Digital BW, The Print

On Thu, Feb 20, 2003 at 12:18:36AM -0000, flabes23 <peter.bongard@...> wrote:
> Hi!
> 
> Are there any ways to edit 16-bit grayscale or RGB-Pictures in 
> Photoshop with 8-bit tools (burning/dodging, sharpening, but also the 
> NIK color effects)? If not, are there any alternatives or plugins 
> (especially for dodging and burning) that support 16-bit images?
> 

Personally I don't get on with the dodging and burning tools. Far too crude!
Instead I make feathered selections and then dodge and burn that area using the
curves tool. It gives me far more control, especially when there is need to
manipulate contrast locally. All this can be done in 16-bit.

Unsharp mask is available in 16-bit which is the best and only worthwhile
sharpening tool if you know how to use it properly - I personally think each
image is best served with individually tailored sharpening so I don't go in
for sharpening plugins etc.

Any intricate selections that need to be created using 8-bit tools or
filters (say a find edges with a gaussian blur for a selective sharpening of
an image) can then be applied to a 16-bit image by saving the selection to a
channel in the 8-bit image and then loading that selection from the 16-bit
image (after initially making a duplicate image of course).

If you are manipulating RGB images it is arguable whether 16-bit
manipulation is even needed so you might just want to stay in 8-bit after
any major tonal corrections. Certainly I find greyscale manipulations suffer
greatly in 8-bit but not colour.

-- 
Tony Terlecki
ajt@...