Photoshop using 8/16/ 32 bit?

[JacePhoto]

Hi Guys,

I am a trying to do and learn PS here. I have been editing my pictures in 8 bit (as it also allow to save a jpeg).

Should i do my photoshop editing in 16 or 32 bit, assuming that the camera's can output to 16 or 32 bit?

Is there a website that explains on this bit factor? Thanks.

 

[changster]

i am not too sure about the technical aspect behind the whole bit-rate thing but what i understand is that the higher bit-rate you edit in, the more you can get away without having stuff like artifacts, banding, etc. in your pictures.

i guess choosing the bit-rate depends a lot on what heavy your photoshop work is. personally, i just work in 16 bits. only drawback is the increased file-sizes but i can live with that. hope this helped.

 

[sprewell]

edit in 16bit,

then convert to 8bit and save as jpeg.

 

[JacePhoto]

Hmm... Thanks guys.

 

[ericschmerick]

It very much depends on your workflow, and what edits your making in photoshop. If you're using something like lightroom or even PS's camera raw for exposure and color, and just coming over to PS to use liquify to make your models' boobs look larger, or stitch a panorama, or (god I hope not) add a complicated image border/signature, then 16-bit is a waste of time. If you're making color/exposure adjustments in PS, or something else more complicated, than 16-bit buys you a little image quality.

Even then, however, that's mostly true only if you're making significant adjustments to colors/tone. If you're just making tiny fine-tune adjustments to tone in PS at 8-bits, I very very seriously doubt you'll ever tell the difference. It's even more true if your planning on just outputting to the web, or printing at A4 or less. You'll eyeballs will never resolve the tiny loss of "smoothness" in the histogram that you get from small tone adjustments at 8-bit.

Remember, photoshop had severely limited 16-bit image support right up through CS (original). Before then, if you were working 16-bit, that meant no layers, no filters, and only basic adjustments were available. I'm pretty sure there were lots and lots and lots of gallery-quality and print-quality images produced through photoshop at 8-bit in PS1-PS7.

See here -

http://www.digitalmediadesigner.com/2003/12_dec/reviews/photoshopcs031222.htm

And here-
http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/8bit-versus-16bit-difference.html

Take Care,
Eric