Creating Digital Art: Do I need Topaz Studio?

Here are a few Topaz Studio alternatives to consider if you turn photographs into digital art. I recently posted on my camera club’s Facebook page that I was pleasantly surprised to see some of the selections in Nikonians Best of 2021 were photographs transformed into art, possibly using Photoshop or Topaz Studio 2. Although I don’t know the specific software used, it’s clear that these artists have skilfully turned these photographs into art. See for yourself.

 

 

One member commented that they don’t use Topaz Studio 2 because Topaz will no longer support it, but I don’t believe that is entirely true. Indeed, you don’t see Topaz Studio 2 on Topaz’s Products page. It doesn’t mean that they will not support existing users with bug fixes. I sent a question about this to their Sales department, and I’m waiting for their response. You don’t need Topaz Studio 2 to create this type of work. There are other software options.

Topaz Studio Alternatives

One option, of course, is to use classic Photoshop. Many videos show you how to turn your photographs into digital art, such as How to Turn a Photo into a Painting in Photoshop and How to Turn Photography into Fine Art in Photoshop. Udemy also offers courses like Digital Pet Painting Using Photoshop by Lori Jill and Turn Photographs into Digital Paintings using Photoshop, also by Lori Jill. But those aren’t the only options. You can use Corel’s Painter or Affinity Pro. There’s a good video on using Affinity Pro by Scott Williams to turn portraits into painterly art to create a look that is similar to Russell Whittemore’s, EL Extrano (The Weird).

Affordability

If you can’t afford this software, consider open-source alternatives. Now, one word of caution. Open-source software is free, but donations are often welcome to keep development active and updates coming. You can run into problems where something doesn’t work quite right, and you need help. These programs rely heavily on a support community of users where you can post your problem or search posts that address it. Sometimes, as I’ve experienced, no one has the problem you’re having, so there’s no quick solution; or you post your problem, and no one in the community responds. This response doesn’t happen often, but just be aware. You won’t get the same level of support from Adobe or Topaz Studio. One may argue their support isn’t great anyway, but they sell the software as a business product and do stand behind it.

Open Source Software

A prominent open-source image-editing program is GIMP. This software is considered the open-source equivalent of Photoshop. Here are videos from the GIMP Workshop: GIMP: Turn a Photo Into a Digital Painting and Gimp: from photo to oil painting. Finally, there is a recent newcomer to the software image-editing scene, Krita, founded in 2009 but initially developed by Matthias Etrich in 1998. Krita was originally intended as image-editing and painting software, but since 2009 it has shifted its focus to painting. Blade & Quill has a video: Turn any photograph into a pencil sketch using Krita.

Give the Open-Source software a try. You can install it on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Watch the videos, and if you enjoy them, consider trying one of the commercial software options. In addition to the YouTube video, you could sign up for Udemy and take one of their courses. I’ve taken several of their courses and learned a lot; the prices were reasonable. They often have sales where you can buy a course for under $20.

Whichever Topaz Studio alternative you choose, the goal is the same: turning a straight photograph into something more painterly. You can see how I use light and shadow in my own work in my still life light painting gallery. Bobby