stitching photos

[sandymere]

Can anyone help me by explaining how i stitch pics together to make a panoramic landscape?

Thanks Sandymere

[Red Squirrel]

Sandymere, I run Vista and this came with the computer. It's very easy to use. You can get a free trial from here.
www.arcsoft.com/products/panoramamaker

[eenymac]

Another bit of software worth trying is Microsoft ICE. Just go to the MS site and it's a free download and very easy to use. I have done a few test landscape panoramas with it which look very nice indeed.

Free is always good too!

[Geoff F]

I just use my normal photo editing programme. Create a new plain background with the required dimensions (make sure the resolution, pixels per inch, is correct) then paste the individual photos as layers. You may have to Open the photos as individual items then copy to clipboard, close the photo file and paste the copy as a new layer onto the background..

Move the layers left to right and up and down, as necessary. Check the join between photos is an exact match and move up or down the layer stack to select the required layer for adjustment. Zoom in and out as necessary to check for a perfect join between photos.

It might appear, at first, to be a lot more complex than the auto panorama creation software but I reckon it gives more flexibility and a smoother finish.

If some of the imported images are a bit short on the top to bottom line you may have to crop the finished product a little.

The chief requirement for good results is to shoot the scene with manual settings, so that you don't get colour variation caused by auto exposure variation and preferably use a tripod.

I have a friend who produces 10ft x 2ft prints professionally.

[Hobjob]

Photoshop does it for you - even stuck three horizontals on top of
another three horizontals for me, stitching all six together.
(Inside of Mosta Church, Malta).

[Richard G.]

I use an assortment of things from very expensive to free.

Autopano Pro is one of the best, especially for very complex stitches, lots of pictures or both vertical and horizontal within a single stitch. This shot is a stitchup of 33 frames (I forgot to pack a wide angle lens, so took many shots at 200mm+) and Autopano had no trouble putting them altogether.



I've also used Arcsoft Panoramamaker and it seems to do a reasonable job, even when Autopano struggles sometimes, though I've no idea why this is. As I remember it's limited to vertical OR horizontal though and you don't have that much control of the output image size (small, medium or large ).

Finally, panotools is free, but really needs a frontend, like PTGui to make the most of it. Even then, it's not so user friendly as the others I find.

[Ed Tyler]

Hi There,

I won't really comment on the software as many others seem to of covered that area, but do bear in mind you need good source images for the software to work with to get a decent final image.

As already mentioned use manual to shoot all shots and ensure you leave enough of an over lap so the software has something to work with properly.

Look to shoot source images that overlap between 30-50% and you should be fine.

Ed Tyler

[sandymere]

Many thanks all.
Hobjob i have phtoshop but cant seem to work out how to stitch my pics together - can you give me a clue???
I've spent several hour reently try but getting no where. i downloaded Microsoft image library but his wouldnt work either. i havent had my camera long and i'm not very IT gifted so i think it more my inability rather than the inability of the systems i have.

Any help with photoshop, in the most basic terms, would be very much appreciated.

Sandymere

[ron1863]

Check the wab, you will find lots of info and video instructions. Do you have Elements or CS2 or 3. Here is one for elements:

Create Great Panoramas with Photoshop Elements 6 - Solutions by PC Magazine

[Hobjob]

Yes, its not intuitive.
File | automate | photomerge | auto (don't think I have used the other options)

Can be a bit slow, but think about what its actually doing, and how long it would take you and have a cup of doffee!

make sure you know which files you want to use first.

Originally Posted by sandymere

Many thanks all.
Hobjob i have phtoshop but cant seem to work out how to stitch my pics together - can you give me a clue???
I've spent several hour reently try but getting no where. i downloaded Microsoft image library but his wouldnt work either. i havent had my camera long and i'm not very IT gifted so i think it more my inability rather than the inability of the systems i have.

Any help with photoshop, in the most basic terms, would be very much appreciated.

Sandymere