If you have followed this blog in the past year or so, you know I have become a fan of a few of the TopazLabs Photoshop plugins.   Today they just released a major update to their popular Topaz Adjust plugin, Topaz Adjust 4.

Topaz Adjust 4

If you are already a Topaz Adjust user, the bonus is that the upgrade is a free one.   This was a nice surprise because it is a rather significant update, especially in the user interface.   You will notice like the update they made to Topaz Detail, the interface resembles the dark grey interface made popular by Adobe Lightroom and Apple’s Aperture.     I love this style of interface because it draws more attention to what is going on in the image versus drawing your eye away to the controls.

There is new presets layout, and quite a few new presets to play with.   I am looking forward to kicking the tires on these.  You will also notice all of the sliders now appear on one screen – making tweaking the preset values much simpler.   Side panels are collapsable.  The presets also have their own quick preview window, again similar to the Develop presets in Lightroom.

If you are not a current Topaz Adjust user, they are also offering a special right now with this update.  You can use the coupon code “NEWADJUST” and save 20% on Adjust, or even a Photoshop bundle.  If you already have adjust and want to save on a bundle upgrade, you can use that coupon code for that also.  You can read more about that on their site here.   The offer expires March 15, 2010, so you don’t have that long to make up your mind.

Probably my biggest use of Adjust is giving some of my images that extra pop I am looking for.   I don’t use it that much to the extremes to create the “faux reality” type images, but usually go for the more subtle approach.   I especially like when I can get that “so real it looks like you can touch it” appearance like I did with my previous rock image.

This winter scene with the prominent tree trunk is a good example.   The interface window above essentially shows the “before” version as processed out of Lightroom and into Photoshop.   I just duplicated the background layer, and created a Smart Object layer on top of it so I could go back and make changes in Adjust if necessary.

Trunk and Snow Forest

The after version is here.   I liked what adjust was doing to the bark of this tree, which is one of the features that drew me to this scene (aside from the wonderful snow covered woods).   I thought this bare trunk offered a great contrast and interplay with the blanketed woodland.   The before version was OK, but the after version really popped the details in the trunk, while being very subtle to the background woods.

I used the “Recovery Highlight” preset for this image, and then set the layer opacity to 78% in Photoshop just to tone it down slightly.   I then only used some slight luminosity mask adjustments for color and that’s it.

Charcoal leaves

Of course, when the playground is open, and anything is game, sometimes you come up with some wild ideas… this one uses one of the new presets called Dark Charcoal with some tweaks to the sliders, and a frame added around the edge with another plugin.  Adjust really accentuated the cells and veins in the leaves.

With the new interface, discount coupon code, and the usefulness of this plugin, it certainly makes Topaz Adjust a stronger than ever tool for your image processing toolbox.   Highly recommended!