As we were discussing AI Gigapixel 1.1.2 on a major photo forum, a person (making logical assumptions) asked me: “[Gigapixel] is a lot less useful for grainy film images than it is for noisy digital images. (Isn’t it?) It can extract image detail from digital noise better than it can extract image detail from film grain. (Can’t it?) That Topaz hasn’t trained their machine learning models on grainy film images (Have they?)”
Well, in an earlier blog post I showed examples where Gigapixel did an excellent job upsizing large, medium and small format film-based images, though in the case of one grainy black and white image the heavy grain was (of course) enhanced along with the subject. After the forum discussion I got the idea to first treat grainy film scans with AI Clear before running them through Gigapixel. Would this work? After all, this would be an “off label” use of Gigapixel, which seems to have been designed mainly for digital images.
•Note: Topaz is not promoting a coupon code or discount for A.I. Clear or Gigapixel but we are! Use coupon “plugsnpixels” here to save 15% off the retail prices (this discount also applies to ALL Topaz products). The latest update is FREE for existing users, as per Topaz’s longstanding policy for all of its software.
It turns out that A.I. Clear + A.I. Gigapixel is a winning combination! Let’s take a look at the results of my experiments using 35mm film scans from the 1990s (all JPEGs, archived at only 150ppi).
First up, the worst of the lot: A view of the original World Trade Center taken with one of those disposable plastic Kodak panoramic cameras (reduced size, for reference):
These cameras had an extreme wide angle, cheap plastic lens coupled with an insert inside that forced a strong horizontal crop, exaggerating the “pano” effect. After using the camera once and retrieving the original color film canister, I removed the insert and used B&W bulk film to make further use of the camera as a fun full-frame wide-angle unit. (PS: As I unloaded the camera in the dark, I learned that the flash battery inside packs a wallop!)
Below is a screenshot where I am using AI Clear as an Adjustment from within Topaz Studio on a selected crop of the above image. After some experimentation, I discovered that the High model strength coupled with no recovery of details and reduced Clarity cleaned up this image nicely:
Here is how the original and AI Clear treated crops (at left) compare to the 600% enlarged A.I. Gigapixel version. (Open all images in new tab on your desktop computer to view at 100%):
That’s pretty amazing given the mushy, grainy state of the original.
Here’s a separate color view of the same scene taken with a proper Canon 35mm camera (reduced, for reference):
Here’s the grain before-and-after AI Clear cleanup, along with a 600% enlargement in Gigapixel:
Look how clear the silver windows turned out! All the grain is gone.
•Note: Topaz is not promoting a coupon code or discount for A.I. Clear or Gigapixel but we are! Use coupon “plugsnpixels” here to save 15% off the retail prices (this discount also applies to ALL Topaz products). The latest update is FREE for existing users, as per Topaz’s longstanding policy for all of its software.
Let’s stay in New York City and get a view from the Empire State Building toward the original NY skyscraper, the Flatiron. Here is the original full-frame photo, reduced, for reference. Note the yellow taxi crossing the intersection at lower right:
Here I am reducing the grain in Topaz Studio using AI Clear at the Low setting but with max recovery of details this time (it worked best for this particular image; you need to experiment. Keep Clarity on the low side to avoid over-enhancing the details before enlargement):
Now a comparison view of the taxi both without AI Clear (left) and with it (right, both after a 600% enlargement in Gigapixel, presented here at 300% for a more inclusive view). As you can see, the pre-treatment with AI Clear makes a big difference preparing a noisy source image for upsizing:
Let’s get out of the city and into the country. This photo (reduced for reference) was taken along Skyline Drive in Virginia one overcast 1990s day. And yes, the scan was full of grain:
But no problem, some preparation with AI Clear before enlarging to 400% in Gigapixel gave me this clean result (final version shown at 66.67% to fit):
So whether or not Topaz intended for us to use AI Clear and Gigapixel on film-sourced images, it’s obvious this pairing of the latest post-processing technology improves the results anyway!
•Note: Topaz is not promoting a coupon code or discount for A.I. Clear or Gigapixel but we are! Use coupon “plugsnpixels” here to save 15% off the retail prices (this discount also applies to ALL Topaz products). The latest updates are FREE for existing users, as per Topaz’s longstanding policy for all of its software.
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