8-Bit only in Photoshsop (no 12 bit support)?

I have dowloaded the latest RAW plug in for Photoshop Elements so that it can read the RAW files from my Oympus E-510. When you open a RAW, it lets you select 8 or 16 bit. I was under the impression that RAW files from the E-510 are 12 bit and I didn't want to loose quality by going to 8, so I choose 16. However, I get an error message saying that 16 bit RAW images are not supported, do I want to convert to 8-bit. I don't want to loose quality in 8-bit. How can I retain the 12-bit image in Photoshop without loosing quality and droping to 8?

ACR will either develop your raw images and output them as 8-bit or 16 bit images. This is true even in full Photoshop. I sort of understand the reason why, but I won't take the time to try to explain it here.

With Photoshop Elements there is no 16-bit support, regardless of whether it is a raw image or not. Your best bet would be to save your edited work as a PSD or a tiff image and work from there. The full version of Photoshop has good support for 16-bit images, but there is no support in Photoshop Elements.

Thanks. So are you saying that if I stick with Elements, I can only down-convert RAW from 12 to 8 bit, however if I purchase C3, then I can upconvert from 12 to 16 bit?

Which version of photoshop Elements?

The latest version 4 and 5 have limited 16 bits support. This means that after having adjusted in ACR in 16 bits, you can choose to open the file in 16 bits in Elements.

What you can do in 16 bits: automatic or manual adjustments in lighting or color, sharpening, many filters. Many plugins or actions do work in 16 bits mode, like curves, lens correction etc... You can save your work in 16 bits in PSD or TIFF format.
What you can't do: many tools are not enabled, using layers.

The real question is: do you really need 16 bits? I would recommend that you do a search on this topic before worrying about the limitations of Elements. For your information I do work in 16 bits to do the general corrections, first in ACR, then in Elements before converting to 8 bits. I find myself doing very little in 16 bits after the conversion in ACR. Anyway when I print at home or on a web service, it is only 8 bits.

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Michel B

I understand, thanks. But my concern is - am I going to loose much by "down converting" from 12 to 8 bits? I am not a pro, just amerature with my first DSLR wanting to edit images.

Personally, at the level of photography that it appears you are at, I think it is unlikely that you will be able to discern any difference in quality. If you were a professional photographer critical metering, and you were very cautious about preserving shadow and highlight detail, then maybe would benefit from 16 bit images. But the quality of your images should be good enough that if you open them into Photoshop Elements and then save them as TIF or PSD images after you have finished your work I don't think will be able to see any loss of quality. Others may disagree, and that's okay.

mariog7 said:

I understand, thanks. But my concern is - am I going to loose much
by "down converting" from 12 to 8 bits? I am not a pro, just
amerature with my first DSLR wanting to edit images.

Click to expand...

Let us be practical: for amateurs like you and me, unless we print on high end home printers or by pro labs who work with 16 bits PSD or Tiff format, you won't see the difference... But if like me you want to play with a lot of changes in post processing, 16 bits may give an advantage in certain circumstances. Where 16 bits is most useful is in the first conversion in ACR. There you are apt to deal with very difficult lighting and colors more easily and with a really better result. That is the 80% of the strength of 16 bits. The rest depends on the type of processing you do: applying many filters or effects repeatedly will lead to defects like posterization (uneven gradation) in 8 bits. I won't comment about 12 bits with the processor, better technicians will explain it is not comparable to 16 bits...

My advice not to lose any quality of your pictures: work in raw if possible, archive raw files. Process as much as possible in 16 bits with your current software. That will mean you have to convert to 8 bits at some point when you want to use layers and all the available tools. Save you work in PSD format (at least for the keepers) and convert to 8 bits jpeg for printing, and maybe another downsized version for the web. If you upgrade to the full CS some day, you won't have lost anything.
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Michel B