Which free software could acquire 48 bits color depth pict..

On 16 Nov 2008 17:11:01 GMT, Guilbert STABILO
wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>I need to scan some old films using a 48 bits color depth (in order to keep
>the quality after some graphical process).
>My Canon CS5200F does it well but none of my graphical softwares can handle
>48 bits picture.
>
>The GIMP 2.6.2 translated my pictures from 48 to 24 bits.
>IrfanView does the same as the GIMP (48 => 24).
>I also tried XnView which is supposed to handle 48 bits pictures but when
>the picture is transfered from the scanner, I get a black screen (I tried
>in 24 bits and got the correct picture so this is really a color depth
>problem).
>
>I heard that the GIMP 2.6.2 was using a module called GECL which handles 48
>bits pictures but I did not find any to configure/activate it : my pictures
>are always handled as 24 bits picture.
>
>I do not want to buy any graphical software because many free ones exist.
>
>=> Do you know any free software or plugin which could work with 48 bits
>pictures acquired from a scanner ?
>
>Thanks in advance for your help.

While not free, it's relatively inexpensive. Photoline www.photoline.com From
what I recall the free demo doesn't really expire nor cripple itself, you just
get a longer nag screen after 30 days.

If you save your scans in CMYK format then it will even properly handle 64-bit
color-depths. It's the only software that I know of that can do this. PhotoShop
still only uses 16-bit math for most of its tools and functions. Wholly
incapable of retaining all that extra data during any processing of these larger
bit-depths. This has been a thorn in the side of the "pro" world for the last 2
decades of using PhotoShop, but they all seem to ignore it and live with it.
Only recently has Adobe started to add in some 32-bit math routines to only some
of their tools and features, but by no means do all PhotoShop tools and filters
use 32-bit math. They're still working on it. Photoline has been a fully 32-bit
math platform for the last 15 years.
 >> Stay informed about: Which free software could acquire 48 bits color depth pict.. 

Sorry, wrong link.

Photoline is at www.pl32.net




On 16 Nov 2008 17:11:01 GMT, Guilbert STABILO
wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>I need to scan some old films using a 48 bits color depth (in order to keep
>the quality after some graphical process).
>My Canon CS5200F does it well but none of my graphical softwares can handle
>48 bits picture.
>
>The GIMP 2.6.2 translated my pictures from 48 to 24 bits.
>IrfanView does the same as the GIMP (48 => 24).
>I also tried XnView which is supposed to handle 48 bits pictures but when
>the picture is transfered from the scanner, I get a black screen (I tried
>in 24 bits and got the correct picture so this is really a color depth
>problem).
>
>I heard that the GIMP 2.6.2 was using a module called GECL which handles 48
>bits pictures but I did not find any to configure/activate it : my pictures
>are always handled as 24 bits picture.
>
>I do not want to buy any graphical software because many free ones exist.
>
>=> Do you know any free software or plugin which could work with 48 bits
>pictures acquired from a scanner ?
>
>Thanks in advance for your help.

While not free, it's relatively inexpensive. Photoline www.photoline.com From
what I recall the free demo doesn't really expire nor cripple itself, you just
get a longer nag screen after 30 days.

If you save your scans in CMYK format then it will even properly handle 64-bit
color-depths. It's the only software that I know of that can do this. PhotoShop
still only uses 16-bit math for most of its tools and functions. Wholly
incapable of retaining all that extra data during any processing of these larger
bit-depths. This has been a thorn in the side of the "pro" world for the last 2
decades of using PhotoShop, but they all seem to ignore it and live with it.
Only recently has Adobe started to add in some 32-bit math routines to only some
of their tools and features, but by no means do all PhotoShop tools and filters
use 32-bit math. They're still working on it. Photoline has been a fully 32-bit
math platform for the last 15 years.
 >> Stay informed about: Which free software could acquire 48 bits color depth pict.. 

Guilbert STABILO wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>I need to scan some old films using a 48 bits color depth (in order to keep
>the quality after some graphical process).
>My Canon CS5200F does it well but none of my graphical softwares can handle
>48 bits picture.
>
>The GIMP 2.6.2 translated my pictures from 48 to 24 bits.

Which may or may not actually make any difference to
you! The 8 bit internal format used by GIMP is gamma
corrected (intended to cause equal value changes to
result in approximately equal brightness changes in a
viewed image). Unless you are going to make large
changes using curves or levels, which will compress data
in some parts of the range and expand data in others, it
won't be important. For example, if you want the
scanned image to look *exactly* like the original film
image, it won't be a problem. If you want to do major
color correction or large gamma adjustments, then it
will.

Still, for minor adjustments that isn't a problem, but for
major changes it is.

I typically use /Cinepaint/, a free program with a user
interface that is almost identical to GIMP, for those
cases where 16-bit color depth is required.

>IrfanView does the same as the GIMP (48 => 24).
>I also tried XnView which is supposed to handle 48 bits pictures but when
>the picture is transfered from the scanner, I get a black screen (I tried
>in 24 bits and got the correct picture so this is really a color depth
>problem).
>
>I heard that the GIMP 2.6.2 was using a module called GECL which handles 48
>bits pictures but I did not find any to configure/activate it : my pictures
>are always handled as 24 bits picture.

At this point you have to use the Colors->Use_GEGL menu
item to enable the use of GEGL. However, while GEGL can
handle 16-bit depth images, the rest of GIMP, including
the internal image format, is still restricted to using
8-bit depth images. I do not know what the status of
that work is at this time. The 2.7 development thread
to date has shown nothing yet going in that direction,
so while it might happen before 2.8 is released it isn't
yet obvious.

>I do not want to buy any graphical software because many free ones exist.
>
>=> Do you know any free software or plugin which could work with 48 bits
>pictures acquired from a scanner ?

Get /cinepaint/.

--
Floyd L. Davidson <http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson>
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska) floyd.RemoveThis@apaflo.com
 >> Stay informed about: Which free software could acquire 48 bits color depth pict.. 

In article , mark raif
wrote:

> If you save your scans in CMYK format then it will even properly handle 64-bit
> color-depths. It's the only software that I know of that can do this.
> PhotoShop
> still only uses 16-bit math for most of its tools and functions.

that's totally false.

> Wholly
> incapable of retaining all that extra data during any processing of these
> larger
> bit-depths. This has been a thorn in the side of the "pro" world for the last
> 2
> decades of using PhotoShop, but they all seem to ignore it and live with it.
> Only recently has Adobe started to add in some 32-bit math routines to only
> some
> of their tools and features, but by no means do all PhotoShop tools and
> filters
> use 32-bit math. They're still working on it. Photoline has been a fully 32-bit
> math platform for the last 15 years.

not that i believe photoline existed 15 years ago, but photoshop has
been 32 bit since it's debut in 1990.
 >> Stay informed about: Which free software could acquire 48 bits color depth pict.. 

On Sun, 16 Nov 2008 12:53:17 -0500, nospam wrote:

>In article , mark raif
> wrote:
>
>> If you save your scans in CMYK format then it will even properly handle 64-bit
>> color-depths. It's the only software that I know of that can do this.
>> PhotoShop
>> still only uses 16-bit math for most of its tools and functions.
>
>that's totally false.

I guess that's why everyone is raving about CS4 finally supporting some 32-bit
math in some of its functions.

Go back to kindergarten, would you?


>
>> Wholly
>> incapable of retaining all that extra data during any processing of these
>> larger
>> bit-depths. This has been a thorn in the side of the "pro" world for the last
>> 2
>> decades of using PhotoShop, but they all seem to ignore it and live with it.
>> Only recently has Adobe started to add in some 32-bit math routines to only
>> some
>> of their tools and features, but by no means do all PhotoShop tools and
>> filters
>> use 32-bit math. They're still working on it. Photoline has been a fully 32-bit
>> math platform for the last 15 years.
>
>not that i believe photoline existed 15 years ago, but photoshop has
>been 32 bit since it's debut in 1990.
 >> Stay informed about: Which free software could acquire 48 bits color depth pict.. 

Guilbert STABILO added these comments in the current discussion
du jour ...

> Hi all,
>
> I need to scan some old films using a 48 bits color depth (in
> order to keep the quality after some graphical process).
> My Canon CS5200F does it well but none of my graphical
> softwares can handle 48 bits picture.

Just curious as to why you think you need it. I obviously have not
seen your negs but I'd be surprised if any "old films" have nearly
enough dynamic range to begin to exceed 16.7 million color
capability. Besides which, isn't 48 bit color - 16 bits/channel,
along the lines of 4 bits of noise, maybe more?

> The GIMP 2.6.2 translated my pictures from 48 to 24 bits.
> IrfanView does the same as the GIMP (48 => 24).
> I also tried XnView which is supposed to handle 48 bits
> pictures but when the picture is transfered from the scanner,
> I get a black screen (I tried in 24 bits and got the correct
> picture so this is really a color depth problem).
>
> I heard that the GIMP 2.6.2 was using a module called GECL
> which handles 48 bits pictures but I did not find any to
> configure/activate it : my pictures are always handled as 24
> bits picture.
>
> I do not want to buy any graphical software because many free
> ones exist.
>
> => Do you know any free software or plugin which could work
> with 48 bits pictures acquired from a scanner ?
>
> Thanks in advance for your help.
>

--
HP, aka Jerry

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained
by stupidity!" - Hanlon's Razor
 >> Stay informed about: Which free software could acquire 48 bits color depth pict.. 

mark raif added these comments in the current discussion du jour
....

[snip]
> If you save your scans in CMYK format then it will even
> properly handle 64-bit color-depths. It's the only software
> that I know of that can do this. PhotoShop still only uses
> 16-bit math for most of its tools and functions. Wholly
> incapable of retaining all that extra data during any
> processing of these larger bit-depths. This has been a thorn
> in the side of the "pro" world for the last 2 decades of using
> PhotoShop, but they all seem to ignore it and live with it.
> Only recently has Adobe started to add in some 32-bit math
> routines to only some of their tools and features, but by no
> means do all PhotoShop tools and filters use 32-bit math.
> They're still working on it. Photoline has been a fully 32-bit
> math platform for the last 15 years.
>
mark, my computer math is pretty rusty but what does 16 bit
floating point or whatever vs. 32 bit or even 64 bit have anything
at all to do with color depth? Or, am I misunderstanding you? Is
what you're really saying that PS will cut down the color depth
back to 24 bit, do the function, then step it back up to 48 which
is pointless?

This is the first I've ever heard of Photoline, but then I'm hardly
a pro. But, 15 years ago? What motherboard or CPU was even remotely
capable of floating point math at 32 bits/channel? Or, am I again
misunderstanding you?

--
HP, aka Jerry

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained
by stupidity!" - Hanlon's Razor
 >> Stay informed about: Which free software could acquire 48 bits color depth pict.. 

In article , NeilMolon
wrote:

> I guess that's why everyone is raving about CS4 finally supporting some 32-bit
> math in some of its functions.

actually they're raving about cs4 being *64 bit*.
 >> Stay informed about: Which free software could acquire 48 bits color depth pict.. 

nospam added these comments in the current discussion du jour
....

> In article ,
> NeilMolon wrote:
>
>> I guess that's why everyone is raving about CS4 finally
>> supporting some 32-bit math in some of its functions.
>
> actually they're raving about cs4 being *64 bit*.
>
I'd believe that IF one has a 62 bit O/S


--
HP, aka Jerry

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained
by stupidity!" - Hanlon's Razor
 >> Stay informed about: Which free software could acquire 48 bits color depth pict.. 

In article , HEMI-Powered
wrote:

> mark, my computer math is pretty rusty but what does 16 bit
> floating point or whatever vs. 32 bit or even 64 bit have anything
> at all to do with color depth?

it doesn't. photoshop uses 32 bit math internally (or 64 bit in cs4)
when making calculations on an 8 bit per channel image.
 >> Stay informed about: Which free software could acquire 48 bits color depth pict.. 

nospam added these comments in the current discussion du jour
....

>> mark, my computer math is pretty rusty but what does 16 bit
>> floating point or whatever vs. 32 bit or even 64 bit have
>> anything at all to do with color depth?
>
> it doesn't. photoshop uses 32 bit math internally (or 64 bit
> in cs4) when making calculations on an 8 bit per channel
> image.
>
so, what does the bit width of the math to do with color depth at
all? if I understand your answer, nothing. so, while I have no skin
in this game, I'm curious as to the computer architecture side of
the issue regardless of whether 48 bit color does or doesn't make
sense in this instance.

thanks.

--
HP, aka Jerry

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained
by stupidity!" - Hanlon's Razor
 >> Stay informed about: Which free software could acquire 48 bits color depth pict.. 

nospam wrote:
> HEMI-Powered wrote:
>
>> mark,

He's not 'mark', he's the P&S troll posting so many crazy rants in here
recently with dozens of different names. Don't take him seriously.


>> my computer math is pretty rusty but what does 16 bit
>> floating point or whatever vs. 32 bit or even 64 bit have anything
>> at all to do with color depth?
>
> it doesn't. photoshop uses 32 bit math internally (or 64 bit in cs4)
> when making calculations on an 8 bit per channel image.
 >> Stay informed about: Which free software could acquire 48 bits color depth pict.. 

In article , HEMI-Powered
wrote:

> >> mark, my computer math is pretty rusty but what does 16 bit
> >> floating point or whatever vs. 32 bit or even 64 bit have
> >> anything at all to do with color depth?
> >
> > it doesn't. photoshop uses 32 bit math internally (or 64 bit
> > in cs4) when making calculations on an 8 bit per channel
> > image.
>
> so, what does the bit width of the math to do with color depth at
> all? if I understand your answer, nothing.

basically, speed.
 >> Stay informed about: Which free software could acquire 48 bits color depth pict..