?16 bit image editing Programs - PaintSho Pro?

[Michael Heald]

Hello! I run a P4 laptop with 1 gig of RAM. I've been using Elements 2 witt Hidden Power. I'd like to use basic layers and curves to edit my 16 bit images B&W images that I get from my Epson 4990, but even Elements 5.0 performs these tasks in 8 bit.
I've been trying LightZone 2.0 and I like it. Unfortunately, it seems to be taking a lot of memory and time with the 190MB file I've been using, too much to use effectively at present. I've sent the folks at LightCrafts a note. I'm not sure if its my system or a problem with the trial download I'm using. I'll wait and see.
The alternatives would be Photoshop CS2 and Paintshop Pro. I read that Paintshop Pro 11 has levels and curves and I've read that it performs these tasks in 16 bit. For the amount of editing I perform on my images, Photoshop CS2 is way too excessive.
Can PaintShop Pro perform levels, layers, and curves in 16 bit mode? At $90.00, it looks attractive. Best regards.

Mike

[Ken Lee]

I would want to know if it supports ICC profiles - so that you can print to a printer through a profile. PS supports this. I would probably use the GIMP if it did.

[David Roossien]

Yes, Paintshop Pro versions 10 and 11 support 16 bit editing and ICC profiles for monitors and printers.

[Michael Heald]

Hello! I tried to do a histogram adjustment on an image and the program said that I had to convert it to 8 bit in order to perform that task. Can anyone tell me what tools are performed in 16 bit and which are in 8 bit? Best regards.

Mike

[Oren Grad]

Michael, you might try Picture Window Pro (http://dl-c.com/content/view/14/28/). It's also only $90, and there's a 30-day free trial.

I settled on PWP for my own purposes, after taking advantage of the free trial to check it out. For the limited amount of digital image processing I do, which is strictly for the web, I couldn't remotely justify either the cost or the learning curve of Photoshop. I also much prefer PWP to PS Elements - it's both more powerful and, if you're a traditionalist like me who's familiar with characteristic curves, much more intuitive.

[Jack Flesher]

The last version of Photoshop -- ver 8 or CS1 -- can be found for around $125 and allowed 16-bit layer editing. Student or educational versions of CS2 (9) run about that same cost if you have a student in your house...

A big definciency of lightzone is the way it uses memory -- or rather its inefficient use of it (java) -- hence it can be slow on less than optimal systems.

IMO you might as well bite the bullet and go with the industry standard.

[Donald Qualls]

I would probably use the GIMP if it did.

Unfortunately, the version of GIMP I have (2.2, most recent stable build last I checked) does NOT permit any editing in 16 bits per channel; it will automatically demote images to 8 bpc on loading if they're stored as 16 bpc by another program.

[David Roossien]

Jack--I'm a student. Where can I get a copy of CS2 for $125? My college bookstore has it listed for $299. Thanks!

[David Roossien]

This article (http://www.tedsimages.com/text/links1.htm#jasc) gives a fair review of Paintshop Pro 10 and 11. I have many of the same complaints as the author.

One thing to add that may be important to large format photographers... If you are working on printing large files then Paintshop Pro 10 and 11 are probably not what you want. I was trying to open a 320MB TIF the other day and could not. Paintshop Pro 9 had no problems, but neither 10 or 11 would even open the file. I contacted technical support and 5 days later--no response... CS2 is the way to go if you want to print big.