Accidental Banding Trick???

[nrotunda]

Can someone please tell me why this worked because I have no idea!! I'm working on some images of a model against a dramatic sky. The photographer wanted the sky dark with vignetting. I'm working in 16-bit and was getting banding in the sky on all images. I tried the old trick of adding a 50% gray layer, soft light, and adding noise, but it wasn't working at all and I was about ready to simultaneously pull my hair out and cry. Then I created a stamp visible layer on top of all layers (I don't know what I was going for here) and when it completed the banding disappeared. I did nothing, no blending mode, no blurring... nothing just a stamp visible layer. Why did this work??? And did it actually work? Will banding show up on another monitor? As far as I know these are for web only.

Thanks yall!

[Doug Nelson]

Re: Accidental Banding Trick???

What was your zoom level when viewing? I've discovered some small adjustments don't really show at 100%. Perhaps your baking in the adjustment layer fixed this problem, as it wasn't viewing an adjustment anymore.

I tried to simulate your problem, but couldn't deliberately get PS to band.

[nrotunda]

Re: Accidental Banding Trick???

I was at 12.5% when I made the stamp visible layer and saw the change. Now that I'm looking at it again, I only see the banding when zoomed out

[nrotunda]

Re: Accidental Banding Trick???

But that's normal right? I definitely saw the banding disappear when zoomed out

[Doug Nelson]

Re: Accidental Banding Trick???

Things might have changed with CC, but Photoshop used to only offer truly accurate views at certain increments. I thought 12.5% was one of those, but I could be misremembering. Views at other zoom levels were interpolated.

Run your cursor over the band with the info panel open. If the value suddenly jumps right at the band edge, it's really there. If it doesn't, it's a display artifact.

[skoobey]

Re: Accidental Banding Trick???

Only believe the image at 100%. This is a well known occurrence.

[nrotunda]

Re: Accidental Banding Trick???

Ah got it. This makes me feel better. I really don't know enough about this topic. Do you have any good articles or resources so I can learn about it?

[nrotunda]

Re: Accidental Banding Trick???

Also, what do you say to clients if they see banding but you don't see it at 100%?

[skoobey]

Re: Accidental Banding Trick???

I tell them to buy a decent monitor and look at images with professional software.

[Doug Nelson]

Re: Accidental Banding Trick???

That's a stronger version of what I'd tell them. If you know there's no banding and they see banding, ask them to try a different monitor/computer. Same thing I tell the occasional user that can't watch my videos or join my shows.

[Aladdin]

Re: Accidental Banding Trick???

Here, from the man himself, Lee Varis, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLWh68q_yUI

[John Wheeler]

Re: Accidental Banding Trick???

There are a variety of ways Photoshop create artifacts. Some will show up in print and some will not.

Your best bet is to stamp all Layers and view at 100% magnification to check for artifacts.

I explored the sources or artifacting in PS some time back. Attached is a Layered PSD file that demonstrates an extreme example of one type. You would expect that what you see is the same at all magnifications. However, in the example PSD file, when you should only see a B&W Checkerboard pattern. However, at 50% magnification or below, the Text is fully visible. If interested, I could provide more details yet the PSD file gets the point across. Just reduce the magnification and see what happens.

The embedded text in the image gives a bit more information.

[klev]

Re: Accidental Banding Trick???

But that's normal right? I definitely saw the banding disappear when zoomed out

It's certainly an error in the way the layered version is drawn. I know that can be frustrating.