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Les Palenik

8 Years Ago

Topaz Remask 5

Topaz Labs just released Topaz ReMask 5, an updated version of their masking software, complete with new features. The update is free to anyone who already owns ReMask, and for those who don’t own it, ReMask 5 will be on sale ($20 off) from August 25th – September 18th. You can share the coupon code "GetReMask5" with your friends so they can also take advantage of the discounted price of $49.99 (regularly $69.99).

The program works now in standalone mode, and it masks quite well.
Here is my first cutout which I pasted into another image:

Photography Prints


Here is the Topaz link:

TOPAZ REMASK

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Greg Jackson

8 Years Ago

Thanks for the reminder, Les. I rec'd the email from Topaz concerning the free update and completely forgot about it. I need to take the time to sit down and do it.

 

Judy Kay

8 Years Ago

Which "hosting" program do you use with the topaz products?

 

Tom Druin

8 Years Ago

adobe photoshop... corel paintshop sure there are many others check the site out for specs

 

Eleanor Abramson

8 Years Ago

Judy-I haven't looked at it yet, but Les says it is now a stand alone, which is quite handy.

 

Greg Jackson

8 Years Ago

Judy, when I've downloaded the Topaz products, the options to host the plug-ins were PS or LR. I believe there were other choices (limited) that show up during the loading process.

 

Judy Kay

8 Years Ago

If its a stand alone I may consider it,...but I really think these programs work so much better when you open them up in photoshop etc...when I am in topaz impression for example, there are just so many times I would like to mask" off my subject and just apply a preset to the background for example. For me to perform that task now I have to use another program and cut out the subject apply the filter and then paste the subject back in, It is time consuming for sure, I have started creating png files of my subjects which helps the flow process somewhat, Photoshop would work great for that, The workflow becomes much more tedious when you have to perform different tasks through so many different apps,, The problem is that photoshop may be too much program,,,Is there a free or much less expensive option that will virtually do the same thing on the apple OS, Also I am using a trial now for pixelmator,,,the trial ends in two days,,,so do I get it ???by the time I purchase all these apps I figure I may as well just get PS and be done with it?!
I am finding I am getting too many 'apps" to perform different tasks, It would be better to have just one good program rather than a host of others, The 10,00 a month for LR and PS is a subscription for one year, Not sure what will happen cost wise the next year etc,,,Sorry to ramble so much but this has been a real dilemma for me, P:S thanks Les for letting me know about the offer and to the others for the additional info,,

 

Ann Powell

8 Years Ago

I use my Topaz filters, including re mask with Photoshop Elements 11 , which is not free, but pretty low cost. I have not done my upgrade yet to re mask 5. I am like you Judy, and have not figured out the most streamlined workflow yet for combining masking and filters. I have not had the time yet to learn how to use the re mask features.

 

Judy Kay

8 Years Ago

Ann, what made it very complicated for me was when I submitted for the trial for topaz impression,,,they sent me the trial for all of their products excluding impression with the FX host program, It was far too much to digest in the trial period, I love the concept of using masks but some how their tutorials and my brain don't go with their flow somehow, I really want to in so many cases leave my subject completely untouched and just work the background,,,it seems so simple to just apply a simple outline to your subject with a command to ignore the processing of any filters to that outline, ..but either the programs make the process complicate or my brain processing makes it more complicated than it is ?! I was considering ps elements but the reviews were so bad that it dissuaded me, , ..this leaves me with the more complicated choices,

 

Georgia Mizuleva

8 Years Ago

Thank you, Les!

 
 

Les Palenik

8 Years Ago

To confirm - The new Remask 5 works in multiple ways - as a plugin in Photoshop or another hosting program and in standalone mode, so you don't need Photoshop for cutting out or compositing images. You can also invoke it also from Adobe Lightroom.

1. Working in standalone mode, you can not only extract a masked element, but also replace and edit the background of the masked image without leaving the program. You can choose from transparent, solid color, or another image backgrounds. If you bring in another image as background, you can adjust the brightness, contrast, blur, and color saturation just by using the sliders, or you can scale the background image by grabbing the corners and dragging them outwards. Once done, you can save your composite image as JPG, TIFF, or PNG file.

2. I did it the example the other way, cutting out the canoe, saving it, and then while editing the highway image in Photoshop, I inserted into it the canoe image as another layer.

 

Judy Kay

8 Years Ago

Thank you for the link and tutorial, I am strongly considering this app.now that it is a standalone,. There are so many times I have had good subject photos with lousy backgrounds, I pretty much did the same thing without remask with this image, In the original picture there was a building in the background ,,I traced around the landscape and cut it out with the smart lasso tool, Then I found a image from another photo that would fit in and cut it out and pasted it, It came out pretty good,
(In the original photo the top portion was some building,,, I could have pasted a sky I suppose, Here is the image

Sell Art Online


PS,,,,I had been considering PS but think it may be just too much program,,,but when I read about PSE ,,,I get the impression it is more involved with photo sharing,,,slide shows and other elements of little interest to me, Does this app have enough of the photo manipulation tools to make it worthwhile,,or do they leave out the good stuff to make you want more?!

 

Roy Pedersen

8 Years Ago

PS Elements is a good programme to get if you don't want or need the full Photoshop.
It is a very powerful editing programme.
You can download a trial version before you buy to see if you like it

 

Judy Kay

8 Years Ago

Thanks Roy,,,Ill check out that trial...maybe with it I won't need the Remask 5 or pixelmator, I like both of these apps but I don't want to buy a lot of different apps if one app will do it all,...without too much overkill)! Hope PSE is the ticket !

""
EDIT, I just got a response from the Topaz team about Impression, Here is their response and good news," We are planning on implementing masking brushes into a coming update to Impression, which should allow for you to create the background-only effect you are describing."

 

Paul Gulliver

8 Years Ago

Although I own photoshop I much prefer Paintshop pro, also compatible with all of the topaz plugins

 

Judy Kay

8 Years Ago

Tnanks Paul ,,,checking it out now, There is a free trial ,,,Is this the one , PaintShop Pro X8 Ultimate! and they have this one PaintShop Pro X8 ..
I have topaz impression,,,is this program going to be somewhat of a duplicate encompassing effects ,,,or photo manipulation tools?

 

Paul Gulliver

8 Years Ago

Yes, x8 is the latest version, the ultimate just contains one or two add ons, the actual program is the same. I alway buy the "straight" version, still using x7, x8 has only just been released to my knowledge.

 

Greg Jackson

8 Years Ago

I tried multiple times yesterday to upload ReMask 5, with no luck. The upgrade easily downloads, then it stops at a certain point during installation. I sent a message to their tech support yesterday, but have not rec'd a reply. All of the other Topaz programs I have were easily loaded with no problems encountered.

 

Melissa Messick

8 Years Ago

Gimp is a Free Photoshop look alike program that has made some what of a come back in recent years. It really isnt to bad for a free program. I'm not sure where to down load it but I'm sure a google search would find it. Also alot of Photoshop elements like brushes etc will work in Gimp.

 

Les Palenik

8 Years Ago

Greg,

I wonder what is the problem. Just to be on the safe side, I would exit from all other programs while installing Remask5, and see if that helps.
I downloaded it to my hard drive, and then ran it (actually with quite a few programs running - on Windows 8.1 64-bit computer), it installed flawlessly.
I can run it in standalone mode and it shows up also in my Photoshop filters, right below the old Remask4.

 

Les Palenik

8 Years Ago

Here is the link for free Gimp Download:

http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

But if you download Topaz Remask5, and run it as a standalone program, maybe you won't need Gimp. You can cutout a portion of your image and overlay it on top of another image right in the Remask5.

 

Judy Kay

8 Years Ago

I am so happy they let me install the 30 day trial again, Before I was overwhelmed with all of the topaz products I could not concentrate on this one, They are running a discount special for those interested..Here is the link, The special is good until Sept 18 only http://blog.topazlabs.com/remask-5-released/

 

Greg Jackson

8 Years Ago

Les,

I rec'd a return email from the Topaz folks, and apparently Remask 5 is not compatible with the Windows Vista system I use. That's okay, as i still have the Remask 4, which I've actually not used that much, but it's there when I need it. :)

My other concern, and I didn't ask, was if any future upgrades to their other programs I use will be affected by the platform I use.

 

Jessica Jenney

8 Years Ago

customer reviews aren't that terrific. Looks easier than it is.

https://www.topazlabs.com/remask

 

Judy Kay

8 Years Ago

Yes the startup tutorials make it seem 1 2 3,,,and it isn't, Im not giving up though,,,I just hope I can go with their flow! I love manipulating images, Its in many cases the only way you can achieve your desired results, Nature is not always that cooperative,,,and sometimes a potentially good image is lost because of less than ideal surroundings, I watched a couple of the topaz tutorials and didn't like them very much, It was slow,,,and I think they should show the "before and after" before the tutorial so you know exactly what it is they are trying to achieve,

 

Roy Pedersen

8 Years Ago

Judy,as with most things practise makes perfect.
Did you check out the link to the tutorial by Blake Rudis I posted earlier in the thread

 

Ann Powell

8 Years Ago

I agree, they do make re mask seem easier than it is. I have not had too much time to practice with it. I have watched a couple of the webinars, which are extremely helpful. They are also posted on youtube. I am definitely having a struggle with it. But I think once mastered one can do amazing things.

 

Kathleen Bishop

8 Years Ago

I installed it the other day as an upgrade. There is some verbiage on the Topaz site about the new version requiring that the PC needs the latest drivers and Java version so I installed the latest driver and upgraded Java before I downloaded ReMask. The installation went smoothly but the whole process took precious time. I have no time to mess with editing images now so can't see if the Topaz update is worth the trouble.

 

Judy Kay

8 Years Ago

Well I an struggling for sure with it,,,I did manage to make a transparent of the two cubs (I think I just lucked out on this one,,,) and removed them from one image and posted them in a another, image, ,,Roy,,,I did watch the video but Im glad you mentioned it again because I need to review the video again ,,,I have bookmarked it ,,Thanks,
Hope my drivers and java ok, If there was a problem I am not sure I would be able to distinguish between the problem being a user problem or a system deficiency problem,
Here is the image,,,Photography Prints

 

Judy Kay

8 Years Ago

I have the flash player installed on my mac,,,when I checked the settings it shows that the NPAPI plugin is installed but the PPAPI plugin is not installed, Do i need to install this on the mac or is this plugin used on different OS or browsers?

Disregard,,,I just found the answer,,I checked yesterday but could not find it but just located the answer is in adobe's community help desk, This plugin is for google chrome users, Here is the link in case anyone else is interested : https://forums.adobe.com/message/6487198

Also,a little progress, ,,, I did successfully add a different background image into a transparent image I created on Remask 5 without leaving the application,

 

Debra Sabeck

8 Years Ago

I have tried ReMask ever since it first came out. All the examples look so easy, I keep upgrading hoping I'll find a release that is finally easy to me. Well, I did the last upgrade and spent hours trying to mask a lion's mane, with a simple background and still didn't like the outcome. So again, I'll give up for awhile. :D

 

Judy Kay

8 Years Ago

Yes, whiskers and manes and things are a little more complicated,,but I really like the program, There is only two days left to get it at 49.00 vs 69.00,,I think its worth the money, If you photograph wildlife like I do you really need to be able to manipulate the surroundings, I think the program is fairly straight forward,,,and worth the price of admission!

PS When I compute the mask they come out pretty good initially, I just watched a video that i hope helped me to understand how to better refine the results To correct areas in the background (black areas) you need to use the red primary brush (shortcut W) to correct problems I'm the foreground (white area)
use the green primary brush shortcut Q),,I had problems correcting and refining the mask, I haven't tried it but it seems logical,

 

Debra Sabeck

8 Years Ago

Thanks Judy, I will be giving it a shot again sometime. The one thing I do like is that I keep getting the free upgrades, that's always a plus!

 

Judy Kay

8 Years Ago

I have another question,,,Is there a way to put your subject, for example a lion, behind the background rather than on top,,,?...So that for example the foliage is on top of the lion but you can still see the lion?

 

Roy Pedersen

8 Years Ago

You will be able to do that with layers in Photoshop

 

Judy Kay

8 Years Ago

Thanks roy I was afraid of that,,,I was hoping that the remask program would do it somehow in the stand alone version!

 

Judy Kay

8 Years Ago

I have upgraded my OS X to Apples El Capitan,,I tried using Remask 5 *the trial version today for the first time since the conversion and my png transparent images are not copying and pasting now, I went to the downloads section as directed by topaz to update the latest version,,,and it didn't resolve the issue, (Im not even sure it updated either ) I know i followed the steps and procedures correctly, I can only surmise that they will not allow the new version to replace the older one because it is a trial with only 4 days left, There seems to be other kinks as well, Every time I make a change etc it keeps giving me the gentle reminder " you have four days left on the trial" It keeps repeating and repeating, I do not want to purchase this program if it is not going to work with my OSx,I sent a help ticket but as usual they are closed and I won't hear anything for 48hours, I personally am reluctant to buy any products that do not have a dedicated CS line where you can speak to a live person to resolve issues! They are slow to respond to messages, Is anyone else having this issue or have a clue what to do?

 

This discussion is closed.