquires image and video enhancement tool maker Topaz Labs | TechCrunch

Adobe said that it will integrate Topaz Labs' tools across its apps.
techcrunch.com techcrunch.com

The way Topaz switched to subscription model and recently licensed their DeNoise and Sharpen technology to Adobe, perhaps was a precursor to such a full buyout i.e. Adobe were testing the waters via Lightroom & Photoshop phoning home.

Whatever the tech & business reasoning I surmise there will be a hardcore of Topaz users who will not be happy!
 
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I found Topaz software seemed to over cook images it went from making single applications that where excellent to putting everything in a bloated application IMO.
I hope Adobe tweak some of the ways Topaz software was created to put it back a little to give results before Topaz messed it up.
 
russellsnr said:
I found Topaz software seemed to over cook images it went from making single applications that where excellent to putting everything in a bloated application IMO.
I hope Adobe tweak some of the ways Topaz software was created to put it back a little to give results before Topaz messed it up.
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Certainly since they morphed the separate applications into one and then added an extra dose of AI the default settings have given over cooked results but it is fairly simple to turn it down to get what you want. I still prefer Topaz over Adobe's denoise and supersize because you get a full screen before/after preview rather than a tiny sample to judge how the settings are working together.
 
I pretty much predicted over a year ago that either Topaz successfully pitch to adobe or go bust, probably on here in the archives... So this is happening. There is possibly some benefit to us as adobe users unless this will remain gated behind their most premium subscription tiers. On the other hand the risk of old apps getting nuked, just the activation server really, just went exponential. Luckily I don't need to use it much: just once or twice a year.
 
Many years ago there was a Swedish company producing excellent Raw software of which I used the free version for amateurs. Adobe took it over and re-employed the Swedish software guys in their Lightroom development which improved enormously then so I bought LR v2 and have used LR ever since. I see no particular advantage to me in Adobe's takeover of Topaz but nor do I see it as a problem. Topaz were beginning to regularly increase charges so I assume were having economic difficulties. The differences between the capabilities of Topaz and Adobe has narrowed in recent years. I shall certainly maintain my Adobe subscription as I want the best and use it.

Dave
 
I’ll just have to find a workaround. I don’t actually use it much nowadays. Just need C1 to keep on improving it’s NR ans do the same for sharpening.
 
Dave Canon said:
Many years ago there was a Swedish company producing excellent Raw software of which I used the free version for amateurs. Adobe took it over and re-employed the Swedish software guys in their Lightroom development which improved enormously then so I bought LR v2 and have used LR ever since. I see no particular advantage to me in Adobe's takeover of Topaz but nor do I see it as a problem. Topaz were beginning to regularly increase charges so I assume were having economic difficulties. The differences between the capabilities of Topaz and Adobe has narrowed in recent years. I shall certainly maintain my Adobe subscription as I want the best and use it.

Dave
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Not that it matters much, but the program you are referring to was RawShooter, which was Danish, and set up by a "rebel" group of people who left Capture One (when it was still Phase One) to set up the company.

Like a few people here, who were users of Raw Shooter, I got a free license to LR, as an "upgrade" from the now discontinued Raw Shooter. I can't actually remember Raw Shooter being free, but maybe there was a free Raw Shooter, and a paid for Raw Shooter Pro. EDIT: Actually, looking it up, I see there was a free "essential" version and a paid "premium" version, And the company was set up by Michael Jonsson (the original architect of Phase One Capture One).

There is an article here discussing how it influenced the development of LR

www.keptlight.com

RawShooter: A look back to early days of digital photography - Kept Light Photography

Digital photo editing has come a long way in the past two decades, and two software programs that have impacted the field are RawShooter and Lightroom. Released in 2005 by a Danish company…
www.keptlight.com www.keptlight.com
 
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myotis said:
Not that it matters much, but the program you are referring to was RawShooter, which was Danish, and set up by a "rebel" group of people who left Capture One (when it was still Phase One) to set up the company.

Like a few people here, who were users of Raw Shooter, I got a free license to LR, as an "upgrade" from the now discontinued Raw Shooter. I can't actually remember Raw Shooter being free, but maybe there was a free Raw Shooter, and a paid for Raw Shooter Pro. EDIT: Actually, looking it up, I see there was a free "essential" version and a paid "premium" version, And the company was set up by Michael Jonsson (the original architect of Phase One Capture One).

There is an article here discussing how it influenced the development of LR

www.keptlight.com

RawShooter: A look back to early days of digital photography - Kept Light Photography

Digital photo editing has come a long way in the past two decades, and two software programs that have impacted the field are RawShooter and Lightroom. Released in 2005 by a Danish company…
www.keptlight.com www.keptlight.com
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My memory was not perfect but I could no longer find any detail on my computer as it was so long ago. Yes, I had the free version of Raw shooter and after the Adobe takeover, I could still use it for a while but as you suggest those that had the paid for version got a free LR licence. Thanks for the link.

Dave
 
Dave Canon said:
My memory was not perfect but I could no longer find any detail on my computer as it was so long ago. Yes, I had the free version of Raw shooter and after the Adobe takeover, I could still use it for a while but as you suggest those that had the paid for version got a free LR licence. Thanks for the link.

Dave
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Nor is my memory, but as a Capture One user, I just remembered the background.
 
Free RawShooter was called 'Essentials', it was software I used religiously when it was free, prior to LightRoom.

Will be interesting to see how Topaz apps get assimilated into Adobe, I did but a one-off licence for denoise (which I still use) but resisted going for the subscription model of PhotoAI.
 
Yes, it will interesting to see how Topaz handle those legacy users like myself who have the original triumvirate plus original non subscription Photo AI.

Why, because IIRC all such programs require license confirmation on the Topaz server to continue to function!
 
I’m seeing a lot of people complaining about it on social media groups , personally I’ve never gone down there subscription route ,having the stand alone sharpen and denoise purchases from a few years ago , I’m presuming they will still work as they were paid in full ,not used very often these days but handy at times.
As per box brownies comment above
 
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the black fox said:
I’m seeing a lot of people complaining about it on social media groups , personally I’ve never gone down there subscription route ,having the stand alone sharpen and denoise purchases from a few years ago , I’m presuming they will still work as they were paid in full ,not used very often these days but handy at times.
As per box brownies comment above
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Same, I own Topaz PhotoAI version 3.2.2 and it's a perpetual licence which I can use it forever.
I would just keep a copy of the installer safe somewhere in case you need to rebuild your pc or mac.
 
Hiphopapotamus said:
Eesh. Subscription galore, thanks Adobe
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Not just Adobe. Most software used in the commercial world is subscription these days. It's how the companies get money to fund development. Unless of course you don't want development ...
 
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