Bit Depth

The Importance of Bit Depth in High-Quality Inkjet Print

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MAIN TAKEAWAYS:

  • Bit depth refers to the amount of color information contained in each pixel of an image.
  • Understanding bit depth helps reduce instances of color corrections, production delays, or costly reprints.
  • The Designers Guide to Inkjet, 3rd Edition has everything digital inkjet designers need to know about bit depth. 

When designers prepare pieces for high-quality inkjet printing, most know to think about resolution, color profiles, and file formats. But there’s another technical element that has a profound impact on print quality, and it’s one that many creatives aren’t introduced to until a project goes off the rails.

Bit depth might sound like something only engineers or prepress operators need to worry about, but it’s actually a powerful concept for designers. Understanding bit depth gives you the vocabulary to communicate more effectively with your printer and the confidence to predict how your digital files will look once they’re transformed into ink on paper.

Why bit depth is important

What bit depth is about and why it matters for print

Bit depth refers to the amount of color information contained in each pixel of an image. It’s critical in defining gray levels, which help determine the number of color tones that can be processed and the color shades in each pixel. Simply put, bit depth communicates how many continuous drops to jet, whereas grayscale, also called “levels of gray,” tells the print engine what drop size the printhead must jet. 

At the simplest level:

  • 8-bit images contain 256 tonal values per color channel.
  • 16-bit images contain more than 65,000 tonal values per channel.

To a designer, the difference might not be obvious until your work hits paper, but bit depth affects some of the most visible qualities of print:

  • Smoothness of gradients
  • Subtlety of color transitions
  • Accuracy in soft or low-contrast areas
  • The absence or presence of banding

High-quality inkjet printers are sensitive to transitions in tone and can reproduce extremely minute shifts in color if the data sent to them contains those shifts to begin with. When the bit depth is too low, the printer isn’t given enough color information, and it can only do its best to approximate what’s missing. The result can be a print that feels flat or slightly “off,” even if the DPI is technically correct.

Bit depth and color

Why designers should care about bit depth

While designers aren’t responsible for adjusting printing equipment and settings, they are responsible for delivering the most complete, high-quality data possible. Understanding bit depth is empowering because it helps you:

Communicate clearly with your printer

If you don’t know what to ask for, you won’t know how to get the results that you want. By communicating with printers using accurate terminology, you’re making their lives easier and helping produce better results. This shared vocabulary aligns expectations and helps printers give you smarter, more project-appropriate recommendations, and reduces miscommunication that results in added time, cost, and frustration. 

Properly prepare files 

The last thing you want to do is hand your printer files that don’t print cleanly and predictably. If you work with photography, gradients, or other tonal elements, it helps to know what bit depth to start your image editing in to protect subtle transitions that would otherwise break down during the rest of the editing process. When you convert your files for your printer, that extra depth ensures you’re not “stretching” limited data, which may result in banding, color jumps, and costly delays or reprints.

Choose the right paper

Paper selection is about more than just texture and color. Different papers render tones differently, which is where bit depth correlates directly with print media. For example:

  • Smooth, coated papers reveal even the smallest banding or tone imperfections.
  • Textured, uncoated, or matte papers can mask some low-bit-depth issues, but they also absorb ink differently.
  • Fine-art papers benefit from 16-bit source files because they emphasize nuance and subtlety, which results in elevated print quality.

When you understand bit depth, you’re better equipped to select a paper that complements your design rather than exposes its limitations. And when your printer recommends a stock, you’ll understand why its surface characteristics interact differently with your digital data.

Bit depth and cost-savings

How understanding bit depth helps save time and money

The use of variable drop sizes can provide clearer small text, smoother curves, solid color fills, and allow more highlight and midtone detail for photos and gradations, as well as reproduce better color depth. But if you don’t know why that’s the case, problems will arise before the printing press even starts. 

When files don’t contain enough usable data when sent to your printer, it can result in reprints, rushed adjustments, and unexpected color outcomes that cost time, budget, and sometimes client confidence. By starting with images that preserve a full range of tonal information, you give the printer more flexibility to match your vision accurately. This helps reduce:

  • Color corrections
  • Last-minute redesigns
  • Paper substitutions
  • Production delays

By learning the basics, you're giving yourself the vocabulary and confidence to collaborate meaningfully with your printer, choose the right materials, and ultimately create prints that look exactly the way you envisioned. 

The Designer’s Guide to Inkjet, 3rd Edition has everything you need to know about bit depth and how to design for digital inkjet to ensure all your projects truly turn heads. And, for those designers ready to print, the PrintAccess® directory of printers can help you find your ideal inkjet print partner. 

 

Download the guide or access the directory.