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December 1, 2008 |
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Created and Maintained by: The Photoimaging Information Council |
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by Dave Cross |
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Both Photoshop CS and Photoshop Elements have a great feature called Photomerge that automates the process of creating panoramas – or at least attempts to do so. Before we take a look at the process of using Photomerge, first we need to address the most important part of using Photomerge: taking the pictures. Yes, before even opening your images in the software you can have a major impact on its success.
Photomerge “automatically’ stitches together 2 or more images based on similarly of colors, overlap between images, and angles. So, when you’re taking the pictures you’re going to use in Photomerge, here are the important things to remember: First, use a tripod. No matter how steady your hands are, there will usually be a slight difference between each picture. A tripod simply helps ensure that all your images follow the same basic angle. Second, don’t use any automatic settings for exposure. Think about it: you’re going to take several pictures, each time moving your camera to capture a slightly different area. If your camera is set on automatic exposure, each new area could turn out slightly differently. Instead, aim your camera at the approximate “center” of your panorama, manually set the exposure. Then keep that same setting as you take all the pictures. Third, when you take your pictures, make sure you have a fairly healthy overlap between each image. If you’re shooting a landscape for example, make sure the same tree appears on the far right of the first picture and the far left of the second picture. You’ll probably get better results if you take 4 pictures with noticeable overlaps rather than 3 pictures with small overlaps.
 © 2004 David Cross
 © 2004 David Cross
 © 2004 David Cross
Okay, now you’re ready to use the Photomerge command! Depending on your software, there’s a couple of different ways to launch the automated command. In Photoshop Elements you open all the images you want to use, and then from the File menu, choose Create Photomerge. In Photoshop CS you can either open the images and then use File>Automate>Photomerge, or click on the images in the File Browser and use the File Browser’s Automate command to choose Photomerge.  © 2004 David Cross
Once the Photomerge dialog box is open, the operation is virtually identical between CS and Elements, and if you’re lucky, should be pretty much automatic, as Photoshop will attempt to stitch together your chosen images. If it is unable to position any image in the panorama, the image(s) will appear in the top bar. Then you can manually drag the image into the position you want it. It should “snap” into position as you get fairly close to the correct location.  © 2004 David Cross
There are other options that may help with your panorama. Clicking the Perspective button will alter the images to attempt to keep them in better perspective. Sometimes this can help, in some cases it won’t (or will make your panorama look worse).  © 2004 David Cross
Cylindrical Mapping is another option that’s worth trying and like Perspective, you’ll have to experiment to see if it helps. In this case though, you’ll have to click the Preview button to see the results.  © 2004 David Cross
Advanced blending will often help blend challenging areas together, and again, you need to go into Preview mode to see the results.  © 2004 David Cross
The main difference in the Photoshop CS version of Photomerge is that there’s an option to Keep as Layers. Although this can help of you are manually adjusting the pieces, you’ll loose the effects of advanced blending. Click OK to let the automated command work its magic and see the end result.
 © 2004 David Cross
It's not unusual to see a few areas you need to touch up using the Clone Stamp tool, and you’ll typically have to crop the image. Here’s the results of our panorama experiment.
 © 2004 David Cross
The beauty of automated features is that they do the work for you. In the case of Photomerge that is often the case, but don’t be surprised if you have to do some experimenting in the Photomerge dialog to see what results you get. And, you mat=y need to do some tweaking after the fact to get ideal results. Still, it’s a far cry form having to manually stitch together you own panorama.
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