16bit images in - 8bit texture out?

[MetaUser555]

Hi, just wanted to know if there is a way to force an image to export as an 8bit tif even if you have the model built with 16bit images.
There doesn't seem to be any option to select bit depth.
I'm trying to reduce file sizes and I don't need a 16bit image as the exported texture file - I'm using RAW files as the processing images from a dslr.
thanks for any help!

[ferengi]

im not sure, but i would use jpeg as texture => 8bit (Jpeg doesn't support more)

[MetaUser555]

thanks for the reply but Tifs are the format i need in 8bit
cheers

[PROBERT1968]

You need a software that enable to option from 16 bit to 8 bit. i work with Geospatial and have ERDAS that does that for me.