#TOPAZ STAR EFFECTS REVIEW SOFTWARE#

To accomplish this, I used the Curly Smooth preset of the Topaz Clean plug-in. I also wanted to modify the image to look less like a photograph, and more like the original Expressionist painting. Once you have determined the in focus area, you can adjust the amount of blur in the rest of the image. In my case, I centered on the area where the figure’s hand meets his chin, and adjusted the width and height sliders to isolate him from the background and foreground. I started with the Creative Blur preset, which allows you to select the center, width, and height of the “in focus” area of the image. I decided to use the Topaz Lens Effects plug-in to simulate a shallower depth of field. However, this photo was taken with a 50mm lens at F16, and the entire frame is in sharp focus. In The Scream, the view is focused on the screamer’s face with the rest of the frame quickly losing detail. The first thing that I wanted to do was adjust the photo’s depth of field. The piece reminds me a lot of Edvard Munch’s The Scream, so I decided to see if I could use the Topaz plug-ins to replicate some of the essential qualities of that work. It’s an interesting shot, but it lacks focus and impact. Let’s start with this photo of a street art installation.

The Topaz website has many excellent video tutorials, and I highly recommend watching the tutorials in order to get the most from their line of products. From there you can choose which individual Topaz module to use, which will display the editing and adjustment window for that particular effect.įor this review, I will be focusing on how I use the Topaz plug-ins within my post processing workflow, rather than on trying to describe the functions of any of the plug-ins in detail. Topaz Plug-ins are accessed via the Filters > Plug-ins menu in PhotoShop, or with Topaz Fusion Express installed, you can select “Edit in Topaz Fusion Express” directly from Lightroom, Aperture or iPhoto. Topaz Labs sells the plug-ins individually or packaged together as a bundle. Each plug-in typically focuses on a particular photographic effect or look, and allows the user to experiment with that effect as desired. Topaz plug-ins allow the user to quickly apply any of an included collection of visual effect presets to an image, and to tweak those effects via additional adjustment controls.

#TOPAZ STAR EFFECTS REVIEW SOFTWARE#

Topaz Labs is a Texas based software house that specializes in image modification and enhancement plug-ins for PhotoShop, Lightroom, Aperture, and iPhoto.

Topaz star effects review