1. A method for reducing and reconstructing multi-bit grayscale image data, comprising: reducing the grayscale image data from a larger multi-bit depth to a smaller multi-bit depth; storing the reduced grayscale image data in a memory, transmitting the reduced grayscale image data over a communication channel, or both; reconstructing the reduced grayscale image data to the larger multi-bit depth; and sending the reconstructed grayscale image data to a printing device accepting grayscale image data.