A very interesting new photo editor released today! Use machine learning to convert JPEG to high-quality RAW for better editing. Prevent banding, remove compression artifacts, recover detail, and enhance dynamic range all with this new photo editor.
New: JPEG to RAW A.I.
Topaz JPEG to RAW AI uses machine learning to do what was previously impossible: turn JPEGs into high-quality RAWs for a better editing experience. Ever come across the perfect shot and all you had was your phone? Now you can take the shot, then take your compressed JPEG image and convert it to RAW in Topaz JPEG to RAW AI. It’s the next best thing to having your trusty camera gear on hand!
Made possible by AI:
There’s normally no way of recovering lost detail. JPEG to RAW AI is currently the only machine-learning powered software capable of doing this.
Simple workflow:
Whenever you would edit a JPEG, put it through JPEG to RAW AI first for best editing results. Standalone application for Mac + Windows that allows batch processing.
Constantly improving:
The team at Topaz Labs is continually training their JPEG to RAW conversion model with more data, which makes it better the more time passes. You’ll get the latest and greatest when the model improves.
Dynamic Range:
Your image loses significant dynamic range when it’s converted to JPEG. JPEG to RAW AI helps you recover a portion of this lost dynamic range by bringing back lost shadow and highlight details. While you won’t be able to completely missing details, it can work with even very small amounts of information.
This allows you to be more aggressive with editing your photo’s exposure or contrast. If you ever think that you’ve blown out a sky and you don’t have the original RAW file, try running it through JPEG to RAW AI first.
Color Space:
Color space represets the range of color that is supported in your image. JPEG images are usually in the sRGB color space, which works great for web but less for printing and editing. When editing a photo in sRGB, adjusting saturation or vibrance will often reveal ugly color blotchiness.
You can prevent this from happening by running it through JPEG to RAW AI. JPEG to RAW’s machine learning models expand the sRGB colorspace to ProPhoto RGB, which is even better than a regular RAW file! This works so well because there is usually enough information in at least one color channel for our models to reconstruct missing detail with a high level of preciseness.
ProPhoto RGB colorspace
The larger resulting color space allows you to better edit saturation and vibrance without any visible artifacting.
Color Depth:
Color depth (also called bit depth) is how much color information the image can store. When editing an image with low bit depth, you will see color banding in smooth gradients like skies.
An 8-bit JPEG only has 256 values per channel. Running that JPEG through JPEG to RAW AI will expand it to 65,532 values per channel. This will prevent posterization and banding when you adjust the contrast in your images.
Artifacts:
You’ll see visible compression artifacts in your image when editing highly compressed images. JPEG to RAW AI is exceptional at removing these artifacts while preserving natural image features:
Artifacts won’t be easily visible in high-quality JPEGs, but they can completely ruin an image if they are. They’ll also get accentuated by post-processing, especially sharpening. Run your images through JPEG to RAW AI to ensure artifacts don’t impact your workflow.
Detail Level:
JPEGs will often feature smoothed details due to a small sensor or heavy processing. For example, iPhone photos are heavily processed before being saved, which sometimes ends up removing a lot of image detail.
JPEG to RAW AI helps you recover fine detail removed during the conversion process.
“The results are far superior in the 16 bit TIFF to the JPEG, yet the TIFF was created from the JPEG… somehow, this software seems to be able to recreate lost information and build a credible 16 bit image from it.” – Andy Bell Photography
p.1 #3 · JPEG to RAW...yes you read that right...gimmick or not?
Alchemists used to think they could turn lead into gold - and some are still trying I suppose. Maybe there's something in the water down in Texas? Maybe the same thing that makes their music great will turn a jpeg to raw, but I doubt it.
p.1 #4 · JPEG to RAW...yes you read that right...gimmick or not?
No it can’t turn back time. And it’s not the “original” RAW.
It “creates” more data with ai thereby expanding the gamut of color and bit depth, and I suspect some detail algorithm too.
You then have a more editable image than a JPEG
How well works I dunno but you can get the trial and trial it. I will .
I can’t imagine it’s worse than the image you start with (JPEG) but it’s the gain in edit ability with less artefact that’s interesting.
p.1 #5 · JPEG to RAW...yes you read that right...gimmick or not?
WHY WHY WHY? Also, you can turn lead into gold, but it would cost a LOT more to do than just buying the gold in the first place. Lots of radiation as well so yuck.
p.1 #6 · JPEG to RAW...yes you read that right...gimmick or not?
After reading the current articles on lead into gold, it seems like it might be possible but only in extraordinarily small quantities almost at the molecular level. The articles basically say it would be cheaper and easier to go and mine the gold yourself. Of course, I was referring, somewhat jokingly to the alchemists of yore who claimed to magically, not scientifically, make the transformation. It's always suspicious when someone makes claims that are in direct conflict with known facts, but since we're in a post truth society, maybe it all makes some sort of sense.
p.1 #7 · JPEG to RAW...yes you read that right...gimmick or not?
I can see some value, if... If I could convert HEIC iPhone images to DNG or TIFF via this app and have loss less files to convert to JPG. But, alas, it won't convert HEIC now. Shoot iPhone in JPG, a half step back, then convert those to DNG or TIFF? Hmmm, maybe I will try that. I did note that the new ON1 Photo Raw does HEIC but I have had nothing but trouble with ON1.
(Yeah, Yeah, I know that new Lightroom does HEIC, and Bridge reads them too, but not Camera RAW, at least not yet, unless I am missing it. I don't do LR)
p.1 #9 · JPEG to RAW...yes you read that right...gimmick or not?
It's not RAW by definition but probably some 16-bit format based on TIF.
I suppose the real question is whether the software does a useful job of eliminating any jpeg artifacts. I can see this type of product being used by the people and companies that suck images from the web.
p.1 #11 · JPEG to RAW...yes you read that right...gimmick or not?
Pretty sure you could turn jpegs into tifs, and resizing the image larger kind of made it look better. IDK, I suppose you could recreate stuff or guess and make it have more data.
p.1 #13 · JPEG to RAW...yes you read that right...gimmick or not?
Charlie San wrote:
I can see some value, if... If I could convert HEIC iPhone images to DNG or TIFF via this app and have loss less files to convert to JPG. But, alas, it won't convert HEIC now. Shoot iPhone in JPG, a half step back, then convert those to DNG or TIFF? Hmmm, maybe I will try that. I did note that the new ON1 Photo Raw does HEIC but I have had nothing but trouble with ON1.
(Yeah, Yeah, I know that new Lightroom does HEIC, and Bridge reads them too, but not Camera RAW, at least not yet, unless I am missing it. I don't do LR)
Why don't you shoot in RAW on your iPhone - Lightroom CC allows you to do so... And IMHO the current Bridge can do HEIC on operating systems that provide the needed support functions.
p.1 #16 · JPEG to RAW...yes you read that right...gimmick or not?
Firstly, and maybe I am dense, I still don't understand what you are saying. My phone (iPhone, an 8 plus) has two formats: JPG and HEIG (which many refer to as RAW). I don't use LR. I have been converting HEIC to JPG via iMazing HEIC Converter. Works well enough but I would prefer to convert from HEIC directly to a RAW format or TIFF, a loss less image file. So, when you say " Lightroom CC can access the camera to create DNG RAW files...", do you mean you plug your phone directly into you computer and LR converts them to DNG or do you mean you copy the files to a USB device and plug that into you computer and LR converts those? Perhaps, all this is academic, I understand other camera makers are adopting HEIC and I note that some new RAW processors besides LR (New ON1 Raw Converter) handles HEIC too. Well, good, but it seemed like Topaz who makes the JPG to RAW converter and promotes it as a way to improve phone images should include HEIC too.
However, Topaz JPG to RAW converter has some issues. I will reply again with those issues after some more testing.
p.1 #17 · JPEG to RAW...yes you read that right...gimmick or not?
Topaz JPG to RAW Converter Problems:
I downloaded the Topaz converter to try out. You see, I have been in photography some time, since film days, and when I entered the digital realm, I entered slowly, with cheaper point and shoots, then a Nikon Coolpix 955, then a Nikon D5, etc. Now I am using Sony cameras. My old images files are small JPGs, then a bit larger, and even more with the D5. I initially shot JPG until I got comfortable with RAW so I have a large collection of JPGs and am now trying to enter the iPhone arena (but that's another story). So, the opportunity to convert these old JPGs to a lossless format like a TIFF or RAW has its appeal. Enter Topaz...Well...
However, there is a problem. After I downloaded the converter I put it against a folder of images that were originally shot in JPG from 2005. It worked well but it was slow since I had many files in the folder. Then I got the idea of creating folders of even older JPGs that I thought were worth converting and converted some of them. This was all last night, I let it run as we went to a jazz concert. This morning when I opened the JPGs and the converted TIFFs, the ones from 2005 (shot with the D5) were fine. However, the older ones were not. If I double clicked one of those files it opened in Camera RAW and not Photoshop. The weird thing is, both the JPG and the converted TIFF opened in Camera RAW and not PS. So, Topaz seems is doing something to the file to be converted besides converting it. The older JPGs that were not converted (from the same folder as the ones converted) open fine in PS, just the JPGs that I converted no longer open in PS.
Now, the converted files do look improved, I think, but I have been spending most of my time trying to figure out what differentiates between the JPG files I am trying to convert. So, that is where I am now. These converted files are usable, I can save the TIFF converted file in Camera RAW as a tiff and then it opens fine in PS. Similarly, the JPG I converted from can be saved in Camera RAW as JPG and be opened in PS. But, what is Topaz doing?
Lastly let me add, Topaz is my favorite software company and I think there is value to me in converting my old, small JPGs to TIFF. Topaz makes AI Gigelpizel to enlarge files and recommended its use with the converter and I suspect this is the way to go. I have sent Topaz sample files of the problem and I suspect they will fix whatever is wrong. All of their updates have always been free and they have become as important to me in post processing just as the NIK products.
p.1 #18 · JPEG to RAW...yes you read that right...gimmick or not?
Not sure about photoshop CS or CC, but, in the PS Elements editor you can "open as" "camera raw" a jpeg file. This takes you into the raw converter, after which you end up in the editor with a .psd, which you can save as you like. Once in the editor, the file size is significantly larger.
p.1 #19 · JPEG to RAW...yes you read that right...gimmick or not?
Charlie San wrote:
" Lightroom CC can access the camera to create DNG RAW files...", do you mean you plug your phone directly into you computer and LR converts them to DNG or do you mean you copy the files to a USB device and plug that into you computer and LR converts those?
Neither. Launch the Lightroom CC app on your phone and use that instead of your camera app to take the images! And GEIC isn‘t any better in quality than JPEG (quite the contrary is true), it‘s just smaller! Converting that to DNG or TIFF has no benefits whatsoever!
p.1 #20 · JPEG to RAW...yes you read that right...gimmick or not?
The only benefit pf converting you JPEG to TIFF or RAW is that you can use Camera RAW to make some adjustments in that softwarebecause they might be more convenient, not that you gain any leeway, that has been lost when you shot JPEG!
