stitching tool recommendation

Inflex · 06-20-2009, 09:20 AM

Does anyone have any recommendations for a stitching tool? When out and about, I always take a few pics with the idea of creating a pano. However, I've generally just left said pics collecting electronic dust due to the amount of work to get each image stitched seamlessly.

Some time ago I played with PTgui and liked it. It seemed pretty good for its power and ease of use. I'm just not sure if I should spend the $100-$200 for it, especially if there are any better tools out lurking about.

So, what are your favorite tools to use? Photoshop? Gimp? PTGui? Pros and cons?

Ramtime · 06-20-2009, 12:58 PM

I've been using Windows Live Photo Center and it will allow you to select a group of pictures and it will automatically stitch them. The great thing is the pictures don't have to be in order, it takes care of everything. Give it a try, it's free and you can't go wrong.

Raven Ryder · 06-20-2009, 02:18 PM

Photoshop CS4 and has auto align tool...it will also auto blend all the colors to make them look right as well

example:

this was about 15 images into 1...

Inflex · 06-22-2009, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramtime

I've been using Windows Live Photo Center and it will allow you to select a group of pictures and it will automatically stitch them. The great thing is the pictures don't have to be in order, it takes care of everything. Give it a try, it's free and you can't go wrong.

Interesting find there. I dug a bit deeper and you can get the underlying stitching tool called Image Composition Editor, which exposes some more of the stitching controls. It's a great tool. However, I found it doesn't allow manual control points (I think in the interest of preserving a friendly/automatic interface). This creates a problem with images it doesn't find correct control points for. I did find a workaround, but it's a hassle in that I'd have to "paint" in control points to my images with solid colors and then rewrite the project file to use the unmodified images.

Does photoshop's stitching tool automatically adjust images for exposure variations, light falloff, and other issues with color between images? Is it pretty seamless to PP images individually and then have the changes integrated into the stitched pic? One thing I want to avoid is any processing and stitching acting like or being two different programs.

Photohog · 06-22-2009, 07:56 PM

I use photoshop and it seems to work fairly well. You may have to fine tune some of the stitching.

Raven Ryder · 06-22-2009, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inflex

Does photoshop's stitching tool automatically adjust images for exposure variations, light falloff, and other issues with color between images? Is it pretty seamless to PP images individually and then have the changes integrated into the stitched pic? One thing I want to avoid is any processing and stitching acting like or being two different programs.

all auto in CS4

pretty amazing actually..and it will bend a and twist photos to make them line up as perfect as possible

06-20-2009, 09:20 AM	#1
Inflex Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: everett Posts: 76	stitching tool recommendation Does anyone have any recommendations for a stitching tool? When out and about, I always take a few pics with the idea of creating a pano. However, I've generally just left said pics collecting electronic dust due to the amount of work to get each image stitched seamlessly. Some time ago I played with PTgui and liked it. It seemed pretty good for its power and ease of use. I'm just not sure if I should spend the $100-$200 for it, especially if there are any better tools out lurking about. So, what are your favorite tools to use? Photoshop? Gimp? PTGui? Pros and cons?

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06-20-2009, 12:58 PM	#2
Ramtime Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Fircrest, WA Posts: 17 My Camera: D80	I've been using Windows Live Photo Center and it will allow you to select a group of pictures and it will automatically stitch them. The great thing is the pictures don't have to be in order, it takes care of everything. Give it a try, it's free and you can't go wrong.

06-20-2009, 02:18 PM	#3
Raven Ryder Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bothell, WA Posts: 233 My Camera: Nikon D60 & D300S	Photoshop CS4 and has auto align tool...it will also auto blend all the colors to make them look right as well example: this was about 15 images into 1...

06-22-2009, 07:56 PM	#5
Photohog Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: North Bend Posts: 213 My Camera: is brand new	I use photoshop and it seems to work fairly well. You may have to fine tune some of the stitching.