In this video I will show you an easy way to make a panoramic picture in Photoshop. We’ve all been on vacation and come across that spectacular view that a single picture just couldn’t capture. The example you see here isn’t what I would consider to be a spectacular view, but it was wide enough that one picture wasn’t enough.
In order to make a panoramic print, you have to start with at least two individual pictures. I have three individual pictures for this example. So what’s the best way to take each of the three pictures? First, you hold the camera level and click the first shot. Then, staying on the same level plane, you take the next shot with about a 1/3rd overlap of the first shot. Then, for the third shot…again staying on the same level plane, you take the final shot with the same approximate 1/3rd overlap. Once done, you have three good sources for your pano print. It’s been my personal experience that any more or less than three pictures doesn’t work very well.
Now it’s time to stitch them together. To do that, go to “File” and click. In the dropdown, navigate to “Automate” then over to “Photomerge.” You will notice in the window that just opened, the “layout” is defaulted to “Auto.” Leave it here. I have found that Photoshop has a better idea what my pano should look like then if I should mess with the settings.
Next, we need to populate the center window with the three images I showed you at the beginning of the tutorial. To do that, go find your files. I’ll click “browse” go to my folder titled “Photoshop Tute” and select the three images I want to import. Be sure that the “Blend Images Together” box is checked since we want Photoshop to just that. As you can see in the video, Images 1, 2 & 3 are ready to go so I’ll click “Ok” and let Photoshop begin its magic.
As you can see, all three images have been stitched together seamlessly. The next item of business it to clean up this image. It looks pretty ragged around the edges. To do that, I’ll use the crop tool and set the parameters to the standard aspect ratio of a panoramic print which is 12-inches wide and 4-inches high.
But let’s say I wanted to work on it a little more like adjust the levels or color. Since the pano is still in layer form, I will want to flatten it by going to “layer” and “Flatten Image.” Once it is flattened, I can do what I need to do. Okay, now it is ready to be exported out of Photoshop so I will go to “File” then “Save As” then save it as a jpeg. So there you have it: you can now convey the panoramic majesty of any location you encounter!