Topaz Sharpen AI
Version 4.1.0 · Topaz Labs · Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) · ranked #164 in the library
Recovers detail from a frame that missed focus, caught camera shake or came out of the lens slightly soft, working out what the edge should have looked like rather than cranking contrast around it.
Read the installation section below before you start. The order of the steps matters on this release.
About this release
Overview
Sharpen AI does something different from an unsharp mask. Conventional sharpening raises local contrast at edges, which is why oversharpened work grows bright halos and crunchy noise: it has no idea what the subject was, it only knows where the gradients are. Sharpen AI runs the frame through models trained on pairs of blurred and clean images and reconstructs the detail, which is why it can pull a usable eyelash out of a shot that a contrast based sharpener only makes worse.
There are separate models because there are separate problems. Motion blur from a subject moving or a hand shaking has direction to it and needs to be reversed along that axis. Out of focus blur is radial and needs the focal plane inferred. General softness, from a cheap lens, a filter, diffraction at a small aperture or a heavy denoise pass, is a different correction again. The application picks a model automatically and you can override it, and each one carries strength and detail sliders plus a separate control for how much noise it is allowed to leave behind.
It works as a standalone application and as a plugin. Standalone takes raw files, TIFFs, JPEGs and PNGs, processes a batch through one setting or through auto detection per image, and writes out to a chosen folder with a naming pattern. As a plugin it appears under the filter menu in the usual raster editors and inside the raw workflow applications as an external editor, so a correction happens mid-edit on a layer rather than as a separate round trip through a folder.
What it does
Feature breakdown
Separate models per blur type
Motion, out of focus and general softness are corrected by different models, chosen automatically or overridden by hand when the frame is a mix.
Comparison views
Single, split, side by side and four up views at full resolution, so a decision is made on actual pixels rather than on a thumbnail.
Selective masking
Brush the correction onto the subject and leave the background alone, which stops a busy backdrop from picking up detail that was never there.
Batch processing
Point it at a folder, apply one setting or let it detect per image, and write the results out with a naming pattern and a chosen format.
Plugin integration
Installs as a filter for the common raster editors and registers as an external editor for the raw catalogue applications.
Raw and high bit depth support
Reads raw files directly and works in 16 bit throughout, so the result goes back into a colour managed pipeline without a quality step down.
Changed in this build
Version 4.1.0
- Model quality improved on faces and hair, with fewer plastic looking results at high strength settings.
- Faster processing on machines with a supported GPU, and a more reliable fallback to the processor when VRAM is short.
- Automatic model selection is more accurate on frames that combine motion blur with general softness.
- Batch queue now continues past a file it cannot read instead of stopping the whole run.
- Reduced memory use on very large files, which fixes the failures people saw on stitched panoramas.
Installation
Follow these in order
- Go offline before starting.
- Extract the archive to a local drive.
- Disable real time protection.
- Run the installer as administrator and let it place both the standalone application and the plugin components.
- Close the installer rather than launching from the finish screen.
- Open the standalone application once so the models register, then re-enable protection.
Release notes
From whoever packed it
- The model files are bundled in this build. Nothing is downloaded on first run and it works with no connection.
- Block the application in your firewall. An update check will replace the activated components.
- If the plugin does not appear in your editor, copy the plugin file into that editor's plugin folder manually and restart it.
System requirements
Minimum and recommended
| Operating system | Windows 10 version 21H2 or newer, or Windows 11, 64-bit |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel or AMD with AVX2 support, quad core or better |
| Memory | 8 GB minimum, 16 GB recommended for batch work on large files |
| Graphics | GPU with 4 GB VRAM for accelerated processing, 6 GB or more for high resolution files |
| Storage | 4 GB for the application and its bundled model files |
Questions about this release
Answered before you ask
- Can it fix a badly out of focus shot?
- It rescues mild to moderate misses. A frame that missed focus completely has no detail left to reconstruct and the result will look invented.
- Does it need a graphics card?
- No, it runs on the processor, but the difference in speed is large enough that a supported GPU is worth having for batch work.
- Should I sharpen before or after denoise?
- Denoise first. Sharpening amplified noise is much harder to clean up afterwards.
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