Digital BW, The Print

On 3/5/05 2:53 PM, "Tom Andrews" sent the following verbage:

> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> In my own experience I have yet to find any use for 16-bit files, which agrees
> with Dan Margulis' ideas (check out long discussions on Colortheory list).

Usually the argument is whether or not you see that difference in the final
print vs the monitor. Years back I think I was sitting on the fence about
whether the work I was doing transferring masks and adjustments from 8 bit
to 16 bit was worth the time on some images. (a workflow I did *not* learn
from Caponigro and it's been around a long time). I certainly see the
difference now, with the better drivers and better workflows... In my
opinion there was never an argument over the degradation the image goes thru
when doing manipulations in 8 bit vs 16 bit. It's totally evident.

Mr. Margulis doesn't do this stuff, he's a prepress and color guy, different
ballpark altogether and in my opinion the argument here is irrelevant. Apart
from that, I don't agree with him about color image files either. The proof
for me is the same as you, I *see* the difference.

PS CS is a boon to what I do, both BW and color, fine art, client output,
and prepress etc... Regarding PS5.5... Prior to PS6, color management was
horrendous, control was never standard, closed loop systems ruled the roost.
That changed with 6, and then we all waited impatiently for 16bit control
throughout... With 16 bit support, using 16bit RAW image scans (I use SF6
RAW, then process thru HDR for a lot of control), then the adjustment layer
and masking capabilities available in PSCS (gone the days of alpha channels
on a continual basis), to me it only makes sense to upgrade and use these
current tools.


I 
> scan MF film on a Nikon8000 and make prints to 32x40 with an Epson 10K
> and find 8-bit files just as good as 16-bit files for correcting in PS.  I
> have 
> tested this with a number of files.

If it works for you, then that's great. I have to do some heavy work at
times on clients scans, and sometimes my own when I'm working a montage.. My
own art etc, where I choose to mess the crap out of my work, I appreciate
all the bits I can get.

>  However, I almost never make really large
> changes in my files.  Recently I have taken to doing my scans in 8-bit, which
> gives me a 250Mb rather than a 500Mb file.  So I get twice the storage
> capacity of my hard drives.

Storage space is not expensive anymore... I archive all files in 16bit RAW,
and then in adjusted files. You never know.

Whatever works. :)

Carolyn

--
http://www.carolynfrayn.com