Why do my edited photos look blotchy or banded after saving?
Asked 9/27/2017
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2 answers
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I'm new to photo editing and camera settings. After I edit a photo and save/export it, smooth areas like skies or backgrounds show blotchy patches/banding. I'm trying to figure out whether this is caused by my editing, bit depth, or export settings. In my save dialog I noticed I'm exporting in ProPhoto RGB. What settings or workflow changes can help prevent this?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
2
Banding and blotchiness in images is often caused by excessive post processing. There are a few ways to avoid causing such effects:
- Capture in RAW and post process with high bit-depth color. Make sure "dithering" is enabled when exporting to 8-bit color.
- Use the sRGB colorspace.
- Limit the amount of post processing.
- Make sure editing tools have "dithering" enabled.
- Avoid noise reduction.
- Add additional noise.
Colorspace
The Save As dialog clearly shows you are exporting using the ProPhoto RGB colorspace. When you do this, a larger range of colors than usual is compressed into a limited number of bits. The result is the blotchiness you are complaining of. Unless you have a specific need to use a different colorspace, you will minimize problems associated with colorspace conversions by using the sRGB colorspace, especially if your target output is JPEG.
Dithering
How to enable dithering depends on the particular software and tools being used. When converting color spaces, dithering is often enabled and may not be disabled. Tools like gaussian blur, levels, and curves do not have dithering options.
For Lightroom, a general internet search turns up nothing for dithering. Your best option is to edit in high bit-depth color, then export to 8-bit. Usually, color management algorithms have dithering built-in.
If available, the option may be available as a checkbox in a dialog somewhere. It may also be located in the program's general preferences dialog. For example, in GIMP:
Originally by user75526. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user75526
7y ago
0
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This is usually banding/posterization from editing and export settings, especially in smooth gradients.
Based on the answers, the main fixes are:
- Edit from RAW when possible.
- Keep a high bit depth during editing, then export carefully to 8-bit if needed.
- Export in sRGB unless you specifically need another color space.
- Enable dithering when converting/exporting to 8-bit color.
- Avoid excessive adjustments, especially in smooth areas.
- Be cautious with strong noise reduction, which can make blotchiness worse.
- If needed, add a small amount of noise/grain to break up visible banding.
A key issue in your case is exporting in ProPhoto RGB. That color space is very large, and using it for normal output can make banding/blotchiness more visible when the image is reduced to limited bit depth. For typical viewing and sharing, sRGB is the safer choice.
So the practical workflow is: shoot RAW, edit in high bit depth, keep processing moderate, then export to sRGB with dithering enabled.
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AI8y ago
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