With its focus on photographic art, Topaz Studio 2 stands out from the crowd. On the other hand, the adjustment tools are effective, the Looks are powerful and easy to use, and I really like how Topaz Labs have included factory presets for every adjustment. In Topaz Studio, all changes are reliant on you dragging a slider. With many photo editors, you can adjust brightness, color, and contrast by dragging your mouse over the part of your photo you wish to change. Also, I don’t like how the split-screen before-and-after comparison shows the original photo in its un-cropped state.įurthermore, I would like to see Topaz Labs adopt targeted adjustments. For example, you can’t show the histogram and navigator at the same time. Nevertheless, there are a few opportunities for improvement. As mentioned earlier, Topaz’s Labs has succeeded in a near-seamless integration of layer-based editing. Thanks to its singular purpose and streamlined interface, Topaz Studio 2 is both simple and quick to use. Overall, Topaz Studio 2’s performance is much better than Paint Shop Pro, slower than ACDSee, and about the same as Luminar AI and Affinity Photo. However, I find this the case with almost all photo editors. In terms of loading presets and Looks, Topaz Studio 2 is quick but not instant. The healing brush is very effective but it takes several seconds to process each of your selections. However, Studio does not always react to your adjustments immediately and occasionally falls behind as you slide in an effect. Panning and zooming are immediate and responsive. Performanceįor the most part, Topaz Studio 2 runs pretty well. Ergonomically, the interface is clean and performance is reasonable. For example, you may reduce a layer’s opacity to 50%, making it transparent and diminishing its effect on the layers below it. Since your adjustments are contained to layers, your photo remains preserved in its original state no matter how much it appears to change.Īnd since each adjustment is contained to its own layer, you can adjust, disable, or delete an adjustment without affecting another.įurthermore, you can change the way each layer interacts with the other by altering its opacity. Whereas most photo editors write your adjustments directly to your image, adjustments in Topaz Studio 2 are committed to layers. Making adjustments in Topaz Studio 2 is a little different compared to most photo editors. Whether you’re looking for a discrete effect or a visual explosion, Topaz Labs is happy to oblige. With a single click, you can blur your images, add textures, turn details into brush strokes, and much more.įortunately, you can choose the strength in which a Look is applied. Whilst other photo editors will add a little contrast and a bit of saturation, the looks in Topaz Studio 2 can melt your eyeballs. The Looks in Topaz Studio are best described as dramatic. Here, I’ve saved my adjustments to a new Look called imaginatively called ‘Richard’

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