Posted on 14 Comments

Tutorial: How to Create a Custom Look in Topaz Studio 2

With roughly 300 Looks and counting, Topaz Studio 2 is loaded with creative and artistic styles you can apply in just one click to turn your photo into a head-turning, unique work of art. 

But even with all the included Looks, Topaz Studio 2 was created to let you take the reins and develop your very own style. 

Here are a few quick steps on how to create a custom Look in the new Topaz Studio 2.

Getting Started

Topaz Studio 2 has arrived! If you haven’t already downloaded it, you can find it here!

After opening the app, you’ll get started by choosing an image to transform! Either quickly drag and drop from a folder, or click on the “Open” icon in the top menu bar.

Topaz Studio 2 Effects Layers

After inputting your image, click “Add Filter” to open up the Effects Layers panel. Loaded with the best of Topaz technology, you’ll find a wide range of effects to start creating your digital artwork! You can use over 25 effect settings to play with color, texture, lines, and light in your image – and that’s just the beginning.

These powerful Effects Layers will all appear in one nice long panel to the right of your screen, but they are broken up here so you can see the limitless amount of options to start creating your image!

For this project, I’m going to apply various strengths of Bloom, Radiance, and Glow to create a type of electric effect throughout the highlights within in the image to bring out the feathers and color.

Saving Your Custom Topaz Studio 2 Look

Once you’ve got your unique look nailed down, navigate to the “Save Look” icon in the right-hand corner of the Effects Layer panel. See the illustration below!

Next, you’ll want to give it a name. You can be as creative as you want here, but all the custom Looks you create will go in their own category under “My Looks,” so you can easily find them.

Accessing Your Custom Looks in Topaz Studio 2

Once you’ve saved your cool new Look, you can access all your saved Looks by clicking on “Look Category” to display the dropdown menu of options. Click on “My Looks.”

Topaz Studio allows you to move beyond the boundaries of traditional photography into the world of digital creation. The possibilities are endless!

To learn more about Topaz Studio 2, you can browse the Help Center, or submit a support ticket for other inquiries.

Posted on 5 Comments

Tutorial: How to Use the Masking Tools in Topaz Studio 2

The new Topaz Studio 2 features intuitive and easy-to-use masking tools! Choose from five types of masking or combine masking options for perfectly masked adjustments.  Here is a quick run-through of the five masking tools in Topaz Studio 2.

Brush Masking

To get started, I’ve imported an image and applied AI Remix to this achieve an artistic background on a creatively staged photo. 

I want to keep the cloud and ice cream cone but keep the swirl background intact, so this is where masking will come in handy. To access the masking options, click the square and circle icon beside the Effect Layer name. See the illustration below!

Below you’ll see the different masking options within Topaz Studio 2.

Brush masking allows you to apply or remove the applied effect in a more fluid way. You can selectively paint out where you’d like to remove the effect. Here are a few pointers on the Brush Mask panel: The Transparency slider controls the opacity of your brush mask from 0.00 to 1.00. The Radius slider controls the overall size, while the Softness slider controls edge softness.

Depending on how long you’ve been around the Topaz community, Edge Aware may not be new to you or may be completely unfamiliar. This unique technology allows you to have more freedom in masking: you don’t have to be excruciatingly perfect with your drawing technique, because our technology will intelligently identify edges and perfect your mask accordingly! All you have to do is keep the edge that you want to be detected between the red inner circle and the green outer circle. Our technology will automatically detect the edge. You’ll also see the Edge Aware tool featured throughout the other masking options in Topaz Studio 2.

Spot Masking

Depending on the content of your image and the effect applied, the spot masking tool may be the quickest one for you.

In this example image, I applied the Black & White effect from the Effect Layer panel. I want to keep the subject and her colorful sweater my focal point, so let’s try a spot mask.

With a combination of the Roundness and Transition sliders, you can change the shape of your spot mask like below to better accommodate your mask subject.

Gradient Masking

Ideal for landscapes or anywhere you want to create a natural transition, gradient masking is a powerful tool to have in your masking toolbox. In this example image, I’d like to selectively apply the Radiance effect layer to just the stars in the sky and not the house on the horizon.

The effect above the red line will be removed and the effect below the green line will remain. You can also grab the handles and rotate them to manipulate the order of the gradient. The white handle will collectively move the gradient while moving the green or red handle can create longer and shorter transitions. You can also easily change the direction of the gradient mask to be applied vertically. 

Color Masking

The color masking tool allows you to create masks based upon colors found in your image. 

In this example image, I’ve applied AI ReMix to create an artistic product image. Let’s say I want to retain the photorealistic red caps on the milk bottles. With the color masking tool, I can place the dropper over the red to select it.

The Range slider allows you to adjust for a larger or smaller range of colors. Since I wanted a precise selection here, I opted for a smaller range of colors.

Luminosity Masking

The luminosity masking tool allows you to create mask selections derived from the brightness in your image. In this example, I’ve applied an abstract swirl effect from AI ReMix.

I only want the swirls to be applied to the luminous, bright highlights in the image. Luminosity masking is an ideal tool for this situation.

By placing the dropper over the bright part of your image, you’ll mask the brightness and apply the swirl effect to the dark part of the image. So, since we want to achieve the opposite, we’ll place the dropper in the darkest part of the image (the right-hand corner of the water). You can adjust the Range slider accordingly to capture various lengths of color. With just a few clicks, the luminosity mask achieves exactly the artistic effect I wanted and in just right the places. Other masking tools would be infinitely harder to mask such a difficult area to distinguish.

These five types of masking tools were created to power up your workflow, so you can find an ideal tool for your unique masking situation. But don’t forget, you can also combine multiple types of masks to achieve your desired look! All you’ll have to do hit “Apply” after you finish with one type of masking to move right on to the next. 

We hope you’ll find Topaz Studio 2 an easy-to-use and intuitive tool for your creative and artistic digital images! 

We have several other tutorials on Topaz Studio 2! Here are just a few you might be interested in:

You can find other answers by visiting our Help Center here. Still not finding the answer you’re looking for? Submit a support request for one of our Topaz experts to come to your rescue!