Last autumn users of the Topaz AI products (Photo AI, Gigapixel AI) were invited to migrate to a new suite of applications that they called Studio which included new versions of Photo and Gigapixel. As it was “Free” it appeared that you would not lose anything by continuing to pay Topaz Labs to receive upgrades for the following 12 months as you had done to receive upgrades the previous 12 months. You were guaranteed access to your legacy apps in perpetuity . What could be wrong with that??
Well, I missed the subtle change in the licensing method. The new applications Bundled in Studio (I could have just opted to continue with the new Photo and Gigapixel as mentioned above) are licensed under a subscription model, not a purchase + upgrades model. Thus if I decide not to renew my subscription, I lose all access to the product. It’s like a sword of damacles hanging over your head – a threat to remove access if you don’t continue subscription – AND NO LEGACY APPLICATION that you have learnt to use to go back to.
The new licensing model is similar to Adobe’s Photography Plan; but for less money you’re getting considerably more with Adobe, and if you do cancel your subscription you don’t lose complete access to your Catalog and Basic Editing. So you still have something to justify your expenditure. With Topaz Labs, nothing. Just imagine if you hadn’t been a Foundation Member and had paid for a year’s access and then decided not to renew. All you would have is the images you’d edited – at least they couldn’t take those away from you.
Noise Reduction and Sharpening is improving in Lightroom, you also have Photoshop to work with as well. I WILL NOT BE RENEWING MY TOPAZ LABS SUBSCRIPTION. I have already removed the new Studio apps from my installations and re-installed the Legacy apps. At least I have them to use, should I wish to.