# 8 bit vs 16 bit?



## jwajwa

I was just setting my colour profile settings in Lightroom when I saw the new (to me!) option of 8 bit or 16 bit! Which is best? I edit in Lightroom, then Photoshop normally then saving as a jpeg (I read somewhere that you can't save 18 bits as jpegs?!). Any top tips? Thank you...

John


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## Replytoken

Welcome to the forum, John!  Generally, if you are starting out with 16-bit files, or at least a file that is greater than 8-bits, then it is usually best to remain in 16-bit environments until you need to have an 8-bit file, like when you need to export a file in jpeg format to share with somebody else.  If you are starting with an 8-bit file, I am not sure if there is any benefit to working in a 16-bit environment, and IIRC, it may be cause you some additional issues down the road.

Good luck,

--Ken


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## ukbrown

Where are these settings ?


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## Hal P Anderson

ukbrown,




Hal


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## jwajwa

Hi

Thanks for the response. So is there any advantage in working in Lightroom and Photoshop with an 18 bit file before converting to jpeg (and therefore 8 bit) in the final stage?


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## b_gossweiler

John,

The general rule here is to restrict an image (in terms of bit depth as well as in terms of color space) as late in the workflow as possible, which is the export in your case.

If you restrict the image earlier (like when passing it to PS), you'll never be able to export the image in 16 bit quality (and maybe a large color space) as a TIFF, even if you wanted to.

Beat


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## jwajwa

So better to start in 16 bit yeah?


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## Victoria Bampton

Yep, that's right jwajwa.  Consider it elbow room!


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## Fotografo Steel

jwajwa said:


> So better to start in 16 bit yeah?


Thats the main reason, why I photograph in RAW in the first place - the JPEGs the camera produces have 8 bit only (as any JPEG).

The only step I go to 8 bit is my final JPEG export...


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## jwajwa

Thank you.....


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