Advantage of 16 bit processing?

[Bruce Williams]

I use CS3 with both RAW and JPG images (mostly macro images) and generally work in 16 bit when possible.

I've been using the demo version of Neat Image for some time and am really pleased with the results. I mostly use the demo version in stand-alone (and then recombine in CS3) as it can handle larger images - but would almost certainly use the Photoshop plug-in when I buy the registered version.

I have decided to buy either the Home+ or the Pro+ edition - the deciding factor being the benefit of 16 bit processing in Neat Image? I would really appreciate knowing a bit more about how 16 bit processing works in Neat Image Pro+ and does 16 bit produce noticeably better results than 8 bit.

I would also appreciate a bit mor info on how Neat Image deals with different colour spaces?

Thanks,
Bruce

[NITeam]

Neat Image requires input images to be in an RGB space (any flavor). It preserves the color space: the output image is always in the same color space as the input image.

Regarding benefits of 16-bit image processing in Neat Image, the benefits are basically the same as benefits of 16-bit processing in Photoshop itself: you can work with images with wider dynamic range, you can go deeper into shadows and higher in highlights, lose less on image processing steps due to round-off errors, etc. Generally, if your PS workflow is 16-bit one then you most likely want to keep it in 16 bits all the way to the final image. A 16-bit version of NI can help achieve that.

Hope this answers your question.

Vlad

[Bruce Williams]

Thanks for the speedy response Vlad. Info was exactly what I needed to make my decision to opt for Pro+

Bruce