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Photoshop CC gradient banding

Community Beginner ,
Feb 25, 2014 Feb 25, 2014

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I've been a using Photoshop for 20 years (as a design professional) and only since I switched to CC a few months ago, I get awful obvious banding when creating gradients. Even in rgb files, which sometimes used to occur in cmyk. Nothing seems to get rid of it, and I'm NOT looking for a noise or blur solution, please, so don't suggest that.

I did the same actions in Adobe 4 which I still have on another computer and it doesn't occur. I hate this. Any suggestions? I have a new latest iMAC so it doesn't seem like that would be the issue.

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Sep 26, 2014 Sep 26, 2014

It is not a problem - it is a result of having very smooth gradations display or printed on systems with quantization levels (how many bits are displayed/printed) that cause visible banding.

And the solution is always the same: add enough noise to make the banding invisible.

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Mentor ,
Feb 25, 2014 Feb 25, 2014

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Is the banding showing up in print or on-screen?  Or both?  In the old days, banding showed up in low res monitors or monitors showing only 256 colors.  I wonder if it could be related to the monitor or the video card?  I still do not understand how software development has not evolved to the level of zero defects.  That goes for hardware, too.  They wrote these applications and operating systems years ago and I would think that, by now, they'd have perfected everything to work in concert.  Guess I got a wiff of laughng gas.

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 25, 2014 Feb 25, 2014

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I think it's a screen issue since after I posted this I thought I'd try it on my older iMac. Looks fine. Spent hours on phone with AppleCare and they have no idea what I'm talking about. Never heard of banding. Right.

Sent from my iPhone

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Mentor ,
Feb 26, 2014 Feb 26, 2014

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A quick test if the video card is causing these issues is to turn off hardware acceleration in the preferences, and restart Photoshop.

Does it still occur after turning that off?

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 26, 2014 Feb 26, 2014

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I can't see where that's an option in preferences.

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Mentor ,
Feb 26, 2014 Feb 26, 2014

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Performance tab-->use graphics processor. Uncheck and reboot photoshop.

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 26, 2014 Feb 26, 2014

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I had tried that before. Tried it again. Nope. It seems like contrast SOOOO high, accentuating the banding. And it's set to the lowest.

I've tried everything, Besides it's the same in illustrator. EVerything looks striped. Not as smooth as it should be at all.

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Feb 26, 2014 Feb 26, 2014

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A bad display profile could exaggerate banding, as could a bad display (particularly laptop LCDs).

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Mentor ,
Feb 26, 2014 Feb 26, 2014

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And the screen is colour calibrated? It might be a defect in the screen's hardware - I know that the video hardware applies certain debanding tricks. Have you checked with an identical iMac (for example in an Apple store)?

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 26, 2014 Feb 26, 2014

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Herbert, I thought I'd try that (bring a file into the stiore, see what it looks like on a similar machine. Computer is a late 2013 iMac (latest upgrade in November), All Adobe Creative Cloud software, Mavericks OS (latest upgrade) So NOTHING is old.

Maybe the displays are just not what they used to be. It's bright and color is OK, but it's so contrasty for my taste. Edges that should be soft are harsh. And then the banding is not good. It makes it tricky to see what I'm really getting.

Thanks.

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 26, 2014 Feb 26, 2014

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And it's calibrated, but by me, like I usually. do. The default setting is even worse.

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Mentor ,
Feb 26, 2014 Feb 26, 2014

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I agree - and unfortunately the quality of Apple screens is not what is used to be years ago. I teach in Apple labs and I have seen a degradation in screen quality over the years, with contrast given precedence over colour quality.

Btw, Mavericks is the buggiest MacOs in a long time (ever?), and I have read accounts about how it affects video hardware negatively as well. Did you install CC on the older mac for comparison?

Otherwise you may have to get a second high-quality screen meant for graphics design and work on that.

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 26, 2014 Feb 26, 2014

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Mavericks IS buggy. I can't install CC on my older one, since I still want to keep Adobe CS4 stuff there.

And getting a secind screen, yeah I guess, but then there was no point in getting an iMac. I couldve gotten a Mac Pro model and a separate display, but I haven't and don't want to keep buying equipment right now.

This SHOULD be a high quality screen!

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Mentor ,
Feb 26, 2014 Feb 26, 2014

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I wonder if it's Photoshop > Preferences > General > Image Interpolation = Bicubic ( best for smooth gradients )?  In Illustrator > Preferences > General > select Anti-Aliased Artwork.  I am not running Mavericks or any creative crud crapware, so the only thing, other than what I already posted, I can think of is application specific Preference settings.  Photoshop Image Interpolation set for Bicubic seems like a likely solution, is that selected or not?

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 26, 2014 Feb 26, 2014

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Yes, I checked that. nope. I'm thinking it's not sioftware related now, like I thought at first.

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Mentor ,
Feb 26, 2014 Feb 26, 2014

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To figure out whether this is due to faulty hardware or the OS, you could install Windows, and install CC for Windows. If the gradients display fine, you have your answer.

Might be a bit much, though, to go through all that merely to check whether this is an OS or hardware issue... 😉

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Mentor ,
Feb 26, 2014 Feb 26, 2014

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Is that a Retna Display?

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New Here ,
Sep 04, 2017 Sep 04, 2017

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You let Apple Care take up your time? Sorry man, but they're looking stuff up on the internet just like the rest of us, but they're getting paid to do it.

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New Here ,
Mar 03, 2014 Mar 03, 2014

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I am having the same issue and was thinking it was my monitor until tonight.  I realize now that it's PS CC that's causign the problem.

I had the CS6 subsctiption before I upgraded to the photographer's bundle with LR.  When I first noticed the banding working in PS CC, it didn't occur to me that it was the change in software...

I also have an iMac, but mine is much older than yours as I got it early in 2010.  When I first noticed this banding, I thought it was my computer that was causing the problem,  but I now I really don't think that's the problem.

Tonight, I re-processed some photos of Northern lIghts that I took and first processed back in July.  At that time I was using the online version of PS6. 

While doing these new edits tonight, I noticed the banding and was unhappy with it.  I attributed it to my computer and did my best to ignore it.

Then I brought the new PSD files back into my LR catalogue and looked the old PSD files(which I thankfully kept).  The original files I processed in July with CS6 are beautiful and clean with smooth and creamy looking transitions.  The ones I just processed with PS CC are unacceptable and look like Netflix on a bad day, and I wouldn't even show them publicly.

It's late now, but I need to put in a support ticket as this is unacceptable.  I want CS6 back...

Lisa

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Mar 03, 2014 Mar 03, 2014

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No, this is not a problem with Photoshop CC.

It could be a problem with your display profile (try changing it in the system settings) or your video card driver (try updating it from the GPU maker's website).

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New Here ,
Mar 06, 2014 Mar 06, 2014

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Then why are the files saving with the problem showing on other peoples' computers, and why do I have a copy with the exact same NEF file, done on the exact same computer, but with CS6 that looks clean, while the one done with PS CC looks so bad the files aren't usable?

The jpegs save with the problem visible.

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Mar 06, 2014 Mar 06, 2014

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I don't know what mistake you might be making, but you have to be making a mistake somewhere to have gradients appear differently in CS6 and CC.

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Guide ,
Mar 06, 2014 Mar 06, 2014

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Just for drill, could you please post a screenshot, or a jpeg/png of the issue you are having? (Even a test file, if it shows the problem.)

I'm using CC, haven't had this issue, and am wondering if I can recreate your problem here.

Thanks.

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Engaged ,
Mar 10, 2016 Mar 10, 2016

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"No, this is not a problem with Photoshop CC."

then why does this exist? Honest question, may be outdated.

Photoshop Actions to fix the banding of Photoshop's gradients.

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Mar 10, 2016 Mar 10, 2016

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Because the author of that action was very confused about what actually causes the banding.

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