<x-flowed>At 10:01 AM +1000 6/20/00, Brendan Sullivan wrote: >I'm about to purchase a Polaroid SS 4000 and a new computer. Already have a >1270 printer and Photoshop 5.5. > >My question is this: if the ultimate output is printing to the 1270, is >there any practical benefit in 36 bit over 24 bit? In other words, while >the 36 bit scan may produce a wider color range, is that wider range capable >of being reproduced by the printer? The 36 bit tonal resolution will not show up on the 1270. That said, there are advantages to scanning in 36 bit. If you scan in 36 bit on a scanner that has a high dynamic range (a more important measurement for scanners in my opinion) then you will have encoded that greater range well. Then you should apply your largest tonal adjustments (pulling detail out of the shadows etc) when your file is in 36 bit depth. Chances are you will down-sample the file to 24 bit for other Photoshop operations and that's OK. Having done your major stuff in 36 bit you will not have thrashed the data too much. While 36 bit data will not make a difference in straight-out printing, scanning in 36 bit, editing your images, down-sampling to 24 bit, filtering, etc will probably help you produce better images. Regards, Steve Upton +--------------------------------------------------+ Steve Upton upton@chromix.com CHROMiX / Profile Central www.chromix.com www.profilecentral.com p:206-985-6837 f:206.526.8278 9594 1st Ave NE #390 Seattle, WA 98115 Color Store...Remote Profiling...Media Management +--------------------------------------------------+ - * WIN a $500 Gift Certificate in our Father's Day Photo Contest! * * http://www.pcphotoreview.com/go.cfm?ref=lebenpr * * Shop smart! Read product reviews of photo printers and digital cameras * </x-flowed>