Topaz vs Photoshop Tools

[MariusX]

Hi There,

I'm interested in the Topaz tools such as Detail and Adjust. Havnt used them yet, just read some reviews but they seem very tempting.

I'm curious how they can be integrated with photoshop tools such as curves, unsharp mask and smart sharpen.

For example, can they replace curves (for global contrast adjustments) and smart sharpen for sharpness (detail and output), or can they be used as extra touch so to speak, to add some special touch that you can't achieve with regular ps tools.

How do you use it in ur workflow? My workflow is bascially this: chanel blending for detail, curves for contrast (i often use Apply Image on the curve adjustment layer's mask to mask out the plugged or flat areast of the tonal range corrsponding to flat curve), unshurp mask with high radius and low amount for local contrast, and finally smart sharpen for detail, and then second pass for output. How does topaz fits in here? what could/should be dropped out?

BTW, im not speed oriented and im not interested in productivity and efficiency. I just want to be able to get the best possible quality for some of my most personal images.

Theanks for any input.