jbm Posted November 6, 2006 Share #1 Posted November 6, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) My camera writes 8 bit files. My Noise Software offers the option of writing an 8 or 16 bit file. Is there any advantage to writing a 16 bit file from an 8 bit file? Thanks, Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 6, 2006 Posted November 6, 2006 Hi jbm, Take a look here 8 bit and 16 bit Files Question. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
cbretteville Posted November 6, 2006 Share #2 Posted November 6, 2006 No, they will just take up more space. - Carl Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbm Posted November 6, 2006 Author Share #3 Posted November 6, 2006 Thanks Carl! That seemed logical, but what seems logical is not always true. --Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTD Posted November 6, 2006 Share #4 Posted November 6, 2006 In PhotoShop it is sometimes worth converting an 8 bit file to 16 bit to perform adjustments and then converting it back to 8 bit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted November 7, 2006 Share #5 Posted November 7, 2006 As noted above, using 16-bit files gives more range for making global corrections, but has the disadvantage of taking up much more space. I know some heavy-duty Photoshop users who use 16-bit files for all initial global adjustments, then save as 8-bit when getting closer to finished. I've also attended Photoshop seminars where we were told 'just convert to 8-bit and don't worry about it.' But David is right. Working in 16-bit is demonstrably better, though perhaps not enough so to be worth the disk space needed to store the files in that mode. --HC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrc Posted November 7, 2006 Share #6 Posted November 7, 2006 There are some Photoshop CS2 filters that don't work with 16-bit files. JC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted November 7, 2006 Share #7 Posted November 7, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) There are some Photoshop CS2 filters that don't work with 16-bit files. Good point, JC! But each generation of CS2 expands the list of features that accommodate 16-bit files. And one can always switch into 16-bit mode to make less destructive modifications, while staying in 8-bit most of the time. Basically, 8-bit is fine. For highest quality, stay in 16-bit as long as possible. But since the question is whether to save to 16 bit from a noise reduction program, don't bother. Just go to 8-bit. Theoretically, if working from RAW, you'd stay in 16-bit till all global adjustments were made, then move to 8-bit. --HC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted November 7, 2006 Share #8 Posted November 7, 2006 Does anyone can see a difference between 16 bits and 8 bits pics on prints or monitors? Just curious. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted November 7, 2006 Share #9 Posted November 7, 2006 Does anyone can see a difference between 16 bits and 8 bits pics on prints or monitors? LCT-- No, I don't think so. I believe most monitors and printers are fed 8-bit data anyway, or am I wrong? But I've seen it demonstrated in Photoshop that making a given change--Curves, say--will cause greater data gaps in the histogram when beginning with an 8-bit original than when beginning with a 16-bit original. In other words, if you've got more buckets to start with, you've got more room to spread the data. I've seen it demo'ed, but I've basically dropped 16-bit practice from my workflow due to file size constraints. --HC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted November 7, 2006 Share #10 Posted November 7, 2006 Thank you Howard, in fact i have not tried 16 bit so far and i wanted to know if i'm missing something actually. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbm Posted November 7, 2006 Author Share #11 Posted November 7, 2006 Thanks all for the very informative comments. I think I won't bother with 16 bit. --Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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