Could someone explain how to export from QGIS a 16bit image.

I have imported data and coloured it as I want, but need to export it as a 16bit image, as 8bit is giving a terracing effect.I believe I need to use this code in OSGeo4W Shell, but I don't know how to use it?

gdal_translate -ot Int16 -srcwin xoff yoff xsize ysize -outsize xsize ysize src_dataset dst_dataset

Here is a screenshot of my map, which has the following extent:

Xmin 510000, Ymin 156000, Xmax 528000, Ymax 174000


  • 1
    Welcome to GIS:SE @Robert! For a simple translation to 16-bit, you could just type gdal_translate -ot Int16 path/to/input.tif pth/to/output.tif in the OSGeo4W shell. – Joseph Oct 5 '16 at 12:10
  • Hi Joseph, thanks for your help. I have tried this but get an error. "ERROR 4: `LIDAR_DTM_2m.qqs' does not exist in the file system, and is not recognized as a supported dataset name." If I link it back to the original data it works but the image is just a black square. – Robert Oct 5 '16 at 13:08
  • Maybe: click on the layer/ choose "Save as"/ check "Rendered" ? – Dave X Oct 7 '16 at 7:59
  • Dave, I have tried this but it only saves as 8-bit image. Also, I have 298 layers (small squares) which make up my map, so need to combine them together. Any other suggestions? – Robert Oct 7 '16 at 12:30

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