Photoshop banding
Out of context: Reply #12
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- dMullins0
Dithering Is Everything
Adding dithering to a gradient produces smoother results. Non-dithered gradients often contain visible banding. Dithering is even more important if your artwork is being viewed on cheaper 6-bit per channel TN LCDs and certain display types that tend to amplify posterization problems.
Ensuring that your gradients are dithered is easy: just check the appropriate box in Photoshop. Note that gradient layer styles can’t be dithered, and gradients in placed objects (such as stuff you’ve pasted from Illustrator) aren’t dithered.
If you use transparency in a gradient, that won’t be dithered either, which can be a huge issue at times. There is a solution for some specific cases: if you’re using a gradient with transparency to lighten an area with white, then using a non-transparent gradient with a Screen Layer blending mode will let you dither it. The same technique can be used for darkening with the Multiply blending mode.