How to Convert 8-Bit to 16-Bit

When it comes to digital photography, the difference between 8-bit and 16-bit images is literally exponential. With an 8-bit image, which is what you will get with most digital camera when you take pictures in JPEG format, your picture will come out with 2^8 shades of each primary color (red, green, and blue), or 256 of each. This makes a total of 16.8 million shades (256^3). If your camera supports raw photography, you can actually get 16-bit results, or 2^16 possible shades of each color. This gives you 281 trillion different possibilities. While that may seem like the difference between a Bentley and a Bugati, you'll notice a major difference when you start to edit, as your transitions from one color to another will look much smoother with a 16-bit file.

Instructions

1. • 1

     Open your Photoshop Elements software. When you come to the "Welcome" screen, move the mouse to click on "Edit" and then choose "Edit Full" mode.

   • 2

     Open the 8-bit file you want to convert. Click "File" and then "Open As." When the dialog box pops up, click the dropdown menu at the bottom. Select "Camera Raw."

   • 3

     Choose "Open Copy" when the Camera Raw converter opens with your picture. Go to "Image," then "Resize" and then "Image Size." In the next dialog box, choose "Resample Image" and "Constrain Proportions."

   • 4

     Click on the "Width" dropdown and choose "Percent." When you see a text box open, enter "71." This will drop your pixels by one half. Click "OK" to finish the conversion to an actual 16-bit image.