Earlier this week I had the opportunity to try out the pre-release beta version of Topaz Labs Clarity plug-in. Last night I played around with the final version of the above image (Pic #1 is After & Pic # 2 is Before)…The photo is a close-up of Lower Manhattan, as you can see One World Trade Center is almost finished in the picture. Yeah, for NYC!
Topaz Clarity does a wonderful job of enhancing contrast and clarity on your images. Below is a list of all the wonderful features.
Clarity Module- The Dynamics section of this module allows you to selectively adjust contrast in your image, without adding halos or artifacts, resulting in a very natural looking, yet the compelling image. The contrast sliders range from micro to high, and refer to the original image contrast variations allowing you to increase or decrease the contrast in that specific variation. The highlight of this module is the ability to adjust mid-tone contrast quickly and easily, something that would normally take many steps to achieve.
The Tone section gives you the ability to adjust the tone levels to retain a high range of tones in your image. It includes black, white, and mid-tone sliders that can bring back details in the shadows and highlights that would normally be lost with high contrast adjustments.
Topaz Clarity Box Image
HSL Module– Topaz Clarity is the first to use a quality enhancement method in the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance adjustment module, which can produce strong adjustments with much fewer artifacts and noise. The HSL module allows you to selectively enhance specific colors in your image. It works by breaking your image into 8 different colors, giving maximum control over the colors in your image.
Advanced Masking Technology– We have incorporated several new features in the masking module to allow for more precise masking. Clarity offers three different types of brushes; normal, edge-aware, and the new color aware. You now have the ability to feather the mask and control the color range. You also have the option of choosing a gradient mask that includes linear, radial, and reflected types of gradients. In addition, there is a separate mask for the Clarity module and the HSL module, which allows for much greater control of adjustment areas in your image.
New User Interface– We are premiering a brand new user interface that is more intuitive, polished, and user-friendly. As requested, both the navigator window and the buttons are larger and easier to view. The modules themselves are streamlined for quicker and easier adjustments. The masking section is condensed, even with the addition of new masking features.
Over 100 Presets– For the first time, we have categorized the presets by types of photography. This will enable photographers to quickly identify which presets would be most useful for their particular image.
Topaz Clarity is being released today May, 22nd, 2013. If you would like to add Topaz Clarity to your workflow, click here and use promo code “claritynew” before May 31st, 2013 for a reduced special price of $29.99
