Digital BW, The Print

On May 7, 2010, at 1:32 PM, Paul Grant wrote:

> Really depends on how much you are doing in the way of  
> adjustments.     Try it both ways and look at the difference in the  
> histograms for both.  You will find you have a lot more margin with  
> the 16bit.   However all that being said if your not doing much in  
> the way of adjustments not sure you will see much.
>
> Paul
> On May 7, 2010, at 9:20 AM, Sylvain wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> As a Gimp user, I'm just wondering whether the 16bits (not  
>> available on Gimp but only on PS) is really an advantage for B&W  
>> pictures. Did any one make a comparison between 8 and 16bits  
>> processing, in the case of a standard image retouching? Is there  
>> really a difference on the final print?

That reply really addresses 16 bit image editing, not 16 bit printing.  
I have tested a number of 16 bit export modules over the years, and  
not seen any visible improvements from the 16 bit mode; but then, most  
did not allow B&W anyways, and color hides the detail quite  
effectively. Now that I have direct 16 bit printing capability from  
Photoshop  CS5, I'll probably test some more, but I suspect that  
glossy media would be the only place this might show, and I'm not  
really a glossy media fan, so its not high on my list...

C. David Tobie
Global Product Technology Manager
Digital Imaging & Home Theater
CDTobie@...


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