Topaz Adjust: Image Manipulation Plugin that Works with Paint Shop Pro

Update: Since the time of this review, there has been a new release of Topaz Adjust - version 3. See the last section of this review on page 2 for more details.

Topaz Adjust is an image manipulation plugin that allows users to achieve some amazing exposure and color effects through a simple, intuitive interface. Although designed as a Photoshop plugin, the application works with a number of other photo editors including Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop Elements.

Not only does the plugin contain numerous tools that can help fix “bad” photos with just a click of the button, but it also can be used to add a whole new creative and dramatic look to any digital photograph. Take a look at the before and after images below just to get an idea of some of things possible with this plugin.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Here’s another example where only the brightness was modified so that shaded objects could be seen more clearly.

In both of the examples shown above, less than a minute was spent performing the actual modifications with the Topaz Adjust plugin. With a little more work, the results could have been even better. Here, though, I just wanted to illustrate what was possible with this plugin in just a couple of clicks.

The setup and installation of Topaz Adjust went fine. The package comes with a built-in installer so all you have to do is download the program and run it. If you plan to use Topaz Adjust with Paint Shop Pro, you will need to make sure you install the plugin in a directory that Paint Shop Pro recognizes as a valid plugin folder. For more details on how to do this in general, see Installing Paint Shop Pro Third-Party Plugins.

The slick user interface of Topaz Adjust is simply fantastic. I was a little worried at first that a plugin as powerful as this one would have a steep learning curve. It turns out that just the opposite is true. The interface is dominated by a large preview screen that you can resize in order to see the full image at once or zoom in to see more detailed information about the photograph.

At any time during the photo editing process, you can click the View Original Image button to see just how many changes you’ve made. If you don’t like the changes, you can always reset everything at once and return to the original image, or you can choose just to reset the modifications made in one or more of the adjustment categories of Exposure, Details, Color, and Noise.

If you’re new to photo editing techniques of this type and want some more information about what each tool will do, you can enable pop up messages that will provide additional information on each item. If you’re more of a visual person (as most people are), you can simply try the tools to see what they’ll do. The reset options and sliders make it easy to undo an action if you don’t like the results.

Continue on to page 2 for the rest of our review of Topaz Adjust.