There is a ‘processed’ look about the results, but it’s still an effective tool for rescuing or enhancing unrepeatable people shots. It works surprisingly well on people who are just out of focus or not quite sharp. The Recover Faces tool kicks in when the software recognizes faces in the frame and thinks they need fixing. Shots that were just slightly soft underwent a pretty dramatic transformation, and shots with poor focusing had variable outcomes – often with obviously processed edge detail and ‘filling in’ of the sort you see with over-processed phone images. I found that shots on the wrong side of its ‘fixability’ threshold were made worse – including any kind of double-image blur from camera shake.

The Sharpen process can be spectacular or bad, depending on the image. I wouldn’t put this in the same league as DxO’s DeepPRIME XD processing. I found myself pushing the Detail slider up to maximum and the Strength slider down to zero to get results that looked smooth and crisp. The noise removal is very effective but quite aggressive by default. The results vary, depending on the quality of the image you’re starting from and its particular issues. (Image credit: Rod Lawton) (opens in new tab) The recovered detail in the rocks and the leaves, top right, is pretty remarkable. This is the most spectacular outcome, though the Autopilot didn't think this needed sharpening it all, so it was done manually. Photo AI is easy to use, and there are relatively few settings so there’s not a whole lot to learn. This is just for the on-screen preview – when you save a processed image, there’s some more rendering to be done there too. And if you decide to experiment with the settings, that rendering process has to happen again. This also takes time, as each AI process in turn is applied. You open an image and Topaz AI decides which of its tools to apply and at what strength. One of this software’s features, however, is the prospect of new AI models in the future to increase its capabilities. Even the installation is long-winded, as it downloads a procession of ‘AI models’ (I counted 58, I think). It could really get you out of a fix with unrepeatable family photos, for example, or wedding shots. The Recover Faces tool is remarkably good at making blurry faces look sharp and detailed.

Topaz ai online