[boriscleto]

Nowadays, the newer 2.9.4 version of Gimp is fully 16/32 bits and I do more with it for exactly the above reason.

Unless you want a stable release. In which case you are still stuck with 8bit editing.

[paulh]

Unless you want a stable release. In which case you are still stuck with 8bit editing.

Correct. Linux Mint is only offering 2.8.10, which is 8 bit. Which is why it gets only limited use in my case, mostly the clone tool for removing odd bits.

[interested_observer]

Here is what don't understand and what drives me crazy
The monitor is basically 8 bit (24 for all 3 color channels). The jpeg is 8 bit. Mostly everything is in jpeg : online photos, prints and photobooks.
Still, I read about all that shade of 16 bit, and don't understand when practically I can use that importance if it will not be noticeable in jpeg printing and on monitors?
Or it will be? In theory - yes, I see those pictures of examples 16vs 8 bits on my monitor. But I see them from 8 bit monitor anyway!
Makes sense?
When do I need 16 bits tiff? And what for?

... Steve already beat me to it.....

[Na Horuk]

Oh, one more thing to consider is that most monitors are not actually 16bit. So the difference will literally not be visible on those.
We have had a couple threads about the bit question, where people were comparing K-50 and K-5. You can see those threads. Basically, it comes down to what i said earlier: If you do a lot of PP, raising shadows, recovering highlights, adding contrasts, using NR, then more bits will help. But if you shoot at an ISO lower than 3600 and do little PP, you exposed well, then the difference will be insignificant.

[interested_observer]

Steve, thanks.
By other words, it's better to edit image in high bit depth and publish in 8bit than to edit in 8bit and publish in 8bit.
And for fine art prints, if needed, contact decent pro lab for help.
Probably that's all I need to know before studying color management.

• For fine art prints - keep everything in at least 16 or 32 bit space.
• Once you enter the world of color management - you may never re-emerge.

Oh, one more thing to consider is that most monitors are not actually 16bit. So the difference will literally not be visible on those.
We have had a couple threads about the bit question, where people were comparing K-50 and K-5. You can see those threads. Basically, it comes down to what i said earlier: If you do a lot of PP, raising shadows, recovering highlights, adding contrasts, using NR, then more bits will help. But if you shoot at an ISO lower than 3600 and do little PP, you exposed well, then the difference will be insignificant.

Another aspect of this is the use of auto-processing software - like image stacking. The software recognizes the slight differences in the data that the eye will not be able to see until it's fully processed. Used a lot in astro photography.

[emalvick]

It's been covered, but from my own perspective, 16 bit is most important when you are adjusting the tone in your image (brightness, contrast, white-balance, HSL, etc). i.e. if you are changing the colors you want to do that in 16-bit.

I believe the reason items like stamping are under 8-bits is because in many workflows you will do all the 16-bit steps first. Then if you do things like cloning, the color space (in theory) is less important because you are just copying and pasting. I don't totally agree because people will still do things like blending where color may still change. But this is why some people buy something like Photoshop and other people might buy Elements. One of the reasons I never got along with Gimp was because it lacked any 16-bit ability (it might have some now). I look forward to Affinity coming to Windows. I'm in an older version of Photoshop, and I don't want to pay for a subscription.

[newmikey]

Unless you want a stable release. In which case you are still stuck with 8bit editing.

Not stuck as you can still use Digikam or Krita as I did in the past. Inconvenient would be a better word. But I've been putting the 2.9.x releases through their paces and see absolutely no reason to "want a stable release" - I have found them to be as stable as the 2.8.16

As some people already mentioned, as long as you do the brightness, contrast, white-balance, HSL bits in 16-bits outside Gimp, you should be fine.

[todd]

I'm with newmikey... Been using Gimp 2.9.x on Windows pretty much exclusively for the last year or so now and things are stable, despite the development warnings... I only using gimp 2.8.x when I edit phone cam shots... The only thing I run into with 2.9.x is some slowness during certain functions, the main culprit being resizing, so my workaround for that, since most of the time I am only publishing to web is to do the downscale in my raw converter (rawtherapee) so that I am still working with 16-bit in gimp, but don't have to resize, or at least not from full size...

I recommend Partha's builds if you're interested in trying 16-bit Gimp (on mac or windows)... Partha's Place Recently I've been playing around with color management with his "Color Corrected" version and reading articles here: Nine Degrees Below Photography

[micromacro]

I look forward to Affinity coming to Windows. I'm in an older version of Photoshop, and I don't want to pay for a subscription.

I don't want to pay for subscription either especially when I'm not sure I need that. Elements actually is not a bad idea as a cheap learning program.
Mostly I need to change the background sometimes, or remove unwanted objects. Affinity sounds interesting, I need to read about it.

Everything about modern software and alternatives, the theory of the whole chain from taking picture, editing, the final product is overwhelming. Especially for someone like me. I'm not tech savvy, feel more like a dinosaur about all that part of modern gadgets.

[wombat2go]

Here are 2 files with gradations that I generated some time ago ( posted before, I think)
I found that grading from Tan to Pink goes through some skin colors
This one is an 8 bit .jpg
https://app.box.com/s/hjc852fhi32y2uqtitl6ahjpe2xvf11p


This one is a 16 bit .tiff
https://app.box.com/s/gvm9lllrhtat9pkjy7928g4fgmdyedcn

Vieweing these in browser as served by the box.com host, they both should look the same.
However on the Eizo here in DVI mode, the 16 bit does look smoother but the gradations are still visible

To truly view the 16 bit tiff, a Truecolor monitor will be needed, along with the interface
eg DisplayPort, and a GPU card ( eg a NVidia Quadro with driver),
and o/s capable of being set to Truecolor ( 30 or 32 bit).
Then the file would have to be downloaded and opened in a viewer on that o/s.
Vieweing that file on the Eizo in DisplayPort, the gradations are not visible.

[micromacro]

Here are 2 files with gradations that I generated some time ago ( posted before, I think)
I found that grading from Tan to Pink goes through some skin colors
This one is an 8 bit .jpg
https://app.box.com/s/hjc852fhi32y2uqtitl6ahjpe2xvf11p


This one is a 16 bit .tiff
https://app.box.com/s/gvm9lllrhtat9pkjy7928g4fgmdyedcn

Vieweing these in browser as served by the box.com host, they both should look the same.
However on the Eizo here in DVI mode, the 16 bit does look smoother but the gradations are still visible

I do see the difference on my monitor: on 8bit image two greenish artifacts (?) on the left, and more drastic way from darker pink to brighter pink on the right. The vertical lines are the same on both images.

To truly view the 16 bit tiff, a Truecolor monitor will be needed, along with the interface
eg DisplayPort, and a GPU card ( eg a NVidia Quadro with driver),
and o/s capable of being set to Truecolor ( 30 or 32 bit).
Then the file would have to be downloaded and opened in a viewer on that o/s.
Vieweing that file on the Eizo in DisplayPort, the gradations are not visible.

All that part is just a letter combination for me

[wombat2go]

All that part is just a letter combination for me

I can mention, to me it was a hole in the Amex, and about 5 days of teeth grinding to get it all working!

[micromacro]

I can mention, to me it was a hole in the Amex, and about 5 days of teeth grinding to get it all working!

It will take me never to make all that working! My son told he does not understand how generally smart person like me can be so stupid with computers

[emalvick]

I don't want to pay for subscription either especially when I'm not sure I need that. Elements actually is not a bad idea as a cheap learning program.
Mostly I need to change the background sometimes, or remove unwanted objects. Affinity sounds interesting, I need to read about it.

Everything about modern software and alternatives, the theory of the whole chain from taking picture, editing, the final product is overwhelming. Especially for someone like me. I'm not tech savvy, feel more like a dinosaur about all that part of modern gadgets.

I would think that things like compositing images or removing (cloning and stamping objects) will show less artifacts when working in 8-bit mode than other items. I suspect you'll mostly be fine with Elements. If there are problems, you'll see them as earlier posts described (banding, etc).

You could try to use your RAW processor for items where 16-bit is critical (if Elements can't do it). I'm not even sure if the ACR that ships with Elements is crippled at all. If it isn't, then you'd be set using ACR for as many 16-bit operations as you can.

[RGlasel]

By other words, it's better to edit image in high bit depth and publish in 8bit than to edit in 8bit and publish in 8bit. And for fine art prints, if needed, contact decent pro lab for help. Probably that's all I need to know before studying color management.

Exactly, everything stevebrot posted. The only thing I will add is that the viewer's brain is a wonderful image processor in itself, all it needs are clues in the image to trigger memories of similar images which are mapped to the new image in ways no computer program is capable of replicating. That's why our brains are so good at detecting artificial artifacts introduced in the digital editing process.