Cannot use layers if file has been converted from raw to Tiff.

[Janelle u.]

Any help would be appreciated! I am using PS 7.1 with Windows XP. When I convert a raw image taken on a Fuji S2Pro and convert it to a Tiff with Fuji's Raw file conversion software, I cannot use layer in Photoshop. If I try to add a adjustment layer in the layers pallet I get a circle with a line thru it. If I go to the layers in the tool bar it is gray and nothing works.
If I shoot a Tiff I have no problem only when I convert raw to tiff. I have talked with Fuji tech services and they think the problem is in Adobe. I suspect Adobe too because I had several other problems that arose after changing to Windows XP.
Anyone have an Idea what is going on?

[Eric Purkalitis]

I think the image is in 16-bit color, try changing the image mode to 8-bit.

[Brendon Fewel]

Shades? Of how many colors? How many colors can an 8 bit Tiff have, and how many colors can a 16 bit tiff have? Total.

[YrbkMgr]

In either case, more than you can see or print.

[Thomas Madsen]

Brendon Fewel wrote:

> Shades?

Yes shades. 8 bit in Photoshop means 8 bit per channel. (8 bit
means ²8 or 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 256).
In a RGB image you have 3 channels (red, green and blue) and each
channel can hold up to 256 different shades of the channels color.
It means that the red channel can hold up to 256 different shades
of red, the blue can hold up to 256 different shades of blue and
the green channel can hold up to 256 different shades of green.

> How many colors can an 8 bit Tiff have,

A 24 bit RGB image (8 bit per channel image from Photoshop's point
of view) can have around 16.7 million colors (256 x 256 x 256).
It's also called true color.

> and how many colors can a 16 bit tiff have? Total.

A 16 bit RGB image in Photoshop means 65536 (²16) different shades
per channel. If it's a RGB image, you can therefore have up to
65635 x 65635 x 65635 different colors. My calculator can't give
me that number but it's a very high number.
Even if you can't see that many colors, there can be an advantage
of making adjustments in 16 bit mode, but it depends on the image
and what corrections you need to make.

You can read more about it in this article:
<http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/7627.html>

--
Regards
Madsen.

[Brendon Fewel]

That's exactly what I needed. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I got the 256 color part, but I didn't make the step to 256x256x256. I was thinking of 256 colors in red, another 256 in green and another in blue. I was mentally thinking of them as seperate individual colors, not able to be mixed together (256+256+256=768) The combinations between the colors was what I needed to get. Thank you for your patience!

Brendon