8bit v 16bit

[BarryM]

hi folks, just curious really.

When converting raw over to jpeg using adobes cs2 raw converter i noticed that one of the options was saving at a depth of 8bits or 16bits. Default has been 8 till i noticed. Would this make a huge difference to the final image, ive had a browse around some photography sites and it seems no not really unless your doing heavey manipulation etc. So is 16bits worthwhile considering im doing weddings, portraits and selling pictures or is it just as well sticking with 8bit for smaller file sizes etc.

Thanks folks.

[tonymidd]

hi folks, just curious really.

When converting raw over to jpeg using adobes cs2 raw converter i noticed that one of the options was saving at a depth of 8bits or 16bits. Default has been 8 till i noticed. Would this make a huge difference to the final image, ive had a browse around some photography sites and it seems no not really unless your doing heavey manipulation etc. So is 16bits worthwhile considering im doing weddings, portraits and selling pictures or is it just as well sticking with 8bit for smaller file sizes etc.

Thanks folks.

Unless you are doing a lot of manipulation 8 bits fine. I had a spell using 16 bit and the computer power need was enormous.

[randalls]

Hi Barry, the problem here is that when you convert to 8 bits you literally throw away a lot of the colour information held in the original file. I tend to do everything in 16 bits then convert to 8 bits at the end of the process. However the truth is most inkjets & even commercial photo printers only work at 8 bits, so if your end product is going to be printed only at 8 bits its not a big issue. I work in 16 bits only due to the fact some commercial applications require it, and I have geared up my PC processing power to allow fast working at 16 bits in CS2.

[Chris Hawkins]

It's a good question Barry. I do all the manipulation in 16bit and convert to 8 at the end. I have a high end PC so don't notice any overhead. 16bit most certainly gives more data to play with and it's very noticable in some circunstances.

Cheers Chris

[BarryM]

ahh thanks for the information folks, il stick with 8bit just now, although try a batch on 16bit to see how the pc runs.