Mastodawn

My camera shoots fascists

Another one bites the enshittification dust. Topaz Labs photo editing apps have no gone to a subscription model and done so in a not particularly transparent way, at least for those of us who already owned their older apps. I bought Video AI and Photo AI a year ago,, but didn't realize that apparently Photo AI is a subscription that seems to have now turned into Topaz Photos and is $400/year. Uh, no thanks.

I'm going back and forth with their customer support, asking for clarification, since what changed and when is anything but clear.

All I know is I got a 3-day renewal notice for $400 (but with some random large discount to soften the sticker shock). Had this happened last week, when I was AFK in Mexico, I would've been charged and had to fight it. 3 days notice after transitioning to a new subscription model seems not just sneaky, but manipulative.

#enshittifcation #Topaz_photo_ai #TopazLabs

My camera shoots fascists Nov 19, 2025

Yeah, I do own the earlier apps (so far), but they won't be getting any updates or improvements and I suspect that eventually Topaz will cancel them entirely.

I"m already a little stuck with Adobe's photo editing bundle for now, but that's only $12/mo. Between that and the old Topaz apps I should be able to do whatever I need.

Topaz has also gone full gen AI, and it shows. Applying some of their filters makes photos look fake, which totally misses the point. I'm starting to get the allure of film with no digital processing.

This is the first time a tech product that I really like and use has accelerated into the enshittification cascade and it sucks.

So, yeah, I rescind all former positive recommendations for Topaz apps.

My camera shoots fascists Nov 19, 2025

I'm guessing the unspecified "discount" on my renewal bill of $236 (making the total current charge $163/year) is a way to keep all of us from jumping ship at once. Lots of people will pay that discounted price now, only to get deeper and deeper into the lock-in phase of the enshittification cycle, making leaving next year when they will (most likely) charge full price all that much harder.

Ewen Bell 📸Nov 19, 2025

@Mikal

This is not okay.

My camera shoots fascists Nov 19, 2025

I suppose if someone just now finds their product and already assumes everything will be a subscription model, it might seem normal. But for those of us who appreciated the one-time payment and light-touch machine learning models of their previous apps, it really sucks.

Ewen Bell 📸Nov 19, 2025

@Mikal

I had some thoughts on this very topic about a month ago. I mention Affinity and DxO as alternatives to Photoshop and Lightroom. This was before Affinity became free!

It's notable that my videos mostly struggle to get 1,000 views. This one has cleared 100,000. We are not alone in feeling conned by the big software brands.

https://youtu.be/BqjWN0CBc7U

#EwenTube

My camera shoots fascists Nov 20, 2025

Listened to it on the way out storm chasing this afternoon (skunked, not even a shot). I feel really tied to the apps I'm using at the moment, since just getting the site organized, the webshop up and running and so on is seriously daunting. Once I feel like I have room to slow down and try out new tools, I'll check all this out. I'd love to ditch Adobe, for sure.

While I haven't used any other image editing apps besides Topaz and Lightroom, I have to say that I find Lightroom easy to use and *relatively* intuitive. The cataloging part, yeah, that is a mess, but the single image editing interface felt easy to learn. If the others are better, I'll be stoked.

Ewen Bell 📸Nov 20, 2025

@Mikal

I end up using a lot of different tools in order to help people on workshops. I feel they're all pretty similar.

But there's an appeal to using what you're familiar with. Learning a whole new piece of software is a major hurdle for lots of folks.

Incredibish Nov 19, 2025

Just checked mine. I've been a Topaz user since beta and note my new subscription is about £65 pa, while my licence for the previous versions remains intact.

My main app is Luminar, and I use Topaz solely for noise reduction. I'm ok with that subscription level but would wince at anything higher.

Apropos of nothing at all, I note my other app Affinity has recently released a no cost licence to its new version https://www.affinity.studio/download

My camera shoots fascists Nov 19, 2025

Haven't heard of Luminar, but will look into it. I bought Affinity a year or so ago when Adobe went all in with image scraping, but haven't had time or bandwidth to learn it. Now I see they've gone to the subscription model too. How long do you think it will stay free? I suspect that's all part of the lock-in cycle too.

Incredibish Nov 19, 2025

It's a toughie, for sure. There are of course free open source solutions out there, and sometimes I use 'em. I like what I use and for now the costs for what is one of my primary hobbies (photography, motorcycling, whisky...) aren't excessive. I was never Adobe focused, so subscriptions are relatively new for me. Luminar is also now a subscription service, but I have a licensed life version that works fine while they continue to update it. That will end eventually. Life, innit.

My camera shoots fascists Nov 19, 2025

Yeah, I use Topaz' noise reduction a lot, especially with low-light and storm photos. Does Luminar play well with Lightroom, since there is only so much learning curve I can handle at the moment.

Incredibish Nov 19, 2025

I don't use Lightroom either, sorry. My pack is Topaz > Luminar > Affinity usually in that order.

Carl S. Gutekunst Nov 19, 2025

Carl S. Gutekunst Nov 19, 2025

@Mikal TBH, part of the reason I've stuck it out with Adobe is they're the devil I know. I keep having the experience of switching vendors only to watch the next one turn evil under my feet. With Canon I don't really have a choice; the lock-in is too severe.

S★m V★rm★Nov 21, 2025

@Mikal @ewen I bit the bullet and just subbed. I need it for the project I'm working on, and it's the best product out there atm. Includes the photo restoration/upscaling tools too, so I'll prob go through old shots this winter and have a play while I have it

My camera shoots fascists Nov 22, 2025

@samvarma @ewen

Turns out the Photo AI copy I already have, I do actually own and can still use, though from here out I think it's a subscription.

S★m V★rm★Nov 22, 2025

@Mikal @ewen But yeah, eventually it seems every software product ultimately enshittifies