VISUAL BREAKDOWN: 8-bit vs 16-bit images

SHOOT IN RAW? EDIT IN 16 BIT MODE? SEE IT ALL HERE! | Check out my short video breakdown that will help you understand the differences between 8bit and 16bit images and editing in Photoshop.

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In this video, we will breakdown the differences between an 8bit and a 16bit image and talk about the math behind what makes the color and tone work and we’ll also compare a bunch of images side-by-side and see the difference between 8bits and 16bits when editing in Photoshop. I hope you enjoy it and get a thing or two out of the video!

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[darrenbivings]

You have just saved me many from many hours and days of frustration and humiliation with this video. There are no other words that I can say or think of other than to say, "Thank You!" and thank your mother for me when ever you get the chance for having such a brilliant and amusing individual like you! I sincerely mean this from the bottom of my heart, You are the MAN!

[lenzwizard]

What an amazing video. You have taken the time to create a video that explains so much in such a concise and easy to understand way. I love your choice of analogies and by the end of the video you have lead the viewer to understand the differences and not just say one bit depth is better than another. Powerful of learning right there.

[vikasvk_]

I've been following your channel since a year, you just keep getting better. This video opened my eyes towards the importance of RAW shoot and 16BIT images. The video is exactly to the point, zero gibberish. Awesome. Thanks a ton, Sir.

[TheFreshkidd]

2 years later and this is still good. just subscribed

[DJTronuk]

"Bah-bah-bah-bah-Billion colors" - LOL, that was great Nathaniel

[balamina]

Wonderful explanation of the matter! Thank you very much!

[gap]

If not mistaken, with 16 bit images you get 281 trillion possible colors (65, 536 x 65, 536 x 65, 536). Regardless, love your tutorials. Thanks!

[mexist]

Really appreciate putting this out there. The thing I was looking for you covered briefly but it seems super important. When you go from 16 to a final 8bit output for online or print use, Photoshop retains most of the quality and doesn't automatically start banding the images as it compresses. That's key! this is changing my workflow

[simon_patterson]

This is a very good explanation. I used to edit everything in 16 bits until I realised it was overkill for most of my images. The downside of 16 bit editing is the larger Photoshop files after importing the raw file into PS as a smart object in a 16 bit colour space. Those files take sooo much longer to save!

Now I edit in 8 bit unless there's a particular reason to go up to 16 bit editing (eg an image I want to print big, or one where banding is obviously a problem with 8 bit editing).

[tmjcbs]

There's an important element missing from this video: _color channels_ ! Whenever a number is mentioned the viewer should realise this is the number of colors per color channel, for an rgb image (the most used) that means 3 color channels (red, green, blue). Each time 256 or 65536 is mentioned this should be to the power 3 to get the number of colors (per pixel). This has been mentioned in previous comments, but for such a well-produced video I find this a serious shortcoming. BTW: magically at 10:30 the right numbers appear. The explanation of the difference in size with seconds is a nice touch though...

[hypersapien]

I went to a technical art school, and still have a hard time grasping bit depth. This was a great video to make it clearer.

[speel]

Tremendous edification Nathaniel...many thanks for sharing with us :)

[SimonBoothPhotography]

Thank you. I am all too well aware of the banding that you get when editing in 8 bit, but I had never realised why or questioned it!. I have usually kept my eye on those areas, particularly skies where it shows the most and then undone anything using history as and when it showed up. I have even cloned the banding out using content aware in the past. I have been shooting digital since it was developed but not being that into technical stuff, I had just put up with it. Considering I have just switched to medium format, this has been one of the most useful videos I have watched in a while...subbed!

[TaylorCraneandRigging]

My boss was under the impression that shooting in Raw added pixels to the image. He basically thought that if you printed them each in large format that a jpg would be blurry. I explained to him that it just adds depth to the color but doesn't affect the sharpness of a properly exposed image. The difference is that if your exposure is off or there are two elements in the image that need different exposures, you can recover a lot more detail from an exposure problem with a RAW image. For our purposes, it's generally not necessary unless we are shooting something really important that we could use for marketing. But just for pictures of inventory, pictures of damage, pictures of proof of completion, and so on, it's really not necessary.

[triciawilliamson]

The best explanation I've ever heard Nathaniel. Thanks so much.

[narayantx]

After all these years a clear and concise explanation. Thank you Nathan. Peace

[lexip]

You did a wonderful job with this video. Loved the amount of information and how easy it was to understand!

[Gravitytubes]

what a fantastic video! absolutely says it all for anyone to understand 8 -16 bit. Very helpful and extremely well presented.

[GKOALA]

EXTREMELY informative and, yes -- oh my goodness, YES -- EXTREMELY hilarious intro/outro! Great stuff as always.

[aprylspage]

Thanks Nathan! This is so easy to understand & you explained it very well! I’ll watch it again just in case I missed something!