There were about 60 attendees and I was honoured to be a guest judge for their Bi-Monthly Photo comp. Last Night I did a presentation for the Chinese Photographic Society of Australia, it was really fun. Here you can see a screen grab of the difference between the image Before, and then the After I used Topaz Clarity to add a bit of punch! (Click on the picture to make it bigger and take a closer look) CLICK HERE to go to the Topaz Labs Website now. Just a reminder if you’re buying any of the Topaz Labs products you can get a 15% discount by using the coupon code: ON3LEGS when you check out. If you’re looking for another tool for your tool box then this should be on your list! Save 15% on Topaz Labs All of this means you can do most of your adjustments with this one plugin. In addition to the Clarity Adjustment you can also adjust Hue, Saturation and Luminosity that works well too. Usually, the setting you need to bring the best out in parts of your image will create unwanted noise in the sky for example, with the masks you can make selections and decide where you want the effect applied. You can also then decide how much of it is in your final image by using the Opacity slider or even better, with the Mask tool that I am suitably impressed with. Each of these sliders effects your image in different ways, and rather than a one slider fits all approach like Lightroom, this gives you much more precise control over HOW the clarity and contrast is applied. Topaz Clarity essentially allows you to adjust areas of contrast in 4 areas, Micro, Low, Medium and High contrast areas. Even after I have used Lightroom and photoshop to create what I think I am happy with, I have then used Topaz Clarity and I can get an image with even more depth, it’s like adding that little bit more when you thought there was nothing left! This new one they have just released called Topaz Clarity is like having complete control over the contrast in your image, if you’re like me and use the clarity slider in Lightroom to enhance your images, then you’re going to love Topaz Clarity. I have been using the Topaz Labs plugins for a little over a year now and my favourite Topaz Plugin is Topaz Adjust, although they’re all good! I think you can save around $250 if you take the complete plugin package. You can try it for free for 30 days, give it a shot and let me know what you think in the comments.Topaz Labs have really come to the party with this plug in. The core functionality does work well, and if you’re looking for fine grain clarity control Topaz Clarity is a good one. These are minor issues I’m sure will be addressed in time, but they’re there. Also, Command-Z doesn’t seem to undo brush strokes. The brush, for example, doesn’t repsond to the a two-finger drag to resize and the “” keys don’t always the resize brush when clicked. The layout of the HSL sliders for example is definitely an homage to Lightroom, but some of the UI functionality is a bit buggy (at last in the Mac version at release). If you’ve used Lightroom, you’ll notice similarities between it and Clarity. Ok, it’s new software, are there any bugs ? By the way, if you’re interested in Denoise, checkout my video tutorial here. If you can skip coffee for a while, the Topaz Bundle has a great set of tools like Adjust, Denoise, and Detail (to name a few). ![]() Skip a few cups of coffee and give it a whirl. That’s not a bad deal for the kind of fine tuned control it gives you. Topaz will be selling Clarity for $49.99 but has it discounted to $29.99 until May 31st. I’d like to see something like that get incorporated into Lightroom & Photoshop. Think layer masks in photoshop, but large enough for you to see where the brush was applied. You can also create your own as is expected.Īnother nice feature with the masking brush is a preview showing you where the brush has been applied. The presets themselves are broken down into collections like Documentary, Landscape, Fashion, Wedding and so-on to give you a head start depending on the type of photography you do. In addition to clarity and contrast, you also get Hue Saturation and Luminance controls, as well as, a good list of presets to get you started. ![]() ![]() Clarity is like a contrast scalpel providing you with control when you want it. I like the fine tune control over Micro, Low, Medium and High Contrast. Tonemapped images always need a contrast boost. That’s a real nice feature allowing you to brush-in/brush-out the effect as desired. Is it perfect? I do see a bit of haloing, but it is so slight that it’s easily addressed with the masking brush Topaz makes available.
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