CS5 / 32 bit (Mac) / Missing functionality

[iCe]

Does anyone know why Shadows and Highlights doesn't work when the image mode is set to a 32 bit image?

I like what happens to the image when I switch to 32 bit mode but if I lose functionality it doesn't do me much good...

[srwatters]

There are many filters that don't work in 16 bit mode on CS4. I would assume this is a similar issue. 32 bits of color per pixel makes for a huge image. Do you have enough RAM to process at that depth?

[billbunton]

There's not much that works when you're at 32bpp. Used to be exposure was the only thing, I think they added a bit more for CS5 but I doubt any of the filters support it.

[iCe]

Originally Posted by srwatters

There are many filters that don't work in 16 bit mode on CS4. I would assume this is a similar issue. 32 bits of color per pixel makes for a huge image. Do you have enough RAM to process at that depth?

True... 8Gb of Ram. The TIF file was 462Mb and change

Originally Posted by billbunton

There's not much that works when you're at 32bpp. Used to be exposure was the only thing, I think they added a bit more for CS5 but I doubt any of the filters support it.

I guess the 3 dollar question is what's it good for then?

[billbunton]

It's for HDR; what you get when you build an HDR image. You can then adjust the exposure and maybe a couple other things, then do your tonemapping as you convert it to 16 (or 8) bpp.

[iCe]

I don't know if it's a special bug just for me or what but when I switch to 32 bit mode and then switch back to 16 bit it pops the HDR Toning window instead of going back to 16 bit. I had to drop out of CS5 and then re-open it to get the images back to 16 bit.

[billbunton]

No, it's not you, that's what it's supposed to do. The 32 bit mode is a 32-bit floating point representation, specifically for representing high dynamic range images, and to convert to an integer (16 or 8 bit) mode you have to do the tonemapping.

[iCe]

What I'm saying is that when I change the mode to 32 bit and then try to switch back to 16 bit so I can use the program it starts HDR Toning rather than converting back to 16 bit. That's normal? What do I do to get out? Close the file and reopen it?

[billbunton]

Yes, that's right. The only way to get from 32bpp to 16bpp (or 8bpp) is through tonemapping. You can either close it and reopen it, or actually do the tonemapping. You wouldn't normally convert an existing photo to 32bpp in the first place unless you wanted to tonemap it; normally the 32bpp images are created by the PS merge to HDR.

[iCe]

Oh... well I'll be darned. That makes sense then.