Photoshop & Photoshop Elements

Topaz Photo supports two different Photoshop plugin workflows: the Filter plugin and the Automate plugin (recommended). Each workflow has different capabilities, limitations, and compatibility requirements. This guide explains when to use each plugin, supported workflows, known limitations, and common troubleshooting steps for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.

⚡Editing RAW files? See our recommended RAW workflow section and important notes to get the best results.

⚠️ Experiencing issues? See our Important Limitations section, the FAQ section, and Steps to Contact Support.

Plugin Workflows

Topaz Photo provides two plugin workflows for Photoshop. While both allow you to launch Topaz Photo from within Photoshop, they offer different capabilities and limitations. Review the differences below to choose the workflow that best fits your editing needs.

1️⃣ File > Automate > Topaz Photo

Only available in Photoshop CC (PS), not Photoshop Elements (PSE)
Supports Scale options (resizing).
Supports cropping.
Automatically creates a new layer in Photoshop with Topaz edits.

2️⃣ Filter > Topaz Labs > Topaz Photo

Available in Photoshop CC (PS)
Available in Photoshop Elements (PSE)
Does not support Scale options (resizing). Use the File > Automate plugin if you want to change the size and access scale options.
Does not support cropping. Use the File > Automate plugin if you want to change the size and access crop capabilities in Topaz Photo.
Does not automatically create a new layer. Recommendation: Create a merged layer before launching the plugin to avoid overwriting existing work, or use the Automate plugin wrkflow instead, to avoid this extra step.

Not sure which plugin to use? For almost all Photoshop workflows, we recommend File → Automate → Topaz Photo. It supports resizing, cropping, automatically creates a new layer, and provides the best overall workflow.

Important Limitations

The following limitations and unsupported workflows apply when using the Photoshop and Photoshop Elements plugins.

General Warnings:

CS Suite: The Photoshop CS suite (such as CS5 or CS6) is not supported. Use the Topaz Photo app as a standalone, export files, then use them in your PS CS app.
Maximum image size: 30,000 pixels on the longest side.
System Requirements: It is crucial for the computer to meet minimum requirements to use the Topaz Photo plugin. Underpowered machines are not supported in plugin or standalone workflows.

See other Warnings, Limitations, Unsupported workflows and workarounds below: (alphabetical order)

⚠️ Actions and Automations

Using Photoshop Actions is not a supported workflow. Actions will behave inconsistently across Photoshop and Topaz Photo version updates, and any issues configuring or troubleshooting Photoshop Actions with Topaz Photo are outside supported workflows.

We support using the Filter and Automate plugin workflows described above. However, due to Photoshop plugin limitations, Topaz Photo can only process one image at a time when used as a plugin.

If you need a more efficient workflow for multiple images, we recommend closing Photoshop and using Topaz Photo as a standalone application instead. Import all of your images into Topaz Photo as a batch, process them using the batch workflow, export the completed batch, then import the processed images back into Photoshop to continue editing.

⚠️ ARM / Snapdragon Compatibility

The Photoshop and Photoshop Elements plugins are not supported on ARM/Snapdragon machines. Topaz Photo can still be used as a standalone application:

Open the image directly in Topaz Photo.
Process the image.
Export.
Open the exported file in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

⚠️ Crop with Hidden Pixels

If cropping before sending the image to Topaz Photo, enable the option: Delete Cropped Pixels. Keeping hidden cropped pixels can cause export issues when sending the image to Topaz Photo and is not a supported workflow.

If you need to keep hidden pixels: Edit the full size image in Topaz Photo. Once the file is back from Topaz Photo, do your Crop edits in PS using the Hidden pixels option.

⚠️ Last Filter Shortcut

Photoshop automatically creates a Last Filter Used shortcut at the top of the Filter menu. This shortcut is not supported and will produce plugin errors.

If using the Filter plugin path, always use: Filter > Topaz Labs > Topaz Photo instead of Photoshop's Last Filter shortcut.

⚠️ LRC + PS (Double Plugin Workflow)

A single plugin workflow is supported. Using a double plugin workflow is not supported and significantly increases memory usage, which will result in inconsistent behavior and issues that we do not support.

Supported

Lightroom Classic → Topaz Photo → Lightroom Classic
Photoshop → Topaz Photo → Photoshop

Not supported

Lightroom Classic → Photoshop → Topaz Photo
Lightroom Classic → Photoshop → Topaz Photo → Lightroom Classic

Recommended workflow if you need to use both Plugins:
Lightroom Classic → Topaz Photo → Lightroom Classic → Photoshop

⚠️ Open Using Rosetta

This applies to Mac-only: Running the Photoshop plugin while Photoshop is set up to Open using Rosetta is not supported.

To disable:

Quit Photoshop.
Open Finder → Applications.
Right-click Photoshop (the .app instance)
Select Get Info.
Uncheck Open using Rosetta.

If Photoshop must remain in Rosetta for other programs compatibility, use Topaz Photo as a standalone application instead.

⚠️ Smart Objects & Smart Filters

Photoshop Smart Objects and Smart Filters are not supported. This workflow can behave inconsistently across Photoshop and Topaz Photo version updates, and any issues configuring or troubleshooting Smart Objects or Smart Filters with Topaz Photo are outside supported workflows.

Before launching Topaz Photo, send a flattened or merged layer instead of a Smart Object.

Editing RAW Files

The Photoshop and Photoshop Elements plugin workflows are not recommended when editing RAW files. This is because Photoshop and Photoshop Elements cannot send the original RAW file to external plugins. Instead, Adobe converts the image to a non-RAW format before sending it to Topaz Photo. This prevents Topaz Photo from accessing the original sensor data and disable the important RAW-specific enhancement: RAW Denoise.

Using the Photoshop or Photoshop Elements plugin with RAW files has several drawbacks:

Adobe converts the RAW file to a non-RAW format before it reaches Topaz Photo, increasing compression artifacts.
Loss of RAW image data and dynamic range.
The RAW Denoise enhancement is unavailable because the file is no longer RAW. This is the most important RAW-specific enhancement and a crucial step needed for RAW files.
Less natural results compared to editing the original RAW file and an overprocessed look.

⚡Recommended RAW workflows

To take full advantage of your RAW files, including all RAW editing capabilities, maximum image quality, and the ability to export back as a DNG, we recommend using one of the workflows below. These workflows preserve the RAW data, allow access to all enhancements, and provide the highest possible image quality throughout your editing workflow:

Topaz Photo as a Standalone: Open the RAW file directly in Topaz Photo → Export as DNG → Open the DNG in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.
Or if you have Lightroom Classic (LRC): Import files in LRC → Select RAW files to edit, then File Menu → Plug-in Extras → Topaz Photo → Do Edits and Export back to LRC as a DNG → Continue editing in LRC → Then from LRC, if needed, you can invoke PS or PSE.

Frequently Asked Questions

A: If Scale options are missing, you are likely using: Filter > Topaz Labs > Topaz Photo. The Filter plugin does not support resizing. Use instead: File > Automate > Topaz Photo

Q: "Why is my plugin missing in my list of plugins?"

A: Test running a repair to relink the plugin:

Close all apps, including Photoshop.
Go to your Apps Page and rerun the installer for Topaz Photo. No need to uninstall, just to rerun the installer.
Then test the standalone to ensure it works.
Then close the standalone and retest the plugin.

A: This will occur if there is no opened image in the Photoshop interface. Open the image you want to edit and the plugin will be available.

Q: "The Photoshop plugin is very slow, is there any way to speed up the process?"

A: This is expected behavior. When using the Photoshop plugin, Photoshop itself uses a significant amount of your available GPU memory, leaving less VRAM available for Topaz Photo. As a result, AI processing will be slower than when using Topaz Photo as a standalone application.

Additionally, Photoshop can only send one image at a time to external plugins, making it an inefficient workflow for processing multiple images.

If you want the fastest processing and workflow, we recommend:

Close Photoshop.
Open Topaz Photo as a standalone application.
Import all of your images as a batch.
Process with batch processing steps and export the batch from Topaz Photo.
Open the exported images in Photoshop to continue editing.

This workflow allows Topaz Photo to use all available GPU resources and take advantage of batch processing, resulting in significantly faster processing times.

Contact Support

If you have issues installing or using the plugin, or any workflow questions, contact us at Support at help@topazlabs.com and we can help. When you write in, make sure to provide:

Details on the issue.
Screenshots if applicable.
Your app's logs if it's any crash or app issues: Open Topaz Photo, then Help menu > Open Logs folder > Attach all the logs you see in the email to Support
If it's any workflow or unwanted results questions: Details on your current workflow and the image you are trying to edit. Make sure to send us the true original, untouched and unedited file and details on what is needed for the file. Also send the unwanted results and we can have a look!

Lightroom Classic

Capture One