Convert 16-bit to 8-bit photos/graphics with realtime preview?
 

For the first time, I have a question for here :)
I have a 16 bit file and Im trying to extract some highlight detail. Its from a negative. I can load it in gimp but it doesnt really handle 16bit, theres no options in conversion. I have no idea what its doing to the full range. I need to do some levels adjustments with the full range. Is there a free program for this

You can always try GimpShop, if you don't have Photoshop: http://gimpshop.com/
It's passable. It's a modified/forked version of Gimp.

Another variation of Gimp is CinePaint: http://sourceforge.net/projects/cinepaint/
And it does (or at least used to do) 16-bit.

And then here's your tax dollars at work: http://imagej.nih.gov/ij/index.html
NIH developed a program that can work with 16-bit live-preview adjustments. Be warned that it's a Java app.
... and some people think government is worthless. Pish posh!

Oh, I wish you'd said ImageJ. What you want now is Fiji
fiji.sc
Think of it as an ImageJ distro.

Yes I've looked at all of those, they're not too easy or well documented. I'm sure there's others meant just for photos but you'd have to look around.

Edit:

imagej crashed, can't open the file.

As one of my friends likes to say, when he receives a computer error: "Click harder." :p

Seriously though, not sure what to tell you outside of using Photoshop.
If you do come across something, let us know what it is -- if for no other reason than it may spare somebody else from the same hunt.

Luminence HDR
http://qtpfsgui.sourceforge.net/
will load 16-bit tiff's. Although it's primary function is tonemapping, there is a levels control. You can also select logarithmic gamma.

Raw Therapee
http://rawtherapee.com/blog/list/13
It's also a fantastic raw converter. It does pretty much every advanced operation like high light recovery, chromatic aberration, vignetting, and leading edge demosaicking like Amaze, AHD.

Something I started to use recently is Artweaver.
After years of searching for a "Photoshop replacement", I think that may be it. :yahoo1:

http://www.artweaver.de/home-en/

Not that I'll stop using Adobe Photoshop anytime soon, but that I don't want to carry more than 1-2 licenses anymore. And because it's something I can share with others, since there's a legitimately free version available. Of course, the paid version is only 29 € (~$35 USD), so it's still a bargain. It runs much, much better than the various versions of GIMP, like GimpShop.

It's cloned most of the Photoshop interface, but has less overhead. It honestly runs a lot like Photoshop 6 (from 2000 or so -- not the 2012 CS6).

I don't know if the free or paid versions support the realtime preview of higher bit depth images, but I'd certainly give it a try.

I just took a look at these links. Very, very nice!

I'll be installing these before I did my next big photo project next month. These may come in handy. I've never been fond of the mainstream RAW editors, including Lightroom, Photoshop (via Adobe Camera Raw), Aperture, and the Nikon software. Right now I use Lightroom for organizing all of my images. Previously I had used Bridge as a DAM, with Adobe Camera Raw, but it became frustrating to operate.

Thanks for following up on this. :congrats:

If you want to start a photography thread, I have more to say about the topic.

I'm currently getting into astrophotography with DeepSkyStacker, Registax, Iris, and CHDK. There's ways to process star trails into the original star image, avoiding the need of a star tracker (or barn door tracker). CHDK lets you write scripts for your camera to completely automate anything - bias frames, dark frames, logging sensor temperature, depth of focus stacking, high speed with extended shutter or flash speeds, motion detection that can automatically capture lightning, hdr, time lapse etc.

You might also be interested in PTLens
http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/
It used to be free, but anyhow it's cheaper than DXOlabs and does many of the same things and supports different lens (especially mine).

I have flat frames and dark frames and geometric calibrations for my cameras which I did myself.

Hmm, this looks pretty interesting, I'll make sure to have kp stop by and check that out.

Thanks!
-JMP

This was an unanswered question or unresolved issue found during a site audit. It's hard to have an FAQ when the answers are missing, or final outcomes are unknown. At The Digital FAQ support forum, questions are never intentionally ignored, and may have been missed due to a forum glitch or human error. More details on the audit. (In some cases, threads have been edited/updated with newer information.)