Well you can’t say that Topaz Labs is slacking off of their recent release of Topaz Impression, they have a brand new hot update with lot’s of cool things. The hugest of which is that Topaz Impression now comes with 50 presets. If you can’t find your inner artist with this program now, I’d just stick with plain old boring photography!

Did I mention this a free upgrade? Thanks Topaz! OH, and one more thing, the code JEFF15 will give you a 15% discount in case you don’t already own this program.

New Features in Topaz Impression

1. Split view modes. You can now view the original and edited image in 5 different viewing modes.

2. New Shortcut Keys. Zoom in or out, switching the preset panel to selective parameter, Cancel and OK.

3. Added Preferences. The preferences menu now contains these options:

  • Start with example image – allows you to opt out of starting with the default example image
  • Start With Preset Panel – by unchecking this it’ll forgo opening the preset panel by default and instead will open with the selective parameters (or sliders)
  • Update Slider value while dragging
  • High Resolution processing

4. New brushes and presets. 50+ new presets and 3 brushes have been added into the 1.1. update.  In addition, there is one new collection, the Pictorial Collection.

5. New selective parameters. A Coverage Center and Vignette Center have been added. You can now choose where the coverage and vignette is centered on the x & y axis.

6. New zoom options. A new zoom capability has been added in the top left menu of the interface. When zooming in or out, in the top right corner of the interface a navigation screen has been added. Use the mouse to scroll in and out. When zoomed all the way, the ‘+’ navigation option will appear. To make it disappear, zoom all the way out.

7. Background color picker (Mac only). You can now choose a color from your image for the background. Click on the magnifying glass adjacent to the color to sample a hue in your image.

My Impressions of the new Impression

Sorry, I never can resist such a play on words… Anyway, if you liked the first release of Impression you’ll love this one and why wouldn’t you take a free upgrade? They’ve now given you 50 ways to get you started with some awesome new presets. You can see them in action below, they’re good! It renders the images at lightening speed just like before and I love the way you can see your progress with the split view modes. Of course new brushes are always welcome. I use the Strength control quite often and that seems to work better in the new version. So bottom line, if you were on the fence about buying the program, get off the fence and start painting it! :-)

New Topaz Impression Images

I worked on all of theses images adjusting the sliders trying to make a painting that would be a resaonable homage to the masters that inspired the presets. For sure click to make them bigger, you’ll see more.

I always think of flowers when I think of Georgia O’Keefe.

Flowers painted with Topaz Impression - Georgia O'Keefe II preset by Jeff Wendorff

Topaz Impression – Georgia O’Keefe II preset

I liked the haunted feel of the Strasbourg Cathedral with this preset.

Strasbourg Cathedral painted with Topaz Impression - Photo Painting III preset by Jeff Wendorff

Topaz Impression – Photo Painting III preset

I normally think of the iconic diner for Edward Hopper, but looking further Hopper painted lighthouses too. I like what “he” did with the Portland Head Light here.

Portland Head Light painted with Topaz Impression - Edward Hopper II preset by Jeff Wendorff

Topaz Impression – Edward Hopper II preset

Seurat seems to be all about parks and people, so I chose to paint this barge floating down a canal in France.

French Canal painted with Topaz Impression - Seuralt III by Jeff Wendorff

Topaz Impression – Seurat III

Turner tossed me a curve since I don’t seem to have any 17th century galleons, but then I saw his painting of Reichenbach Falls (yes I am Sherlock fan) and new I had found my inspiration…

Catarata del Toro Waterfall painted with Topaz Impression - Turner Storm II by Jeff Wendorff

Topaz Impression – Turner Storm II

Rembrandt makes me think of portraits and so I went to this image of a Girl and Her Cat…

A girl and her cat painted with Topaz Impression - Rembrandt Portrait I by Jeff Wendorff

Topaz Impression – Rembrandt Portrait I

Gallery of New Topaz Impression Presets

And just because I wanted you to see how cool these presets are I made an example of most of the presets. I did not do all 50, but I think that I got one from all of the preset families. These are straight out of the program, I resisted the urge to play with the sliders. That was hard for me…

Paintings from Photography Gallery

I’ve already made a number of paintings using Topaz Impression and you can see that gallery online…HERE.

Art of Creative Photography

I teach photography workshops and as part of that I have a class called The Art of Creative Photography. In that class I go over a lot of ways to use your computer to up your game, including using Topaz Impression. Check it out…HERE.