16 Bit Grayscale Images

[kevjon]

Hi

I have PL19.0

I want to create very fine detail on bump maps for 3D models. So want to create a 16 bit grayscale image using PNG or Tiff to bring into my 3D application.

I cannot find anywhere in PL to set the document mode to grayscale so have created 16 bit grayscale layers.

When I export to TIF or PNG from PL It saves as 16 bit RGB. Is it possible to save 16 bit Grayscale ?

[photoken]

When I export to TIF or PNG from PL It saves as 16 bit RGB. Is it possible to save 16 bit Grayscale ?

When I use Layer...Convert Layer Type to convert all layers to 16-bit Grayscale and save the image as a TIF image, PhotoLine, Corel PhotoPaint and Corel PaintShopPro all report the TIF image as being a 16-bit Grayscale image. This is despite the fact that the EXIF information lists the ColorSpace as being RGB.

What problems are you running into?

[kevjon]

Hi photoken

The problem I am running into is that PL was saving my images as 16 bit RGB when I want to save them as 16 bit grayscale.
Although "Document mode" allows you to have a mixture of RGB and Grayscale layers both 8 and 16 bit it doesn't appear to have an option to export out to 16 bit Grayscale even though you have some layers set to that.

However I have solved it.
Rather than use "New Document" which doesn't allow you to set the color mode, you need to use "New Image" and you can set that to 16 bit Grayscale. Then when I export to PNG or TIF I get a 16 bit grayscale image.

[bkh]

I cannot find anywhere in PL to set the document mode to grayscale so have created 16 bit grayscale layers.

In Document mode, the (working) colour space is determined by the colour profile of the document (in the Document Attributes panel). If you want greyscale output, just use a greyscale colour profile for your document, similarly for Lab or CMYK output.

Cheers

Burkhard.

[kevjon]

Burkhard

In the document attributes panel, I can see options for setting it to , 8, 16 or 32 bit.

I cannot see anything for setting it to grayscale, lab or cmyk in the document attributes panel.

[Hoogo]

I cannot see anything for setting it to grayscale, lab or cmyk in the document attributes panel.

Yes, for document it's not that obvious... You really need an ICC profile with your desired color space.

[kevjon]

I've got a about 20 or 30 profiles there, I wonder which one I would use for 16 bit grayscale ?

[bkh]

I've got a about 20 or 30 profiles there, I wonder which one I would use for 16 bit grayscale ?

Look under Preferences -> Colour Management -> Standard. The grey profiles are the ones that can be chosen under "Grey". Also, "Set Colour Space" in PL lists profiles in four groups: RGB, CMYK, Lab, Grey. Most Grey profiles also have "Grey" in their name. OS X comes with "Generic Grey" and "Generic Grey (Gamma 2.2)", the former has gamma 1.8.

Cheers

Burkhard.

[kevjon]

Look under Preferences -> Colour Management -> Standard.

Mine just list system or none. So I've changed Gray: from none to system

The grey profiles are the ones that can be chosen under "Grey". Also, "Set Colour Space" in PL lists profiles in four groups: RGB, CMYK, Lab, Grey. Most Grey profiles also have "Grey" in their name. OS X comes with "Generic Grey" and "Generic Grey (Gamma 2.2)", the former has gamma 1.8.

[/quote]

I'm sorry Burkhard, I don't know what this means. In all the icc profiles in the document attributes panel, there is no gray profiles, CMYK or LAB. There is Adobe RGB and sRGB profiles (see attachment).

[kevjon]

Its not a big deal though as I said in the third post in this thread. Picture mode give me the results I'm looking for and very easy to setup.

[bkh]

I'm sorry Burkhard, I don't know what this means. In all the icc profiles in the document attributes panel, there is no gray profiles, CMYK or LAB. There is Adobe RGB and sRGB profiles (see attachment).

You've got RGB profiles (everything until sRGB IEC… and CMYK profiles (everything else below the divider, but apparently no Lab or greyscale profiles. I don't really know where to get a free greyscale profile, unfortunately.

Cheers

Burkhard.

[kevjon]

Thanks for confirming that Burkhard

I wasn't sure I was misunderstanding.

Now that I know such a thing exists, I'll do a bit of googling on trying to find some lab & grey.icc profiles.