"Do all the cropping" No time to check now; but I seem to remember that cropping is one of the things pshop wouldn't let me do in 16 bit mode. [I think I was using the selection rectangle, not the crop tool...] Don is correct; one would like to crop. Then only the important areas are included in the histograms. Good tip about archiving the 16 bit version before filtering, etc. I ALWAYS forget to do this. 'Chelle, not sure I'd really worry too much about all of this. Particularly if you keep an archive of the original. We're viewing the results through an 8 bit monitor afterall. Lots of electrons are flying around the web describing different photoshop workflows. Almost a religeous topic. Some organizations mandate particular workflows in an effort to maintain consistancy; important not to turn large production runs a strange color. [But I do understand you wanting to preserve the best possible quality.] A more interesting problem is that of doing a dozen or so photoshop operations, (perspective, layer sharpening, channel mixer to B&W, duotoning...), and then wanting to do exactly the same operations, maybe a year later. This problem has come up for me fairly often, as when later wanting to do a larger version or slightly different crop of the original. Have you figured out how to use "History"? I have not.