Save as 8 bits or 16 bits per channel? Perhaps out of habit, I have been saving images , after PP in Photoshop, as 8 bits per channel. Are there any benefits/ plus/ minuses, between 8...

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

Perhaps out of habit, I have been saving images , after PP in Photoshop, as 8 bits per channel. Are there any benefits/ plus/ minuses, between 8 and 16 bits? Thanks in advance of information. (No guesses, just genuine help).

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

Yes, with 16 bits you have better dynamic resolution especially in shadow area. As far as human eyes are concerned all the colors that can be seen are in the 8 bit channel, however luminosity is expanded in the 16 bit channel.

Pablo8 wrote:

Perhaps out of habit, I have been saving images , after PP in Photoshop, as 8 bits per channel. Are there any benefits/ plus/ minuses, between 8 and 16 bits? Thanks in advance of information. (No guesses, just genuine help).

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

Thanks for the answer Bruce. I couldn't see any difference between an 8bit and 16 bit A4 print, side by side. But I could see that the file sizes were different. From 117 views of this post, you appear to be the only one who could answer my query. Thanks again.

BebuLamar

Pablo8 wrote:

Thanks for the answer Bruce. I couldn't see any difference between an 8bit and 16 bit A4 print, side by side. But I could see that the file sizes were different. From 117 views of this post, you appear to be the only one who could answer my query. Thanks again.

Printer gamut can not even use all of the 8 bit image so giving the printer 16 bit image would make a difference.

saxman71 Loc: Wenatchee

I too was looking for answers to your question and am disappointed there aren't more responses. I have been saving almost all my images worth saving as 8 bit TIFF files. I do it to get a smaller file size and that is the only reason I do it. I can't see a difference on my 4K monitor and rarely have anything printed anymore (I have a houseful of framed prints). So if that's where any difference between an 8 bit image and a 16 bit image is seen then maybe I don't really care. In reading Mr. Lamar's last response above, I wonder if he left out the word "not" after the word "would" (although that would make it a double negative sentence).

BebuLamar

saxman71 wrote:

I too was looking for answers to your question and... (show quote)

Yes I missed the not. What I said was that the printer can barely make use of 8 bit so giving 16 bit wouldn't make a difference. There would be a difference if you save the file to further editing. When you edit the file many operations especially lighten would reduce the effective number of bits in the files. Still the file is still 16 bit but many values will not be assigned any value.

saxman71 Loc: Wenatchee

What if I open an 8 bit TIFF file and save it under a new name as a 16 bit TIFF? Are all the "effective" bits reestablished or did I loose something in the initial conversion to 8 bits?

BebuLamar

saxman71 wrote:

What if I open an 8 bit TIFF file and save it under a new name as a 16 bit TIFF? Are all the "effective" bits reestablished or did I loose something in the initial conversion to 8 bits?

You don't gain anything just by doing that but it's better if you were to edit it.

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

Thanks for the extra information Guys. I'll keep in mind what you have posted.

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

BebuLamar wrote:

Printer gamut can not even use all of the 8 bit image so giving the printer 16 bit image would make a difference.

You won't see any differences until you start to do post processing, at which point the 8 bit image will begin to fall apart quickly. 8 bit, for instance, only has 256 brightness steps. 16 bit has 65,536. If you need to do exposure or contrast correction 8 bit will start banding in gradients very quickly. For me saving in 16 bit is a no-brainer.

https://petapixel.com/2017/09/06/8-bit-vs-16-bit-photos-heres-difference/

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

Thanks Toby / Kymarto for your information and link which has helped me to understand more about the differences. Have checked my cameras, and are set to shooting at 14. Will have to check about opening images at 16 prior to PP editing, and not just saving as 16 after editing. That must be where I have been missing-out on maximum quality potential. Thanks again for your interest in the posting.

cameraf4 Loc: Delaware

Pablo8 wrote:

Thanks for the answer Bruce. I couldn't see any difference between an 8bit and 16 bit A4 print, side by side. But I could see that the file sizes were different. From 117 views of this post, you appear to be the only one who could answer my query. Thanks again.

Toby's link was probably quite helpful. But really, Bruce's answer pretty much nailed it in concise terms.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

In my view, more information is always better.
Memory is cheap. Use 16 bits.
Even if you don't need it now, it's there for you in the future.

lloydl2 Loc: Gilbert, AZ

one of the detriments of using 16 bit in PS is that some of the filters will be grayed out as they only work in 8 bit mode.

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

lloydl2 wrote:

one of the detriments of using 16 bit in PS is that some of the filters will be grayed out as they only work in 8 bit mode.

You can always go down to 8 bits if you need the filter, but once in 8 bits you can't go back to 16. Well, you can go back but you've lost all the extra data permanent at that point.