Induce banding in Photoshop CS6

Hi everyone,

Is there a way that I can induce banding when working with images in Photoshop CS6?

I have two images, one saved as an 8 bit file and one saved as a 16 bit file. I want to induce banding in the 8 bit file so I can make a note of the settings used. I will then apply those same settings to the 16 bit file and see if the banding is still present.

I am hoping that when I apply the settings to the 16 bit file the banding will cease to be present.

I just want to verify for myself that I am benefiting by converting images to 16 bit.

Thank you.

Try this: reduce contrast, blur the image, increase contrast again.

This should induce banding in the 8 bit image.

Richard1985 said:

I just want to verify for myself that I am benefiting by converting images to 16 bit.

Thank you.

Click to expand...

You'll get no benefit to converting an image to16 bit. The image has to START as a 16 bit file and stay that way for the benefits of 16 bit to be there.

So, if you shoot with a digital camera, you need to shoot RAW, not JPEG (JPEGs are always 8 bit). After you edit the RAW file, export it as a 16 bit TIFF or PSD file.

If you shoot film, and are scanning the film, have your scanner output a 16 bit file.

If you take an 8 bit file and convert it to 16 bit, there's no benefit.