16 bit printing

David Sutton

Newbie

Posts: 3

« on: October 11, 2011, 09:33:25 PM »

I would be happy to pay extra to get a version of Qimage that printed in 16 bit. Looking at the cost of a large format printer and paper and ink, an extra $20 or $30 becomes a no-brainer. Are there others who think the same?
At present I can print in 16 bit through the Canon photoshop plug-in to the ipf 6300, but I don't get black point compensation. The Adobe Colour Management Module is not available for Windows 64bit. There is not time to go back over my files and re-softproof them and test print with bpc off.
Yes, I've read Mike's article on 16 bit printing. And yes, I'm a purist. (Smiley thingy should go here)


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admin

Administrator
Forum Superhero

Posts: 4123

Re: 16 bit printing

« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2011, 09:48:45 PM »

Before buying into 16 bit printing, see if you can find any photo where 16 bit printing produces a better (visual) result than 8 bit printing. You won't find any. And if you think you do, send the image/profile(s) to me and or a print via mail. I've posed that same challenge to many professional photogs and not a one can produce a print where 16 bits made a visible improvement over 8 bits, unless the image itself was ill prepared for printing in the first place. 16 bits is a number that sells printers. I have no plans to support it until Windows supports native 16 bit printing. 16 bit editing/manipulation: that's a different story.

Mike


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David Sutton

Newbie

Posts: 3

Re: 16 bit printing

« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2011, 06:13:33 AM »

To be of value to me, I would need to see a difference in one print in ten. A test for this would be worthwhile doing. And if there is a difference I would expect it to show in prints about 17” wide or more. So not a project I'm going to rush into, but my January holidays would be a good time to try this. So if there is no further post by February, it means I've found no difference.
Interestingly the 6300 is showing up faults in my lenses invisible when the same size prints were done on the Epson 3800. Interesting in the same sense a very bad thing may be interesting. So I think this will be a good printer to try this out on.


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admin

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Forum Superhero

Posts: 4123

Re: 16 bit printing

« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2011, 01:03:30 PM »

Let me know what you find if you do comparisons. I'm always interested in evaluations from independent viewers. I keep thinking that eventually someone will be able to find a (maybe very specific) image where the 16 bit color can't be matched in the 8 bit driver but so far, I haven't been able to find any. I've found instances where the color is just "different" between the two drivers (16 and 8 bit) just because they are different drivers, but not any instances where you could argue the 16 bit driver had more/better color.

BTW, you shouldn't have to print large to see a difference if one is to appear. You could print test strips for example.

Mike


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Michael Seltzer

Newbie

Posts: 1

Re: 16 bit printing

« Reply #4 on: February 07, 2012, 07:58:02 PM »

I'm getting ready to buy a new computer (my old MB Pro is slowing down), and was thinking of getting a PC, and also buying Qimage Ultimate. I have an Epson 3880 (and an R2400 before that) and am used to checking the little 16 bit checkbox. It will be difficult not to have that little box anymore (I don't know if it makes any real-world difference, but it is always psychologically reassuring to be able to click on something and think, okay, I'm getting the best quality now!).

You say above, "16 bit editing/manipulation: that's a different story." Can you expand on that, or point me in a direction where I can read-up on the difference between 16 bits in editing and in printing? I've assumed that if I'm editing in 16 bits (which I do), then print in 8 bits, I'm losing information--in the same way that converting down to 8 bits in PS would, as the software now has to make "best" guesses for colors that 8 bits can't represent.

Btw, does Qimage edit in 16 bits?

Thanks, Michael


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