Barninga'spanoramatutorial

Aforeword
Apanoramaisanimagemadeofseveralpics,stitchedtogether.Thistechniqueallowsvery
detailedimagesatresolutionsthatnocameracangive.Panoramasarealsoveryeffective,
duetotheirparticularformat:theirheight/widthratioismuchsmallerthanthecommonratios
foundinthedigitalphotographyfield.Whilemostdigitalcamerastakepicswitha2/3or3/4
ratio,panoramasusuallyhavearatiosmallerthan1/3:1/5or1/6,andeven1/7or1/8are
quitecommonvalues.
Panoramasarerathereasytocreateinthedigitalfield,whiletraditionalfilmpicswould
requiretechnicalmeansandskillsthatonlyveryexpertphotographerscanhave:therefore
thisguideisorientedtodigitalimageprocessing.However,takingthepicswithatraditional
cameraandscanningthemallowsthepicstobeassembledintoapanoramajustasifthey
had been taken with a digital equipment. Thus, panorama concepts apply, after all, to
traditionalphotographyalso.
Thistutorialisnotacompleteandcomprehensiveguidetopanoramaimages.It'sjusta
tutorial.Notareallyquickone,maybe,butitaddressesthebasicaspects,intheeffortto
givesuggestionsabouthowtogetthemostoutofabunchofcarefullytakenshots,and
avoidcommonerrorsandproblems.
Iamnotaprofessionalphotographerand,tomakethingsevenworse,Englishisnotmyown
language;so,iapologizeinadvanceforanyerrorsandambiguitiesthisdocumentmay
contain.

Takingthepics
Itisobvious,butitisanywayworththewhilesaying:
inordertocomposeapanoramaimage,thesingle
picsmustpartiallyoverlap(seeimage).Thewiderthe
overlapping area, the better the result. In some
cases,itisstillpossibletostitchthepicsevenifthey
overlapjustalittle,however,asageneralrule,they
shouldoverlapby1/3,oratleast1/4oftheirwidth(or
height)togetoptimalresults.

Note how the leftmost part of the pic on the right

overlapstherightmostpartofthepicontheleft.

Page1of22
Someusefulsuggestions

Verticalvs.horizontalpanoramas
Picscanbetakenpanninghorizontallyorvertically;inbothcases,however,itisimportant
to panfollowing an horizontalorverticalaxiswiththemaximumpossibleprecision.For
example,whiletakingthepicsforanhorizontalpanorama,thehorizonlineshouldbeatthe
sameheightinalltheshots(seealso:Tripodshooting,pg.3).Ifnot,you'llgetawavy
panorama,andyou'llhavetocropathickerborder,attherisktoloseimportantdetailsand
partsoftheimageweoriginallyplannedtoget.

Anexampleofawavypanorama.Thecamerawasnotmovedalongahorizontalpath;itwillbedifficulttoproperlycropitwithoutlosing
importantdetails.

Verticalvs.horizontalcameraposition
Thecameraitselfcanbeheldinhorizontal(landscape)orvertical(portrait)position.There's
notanoptimalchoiceforallsituations,anywayitisclearthatshootinginlandscapemode
requireslesspicstocoverthewholewidthoftheview.However,thepanoramaimagewill
belittleinheightand,morethanlikely,you'llhavetotaketworowsofpics,insteadofone,to
properlycomposetheview.Needlesstosay,thebottomportionofanypicintheupperrow
mustoverlapwiththetopportionofthecorrespondingpicinthelowerrow.

Frameslant
Besidesfollowinganhorizontalorverticalaxis,itisimportantnottoslantthepics.Many
stitching softwares correctly handle perspective distortions caused by the panning
movementofthecameraandmodifythepicsaccordingly,sothatobjectsboundariesmatch
perfectly;howeverprogramsoftenassumethatthepicshavethesameslant:evenlittle
angles of rotation can cause ghost effects (see also: Attention needed, pg.5) in
overlappingareas.

Thepanningmovement
Mostofthetimes,youwillstay(orplacethetripod)inaplacethatoffersagoodviewover
thescene,andtakethepicsfromthere.Thismeansthatthecamerawillrotatefollowing
your face, or on the tripod head: these two different situations can lead to significantly
differentresults,since,inordertoavoidparallaxerrors(andthereforeperspectivechanges
betweenthepics;seealso:Parallaxerrors,pg.11),thelensshouldrotateonits nodal
point,thatisthepointwherethelightraysconvergeandflipover;itisusuallylocatednear
thecenterofthelensbarrel.Now,usingatripoddoesnotensure,perse,thatthelens
rotatesonitsnodalpoint;ontheotherhand,freehandshootingwillcertainlyguaranteethat
thelensdoesnotrotateonitsnodalpoint.

Page2of22
 Parallaxerrors,ifnotexcessive,areusually
managed quite well by stitching programs,
which apply more or less noticeable
deformationstohorizontalandverticallines
to make them properly match across the
shots.Therefore,objectsinpanoramascan
have a sort of fisheye lens look. The
higher the parallax error, the more
noticeablethedeformation;inaddition,near
objects are more affected than far ones.
Thesetwopicsdooverlap,buttheparallaxerror,causedbytheir Therefore, if the panorama foreground
different pespective, will make the stitching very difficult, or
impossibleatall(seealsoParallaxerrors,below).
features near objects, it is particularly
importanttofindthenodalpointofthelens;
ifthisisnotpossible,shootingwithatripodwillusuallygivebetterresults.

Tripodshooting
Usually,onlyprotripodheadsallowslidingthecameraback
andforth,andsidetoside,tobringthenodalpointofthelens
exactlyabovethepivotaxisofthetripodheaditself.Anyway,
here'sasimplemethodtofindthenodalpointofalens:
First,thelensmustbecenteredonthepivotrodofthe
tripod.Thiscanbedoneeasily,bylookingatthelens
fromitsfrontside, after mounting thecamera on the
tripod:thelensiscenteredwhenitsverticaldiameteris
alignedwiththepivotrodofthetripod.Now,youhaveto
locatetwoverticallines,liketwopolesorstreetlamps,
placedatdifferentdistancesfromthecamera.Looking Checkthattheverticaldiameterofthe
lensisalignedwiththepivotrod.
in the viewfinder,
panthecamerauntilboththeobjectsappearin
the frame. Then, keep on panning: if the
distancebetweenthetwoobjectsremainsthe
same as you pan the camera, the lens is
rotating on its nodal point. If the distance
changes(that'stheeffectofaparallaxerror),
slidethecameratothefrontortotherearand
repeat the test, until you find the correct
placement.
Itisalsoimportantthatthecamerarotatesalonga
vertical or horizontal path (see also: Vertical vs.
horizontal panoramas, pg.2): when using a tripod,
thiscanbeachievedbylevelingit.Manytripodheads
incorporate bubble levels along two of their sides:
whenboththeairbubblesarecentered,theheadis
Ifthecamerarotatesonthelensnodalpoint(yellow), perfectly horizontal. Unfortunately, such a leveling
the distance "D" between the red and blue poles systemisnotsuitableforpanoramas,sinceyoucould
remainsconstantwhilepanning.

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needtochangetheverticalangleoftheheadtotakemorethanonerowofpics(oryou
couldtakeaverticalpanorama);inaddition,sincethecamerarotates,onehorizontalshotis
notenough:theheadmustfollowahorizontal(orvertical)pathalongthewholepanning
movement.What you need is aperfectly vertical pivotrod: a simple and cheap bubble
leveleristheperfecttool.
Stickthebubbleleveltothesideofthepivotrodand
adjusttherodpositionuntiltheairbubbleofthelevelis
centered; then, move the level around the rod by
approximately90 and adjust the rod again. For a
perfectverticalalignmentyou'llprobablyhavetorepeat
thisprocedureacoupleoftimesormore,particularlyif
thetripodisplacedonaninclinedsurface.
Oncetheplacementsofthelensandthepivotrodaredone,
youarereadytoshoot.Startatoneendoftheview:when
shooting a horizontal panorama you can start, for example, To ensure that the pivot rod of the
withtheleftmostframeoftheupperrow.Beforeshooting,look tripod is vertical, do several checks
carefully in the viewfinder to locate a detailed and clearly arounditusingabubbleleveler.
recognizableobjectontherightoftheframe.Aftershooting,panrightuntilthatobjectcanbe
seenontheleftoftheframe:thisensuresthatthetwoshotswilloverlap.Repeatthissimple
procedureuntilyoutaketherightmostshotoftherowandtakenoteofhowmanyyoushot.
Now,pandown:locateareferenceobjectnearthebottomoftheframeandpanunitlit
appearstobenearthetopoftheframe.Locateanewreferenceneartheleftsideofthepic
andshoot;thenpanleftuntilthereferenceisneartherightsideoftheframe.Youjusthave
torepeatthestepsdoneforthefirstrow,but,thistime,movefromrighttoleft.Shootas
manypicsasyoushotforthefirstrow;ifathirdrowofimagesisneeded,allyouhavetois
toiteratetheprocessoncemore.

Freehandshooting
When shooting without a tripod, things don't change so much. Basically, you lose the
guaranteeofpanningalongaverticalorhorizontalpathandkeepingthecameraperfectly
horizontalorvertical.However,withsomeadditionalcare,verygoodresultscanstillbe
achieved.
The object taken asa reference for
panningstepscanbeusedalsoasa
reference for the vertical positioning
ofthecamera.Youshouldtakecare
thatitremainsatthesamedistance
fromthetopandbottomsidesofthe
frame.Ifyouareshootingavertical
panorama, check that the reference
objectremainsatthesamedistance
from the left and right sides of the
framewhilemovingthecamera.
Thecorneroftheroof(circledinred)isagoodreferencepointfor
bothhorizontalpanningandverticalalignment.

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 Inhorizontalpanoramas,itisagoodideatofollowthehorizonlineonlyifitis...
horizontal:theseaisgood,ahillisnotandwillproduceawavypanorama.
IfthecamerahasbothaviewfinderandLCDscreen,thebestoptionisalwaystouse
theviewfinder.Stickingthecameratoyourfacewillhelptokeepitsteadyandyouwill
alsogetabetterviewofsmalldetails.Thiswaythelenswillrotatemorenearits
nodalpoint,thanitwouldifkept20or30cm.farfromyoureyes.Thismeansreduced
parallaxerrors(seealso:Thepanningmovement,pg.2).
Iftheviewisnottoowide(say,nomorethan90100),placeyourselffacingits
center;thenrotateyourheadand/ortorsotopanfromoneextremitytotheopposite
one,withoutleavingyourposition.Keepinmindthatthiscouldleadtoloweringthe
cameraneartheextremitiesoftheview,ifitiswiderthanthatangle.Forextralarge
panoramas(from100to360),it'sbettertostartbyfacingoneextremityand,after
eachshot,moveyourfeet,slightly,followingthepanningdirection,justenoughtobe
facingthenextportionofviewtocatch,keepingyourheelsinplace.Thegoalisto
rotateyourselfasifyouhadapivotaxisgoingfromournecktoourheels.

A360degreespanorama,takenwithouttripod.Payingsomeattentiontothecameramovementallowstoachievegoodresultseven
whenshootingfreehand.Therelativelylongdistancebetweenthecameraandthesubjectminimizedparallaxerrors.

Cameraaidedpanning
Somedigitalcamerasallowyoutooverlay,intheLCDscreen,anextremityofthelastphoto
taken and the current view, allowing a live of how the two shot will overlap. Though
apparentlythisfeaturelooksliketheperfectsolution,ithasseverallimitsthatcanprevent
achievingthegoal:
Usually,onlyhorizontalpanningissupported,andonlyinonedirection(lefttoright).
Onlylandscapemodeshootingissupported.
Itdoesnotavoidparallaxerrors(seealso:Thepanningmovement,pg.2).
So,inmostsituations,freehandshootingwithsomecareistheonlywaytotakethepics.
Cameraaidedpanningcanbeeffectiveafterfindingthenodalpointofthelens.

Attentionneeded
Itshouldbenotedthatevenwidelyoverlappingshotsdonotguarantee,perse,aflawless
stitching.Itisveryimportantthattheoverlappingareacontainsdetailedobjects,oratleast
elementsthatcanbematchedtomergetheimagesinthecorrectposition.Examplesof
objects that probably will make stitching difficult if they are the only ones found in the
overlappingareas:
Clouds,evenifrichwithlightsandshadows.
Water,particularlyseawaves(theymove!).

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 Sand,unlessithasverycontrastedshadows.
Aclearblueskyandanyotherflat,uniformsurface.
Adifferentkindofproblemmaybecausedbymovingobjects:
Iftheyareoutsidetheoverlappingareasandmovealongasyoupan,theymight
appearmorethanonceinthepanoramaimage.Sometimesthiscanbeanicesurreal
effect,butmostofthetimesitwillratherbeanannoyancewhichyou'llhavetogetrid
ofbymanuallyeditingthepanorama.
If,onthecontrary,theyarefoundwithintheoverlappingareas,you'llgetghosts
(seealso:Someusefulsuggestions, pg.2) inthepanorama,sincethestitching
softwarewillmergeamovingobject,ascaughtinonepic,withthebackgroundof
anotherpic.Again,youwillhavetoworkonthepanorama(forexample,cloning
some background) to get a clean image. However, the problem can often be
correctedonthepicsbeforestitchingthem:itshouldbepossibletocopyaportionof
the background of the first pic, from the same position where the moving object
appearsinthesecondpic,andpasteitoverthelatter.
Thisiswhyitisoftenverydifficulttocomposeacleanpanoramawhenitcontainspeople.It
isalwaysbettertoavoidghostsandduplicatesinadvance:wheneverpossible,theshots
shouldbetakensothatpeople(orothermovingsubjects)appearonlyinonepic.
Whentaking360panoramas:
Itisbettertoavoidoverlappingthatthefirstandthelastshot.Thiscouldconfusethe
stitchingprogram.
Foranypanorama,andparticularlyforviewsaround180wide:
Itisbettertotaketheshotsfromapositionfacingthecenteroftheview.Ifyoushoot
fromapointsignificantlynearertooneoftheextremities,thepanoramawillpossibly
haveanexhaggeratedperspective,thatwillmakeitlookweird.

Diggingdeeper:camerasettings
Sinceyou'reabouttotakeaseriesofshotswhichwillhavetobestitchedtogether,themore
featurestheyshare,thebettertheresult.Inmostcases,you'llhavetochoosesettingsthat
canbeconsideredgoodenoughforalltheshots,eveniftheyarenotthebestforanyof
them.

Focallength
Ifyourlenscanzoom,setthefocallengthtoavaluethatallowsyoutocatchtheamountof
detailyouwant,inareasonablenumberofpics.You'llprobablyhavetopanalongtheview
ofinterest,tryingseveralzoomsettings.Rememberthat,oncethefocallength(zoom)has
beenset,itmustnotbechangedanymore,sincethiswouldimpactfocus.Inaddition,ifyou
change the zoom while taking the shots, subjects will have different dimensions and
proportions,andthestitchingwillnotbepossibleatall.Someattentionmustbepaidtothe
factthat,whileaverylongfocallengthrequiresaveryhighnumberofpicstocoverthe
wholeview,averyshortfocallength(i.e.:wideangle)introducessomedistortioninthepics,

Page6of22
particularlyonverticallines:thiscanmakethestitchingprocessmoredifficultandpossibly
unsuccessful,sinceitenhancesparallaxerrors.Usually,iftherearerelativelynearobjectsin
the view, any zoom above50 mm (fullframe equivalent) will give good results; such
distortionwillbefairlynoticeableondistantobjects.Thus,focallengthwillbefarlessthan
anissuewhiletakingpics,forexample,ofanopenlandscape.

Focus
In a panoramic view, there are
often objects placed at very
different distances. Choose an
appropriate subject in the view,
andfocusit:alltheshotswillhave
to be takenwith that same focus
setting.Ifyourcameraallows,letit
automaticallyfocusthesubjectand
then disable autofocus; if not,
Thefacadeofthisbuildingisactuallyrectlinear.Theshotsweretakenfroma focus it manually. If autofocus
short distance, with a short focal length (wideangle lens): this caused a
noticeabledistortion. cannot be disabled, you can still
take the shots, but at the risk to
havedifferentfocussettingsforoverlappingshots:thiswillnotnecessarilyadddepthoffield
tothepanorama,butalmostsurelywillcausetheoverlappingareastobeblurredifafocus
changeoccursbetweentwopics.Ifyouneedalongdepthoffield,therightwaytogetitisto
settheaperturetohighvalues.Aftersettingthefocus,don'tchangethezoom,unlessyou
knowforsurethatyourlensdoesn'tneedafocusadjustmentinconsequenceofachangein
focallength.

Exposure
Adigitalcameracontrolsexposurethroughthreeparameters:shuttertime,apertureand
sensibillity(ISO).Duetointrinsictechnicallimitations,nosensorcandealundercertain
conditionsoflightwiththehugeexcursioninlightnessbetweendarkerandbrighterareasin
asingleframe;thisisevenmoretruewhentakingseveralshotsofawidescene.Changing
exposuretooptimizeeverysingleframeseldomhelps:there'stherisktoobtainapanorama
that appears to be verticallystriped with darker and brighter areas. Again, it'sbetter to
experimentallyfindwhichparametersyieldameangoodresultforallthepics,andsetthe
cameramanually.Ifthecameradoesnotallowafullmanualexposure,thebestchoiceisto
settheapertureandletthecamerachoosetheshuttertime;differencesinbrightnesscanbe
somehow corrected later, before starting the stitching process. The same applies if the
cameraonlyshootsinfullyautomaticmode.

Whitebalance
Whitebalance,fromanoversimplifiedperspective,isasortofdigitalfilterthatcompensates
lightcolourcasts,sothatwhatappearswhiteintherealworld,iswhiteinthephotograph
also; all other colours are shifted accordingly. Cameras, by default, set white balance
automatically:thisisnogoodnewsthistime,sincetherecanbedifferentlightcolourcastsin
differentportionsofthechosenview.Forexample,shadowareasoftenhaveadifferentcast

Page7of22
fromsunlitareas;onceagain,thiscanresultinastripedaspectofthepanoramaimage,with
colourschangingcastandintensity.So,itisimportantthatwhitebalanceissetmanuallyto
an appropriate value. Most cameras offer a choiche among several predefined settings
(sunlight,neonbulbs,cloudyorsunnyweather...),topcamerasalsoallowawhitebalance
finetuning:tryseveralsettingsandchoosetheonethatworksbetterforthatparticularview.
Whenshootinginopenair,itisoftenenoughtotestasingle,butrepresentative,frameofthe
panorama;whenshootingindooritshouldbetakeninaccountthatdifferentkindoflamps
usuallyemitlightwithdifferentcolourcasts.Tryingdifferentsettingsforseveralportionsof
theviewandchoosingtheonethatgivesthemostuniformcoloursthroughouttheviewwill
definitelyguaranteebetterresults.

Apanoramaofanundergroundstation.Thelightsontheleftandtheneonbulbsontherightcauseverydifferentcolourcasts:several
triesweremadetakingshotsoftheleftmostandrightmostpartsoftheviewwithdifferentwhitebalancesettings.However,itwasnot
possibletoeliminatecompletelytheyellowcastontheleft,withoutacceptingaslightgreenishcastontheright.

Stitchingthepics
Togetagoodpanoramaimageitisnecessarythatthepicsbestitchedtogether,correctly
overlayingtheoverlappingpartsandblendingthemsothatcolourstransitionappearsmooth
andnatural.Theoretically,thiscouldbedonebyhand,pastingeachpicoveritsneighbour
bymeansofanimageeditingprogram.However,duetoparallaxerrors(seealso:The
panningmovement,pg.2),itisverylikelythatrectilinearlinesneedtobecurvedtoavoid
unnatural angles and/or ghost effects on pic boundaries (see also: Some useful
suggestions,pg.2).

Manualstitching
Whenparallaxerrorsareverysmall(ithappenswhenthelensrotatesonitsnodalpoint
and/oryoushootdistantsubjects),stitchingthepicsbyhandispossibleandcangivegood
resultsanyway.If,forexample,youhavetostitchahorizontalpanoramafromasetofpics,
youcanfollowsomesimplestepsinyourpreferredimageeditingprogram.Thenamesof
thecommandsneededtoperformthevarioustaskscanvaryfromoneprogramtoanother,
butthelogicremainsunchanged.

Firstofall,itisusefultoopenallthepicsandcomparethenonscreen.Ifsomeof
themhavedifferentbrightnessorcolourcasts,itisbettertocorrectthemnow,using
theappropriatetools(colorcurves,colorlevels,colorbalance,brightness,contrast).
Savethechangesandclosethepics(tofreepreciousmemory).

Page8of22
 Then,createanewpic.Itsheightshouldbeabout20%30%morethantheheightof
thepics,whileitswidthshouldbeequaltothewidthofthepics,multipliedbytheir
number.You'llhavetocropsomewidthattheend,sincetheshotsoverlap.

After opening the leftmost

pic of the series (assuming
you are composing a
horizontal panorama),
copy&pasteitintothenewly
created panorama. Position
itneartheleftside,centered
in height. Now, you can
closethepic.

After opening the second

pic,selectitallandfeather
theselectionby,say,100or
more pixels. The wider the
feather, the better the
blending;butmakesurethat
Manualstitching,step1.Theopacityoftheselection(pastedpic)hasbeensetto thefeatherisnotwiderthan
50%;draggingitasshownbythearrowwillmakethepicsoverlayperfectly.Note
howtheboundaryoftheselectionfadesout(itisfeatheredby100px).
the overlapping area,
otherwiseyou'llgetafaded
outstripewherethefirstpicends.Copytheselectiontotheclipboardandclosethe
pic.

Afterpastingittothepanorama,settheopacityoftheselectiontolessthan100%,so
thatyoucanseethefirstpicturethroughit.Thiswillallowtomatchtheoverlapping
parts more easily. This
should be done at100%
zoom, by searching small
and crisp details and
movingtheselectionsothat
they match perfectly
between the two shots. A
simplewaytounderstandif
the match is perfect, is to
move the selection around
veryslightlyandslowlyand
see when the details you
are working on appear
perfectly focused. If, when
moving the selection, they
gooutoffocusandappear
slightlyblurredaroundtheir Manual stitching, step 2. The images match; however the selection, after
contour, take the selection resetting its opacity to 100%, appears to be darker than the first pic. Some
adjustementofcoloursandbrightnessisneeded.
backwhereitwas.

Page9of22
 Whensatisfiedwiththeplacementoftheselection,resetitsopacityto100%and
zoomoutthepanorama,inordertoseeifthecolourblendingissmoothenough.If
not,it'stimetoapplythecolourtoolsagainontheselection,untilyoucannottell
anymorewhereonepicendsandtheotherstarts.Finally,anchortheselectiontothe
panorama image (that is, make the selection become a fixed part of the image;
editingprogramsusuallyhaveanexplicitcommandormenuitemforthisoperation).

The last three steps have to be iterated for all the pics (remember to save the
panorama from time to
time!); when all the shots
havebeenanchored tothe
panorama,it'stimetoapply
globalcolourcorrectionsas
needed.

Theresultingpanoramamay
require additional
corrections, like, for
example, perspective,
rotationofthewholeimage,
rotation of portions of the
image: more on this later
(see also: Cosmetics,
pg.16).
Manualstitching,step3.Afterplayingalittlewiththecolourcurvestoolandthe
Last, when everything else contrasttool,onecouldnottellanymorewheretheboundarybetweenthetwo
isdone,cropthepanorama picsis.
tothedesiredboundaries.

Unfortunately, when trying to match overlapping areas, you will probably discover what
parallax errors and ghost effects are, and how they can prevent to obtain a seamless
stitching.

Ghosts
A ghost appears as a misplaced
shadow or a semitransparent
object.
If a ghost is caused by a
moving subject within the
overlapping area, you can
get rid of it by erasing the
subjectfromoneofthetwo
pics before anchoring the
selection. Sometimes, you
Particularofapanorama.Inthepicontheleftaghostisclearlyvisible;onthe
will achieve a better result right,ithasbeenamendedbycopyingthetwopeoplefromoneofthetwopics
andpastingthemintothepanoramaimage.

Page10of22
 byerasingportionsofitfromonepicandotherpotionsfromtheotherpic.Again,
settingtheopacityoftheselectiontolessthan100%willbeofgreathelptowork
easilywithagoodprecision.Useafuzzyborderederaserinordertoproduceerased
areaswithinvisibleboundaries.Seetheimageforadifferent,effective,strategy.
Ifaghostiscausedbyanunwantedslantofthecamera,youcanrotatetheselection
untilitsinclinationissuitableforaperfectmatch.Rotationtools,bydefault,rotatethe
selectionarounditscenter:thisisusuallyagoodchoice.Theprogramdrawssome
handlesaroundtheselection;therotationisperformedbydraggingoneofthem.
Sometimes,youcangetbetterresultsbyrotatingtheselectionaroundadifferent
point:manyprogramshighlighttherotationcenterandallowtomoveitbymeansof
drag&drop.

Parallaxerrors
Parallaxerrorscancausemisalignmentsbetweenthesameobjectintheoverlappingareas
oftwodifferentshot.Assaidabove,theresultcanbeaghost,particularlyforrectilinear
lines.Sometimes,particularlywithsmallsubjects,theycanappearintheformofduplicated
objectsorbrokenlines:
Aghostcanbecausedbyparallaxerrors.The
slantofthepicisright,butsomeobjectsjust
cannot be matched, because they were shot
from different perspectives. This happens,
most of the times, to long rectilinear lines
(walls, roofs, hill edges...) and has the
appearance of a faded dupe of the object.
Usually,itisconvenienttodealwiththiskindof
ghostsafterthestitchingiscompleted;ifthey
aredisturbinglynoticeable,agoodwaytoget
ridofthemistousetheclonetoolwithafuzzy
borderedbrush,sinceitwillallowtopaintover
the ghost, picking colours and shapes from
somesuitableportionoftheimage.
Forduplicatedobjects,justlikeforghosts,a
simplesolutioncanbetoeraseoneofthetwo
Intheupperpartofthefacadeofthechurch,aghost appearances of the object. In some cases,
isclearlyvisible.Itwascausedbyaparallaxerror instead,itispossible(ornecessary)tomake
(seealsoThepanningmovement,above).
the two appearances overlap (almost)
perfectly, by applying to the selection the perspective tool of the image editing
program. Such tools usually display handles on the corners of the selection; by
draggingoneofthem,altertheshapeoftheselectionitself,asifitwereseenfroma
differentangle.
Forbrokenlines,theonlypossiblesolutionistoapplytoboththeimagesaspherical
distortioneffectorfilter:it'sacomplexjob,thatseldomgivesgoodresults,sinceitis
quitedifficulttofindtherightparametersforthefilter,anditisusuallynecessaryto

Page11of22
 undoandredoseveraltimestheoperationonbothimagesbeforethelinesoverlap.A
stitchingsoftwarecandoitquicklyandbetter.

Softwarestitching
Someimageeditingprograms,likeAdobePhotoshop,havenativestitchingcapabilities;
someotherprograms,likeTheGimp,cansupportpanoramasthroughplugins(Panorama
Tools,http://panotools.sourceforge.net).There'splentyofstitchingtools,outthereonthe
Internet.somearefree,somerequiretopayalicensefee.Someprogramsofferacomplete
controlofstitchingoperationsbutarequitecomplextouse:theyusuallyrequirethatyou
visuallysetseveralmatchingpoint,thatis,detailsthatappearinboththeoverlappingareas,
andthishastobedonebetweeneachshotandallofitsneighbours.Itisatediousprocess,
butitisveryeffectivewhentheshotsdonotoverlapenoughforautomaticstitching.Onthe
otherhand,someprogramsautomatetheprocesscompletely,allowingalittlecontrolon
whatthey'redoingandnochancestoimprovetheimagetheybuildbydefault.

Autostitch
Autostitch (http://www.autostitch.net) is a popular stitching program, developed at the
UniversityofBritishColumbia:itsdemoversionisfreenotasinspeech,butatleastasin
beer and,thoughnotfullyfunctional,itiscapabletocompletelyautomatethestitching
processofasetofpicswithreallyexcellentresults,allowingatthesametimetocontrol
several working options. It is currently developed only for MS Windows, but it runs
flawlesslyonLinuxunderWine(http://www.winehq.org);itsenginepowerssomecommercial
panoramasoftwareforMSWindowsandMacOS.
Autostich'smainwindowhasamenu,whoseitemsare:
File: it allows to
load a group of
pics by doing a
multiple selection
in the FileOpen
dialog box. It also
has a FileExit
item.
Edit: it allows to
control several
working settings
(EditOptions)
Stitch: it launches
the stitching job
(StitchStitch). It
mustbenotedthat Autostitch's mainwindow.The Wine icon in the topleft cornershows that it was actually
the stitching runningunderLinuxwhenthescreenshotwastaken.
processalsostarts
automaticallyafterloadingthepicsthroughthe File menu;the Stitch commandis

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 useful to stitch again the same set of pics after changing parameters in the
EditOptionsdialogbox.
Help:itallowstodisplaytheHelpAboutwindow.
So,aneffectivewaytouseAutostitchcanbethefollowingone:
First,setsomeoptions(butmostofthetimesthedefaultswilldo)intheEditOptions
window
Then, through the FileOpen dialog box, load the images that compose the
panorama.Assaidabove,theprocesswillstartautomaticallyandwillproducean
image,calledpano.jpg,inthesamedirectorywheretheoriginalpicsare.Bydefault,
Autostitchcreatesadownsizedpanorama:sincethecomputingtimeincreasesasthe
finalsizeofthepanoramaincreases,thisisveryusefultogetatestimageinabunch
ofseconds.
Now,youcanchangeoptionsintheEditOptionswindowandredothestitching:itis
notnecessarytoloadthepicsagain;simplyselectStitchStitchandyou'redone.
Whenyouaresatisfiedwiththeresult,youcansetto100%(orwhateversuitsyour
needs)thesizeofthepanorama(EditOptions window)andlaunchthestitching
processonemoretime.you'llget(afteraconsiderablylongertime)thefinalversion
ofthepanorama(again,calledpano.jpg),readyforcosmeticadjustmentswhichyou
willdoinyourpreferredimageeditingprogram(seealso:Cosmetics,pg.16).

Autostitch'sEdit>Optionswindow.Thevaluesshownarethestartupdefaults.

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Autostitch's major problem is (at the time of writing) an inexistent or very poor
documentation. Several stitching options produce subtle effects and their names sound
cryptictothenonspecialist;inaddition,theprogramhasnoonlinehelp.Hereisabrief
descriptionoftheparametersavailableinthe EditOptions window:sinceitisempirically
derivedfrompractice,itcannotbeconsideredexhaustive,ortrustedasbeingerrorfree.
Outputsize:thesizeofthepanoramacanbesetasanabsolutevalueinpixelsby
specifiyingitsheightoritswidth;theotherdimensionwillbecalculatedproportionally,
basedontheoriginalsizeofthepics.Alternatively,youcanspecifythepercentage,
relativetotheoriginalsizethepanoramawouldhaveifthepicswerestitchedwithout
resizing.Inordertosavetime,itisagoodpracticetogenerateasmallversionofthe
panoramatocheckifsomeparameterchange(orotheradjustment)isneeded.
Blendingmethod:itisthealgorithmusedtomergetheopverlappingareasandto
smooth colour differences. Selecting "None" causes the pics to be matched and
overlaidwithoutanycoloursmoothing:thisoptionissuitableforquicktestsandto
seehowthepicsaredistortedbyAutostitchinordertogetperfectmatches.When
producingthefinalversionofthepanorama,thebestchoiceis"Multiband":itis
slower than "Linear" but produces a more accurate smoothing. The Multiband
algorithm is influenced by two parameters, both called Blending. It looks like
increasing theirvaluecauses a slightly better smoothing,butthe computing time
increasesconsiderably.

ApanoramaproducedbyAutostitch,withthe"Blendingmethod"optionsetto"None".Thepicboundariesandcolourdifferencesare
clearlyvisible,aswellasthedeformationsintroducedtocompensateparallaxerrors.

Gaincompensation:thisoptionoffersawaytodealwithdifferencesinbrightness
among the pics. Autostitch will lighten darker pics, and darken lighter ones. The
algorithmiscontrolledbytwoparameters,called"Gainmean"(themeanamountof
modification)and"Gain"(ameasureofthedifferencebetweenthemeanandthe
actualadjustmentAutostitchwillapplytothepics):highervaluesof"Mean"causea
moreevidentmodificationofthebrightnessofthewholepanorama(avalueof0or
lessproducesablackimage),whileahigher"Sigma"willallowthesoftwaretomodify
eachsinglepicmoredeeply(toapproximatethatmean but0orlessproducesa
white image). This option should be used with care, since it can cause
overexposition;the"Gaincompensation"checkboxisuncheckedbydefaultandmust
becheckedtoactivatethealgorithm.

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 Cropsettings:theseparametersallowtocroptheimage.Sincetheoriginalpicscan
becurved and stretched to compensateparallaxerrors,panoramas seldomhave
rectlinear borders: when Auto crop is checked, Autostitch builds an image that
containsthewholepanoramaimage,andpaintsblacktheouterpaddingarea.Aftera
stitchingoperationdonewithAutocropchecked,thefourcropsettingsaresetwith
thevalueschosenbytheprogram;theycanbechangedandAutostitchwillusethe
newvaluesinthenextstitchingoperation,providedthatAutocropisunchecked.
Theta min and Theta max control the horizontal amplitude of the image, in
degrees.WhenAutostitchislaunched,theyaresetto180and180respectively,thus
allowinga360view.PhimaxandPhimincontroltheverticalamplitude,againin
degrees.Bydefault,theyaresetto90and90respectively,thusallowinga180
view.Inotherwords,apanoramacancoveraviewthatgoesfromthegroundunder
yourfeettotheskyaboveyourhead,allaroundyou:aninterestingexperimentisto
usethesevaluestocheckhowouractualpanoramaismappedintothatspace.Most
ofthetimes,thebestchoiceistoleaveAutocropchecked;however,reducingthe
fieldofview,andthuscausingthepanoramatobecroppedautomatically,canavoid
tocropitmanuallytogetridofunwantedpadding.
Matchingoptions:theseparametersinfluencethealgorithmthatAutostitchusesto
detectwhichpicshaveoperlappingareasandtomatchthem.Usuallythedefault
valuesworkverywell;however,iftheprogramdoesnotrecognisesomematches
andthereforefailstocomposethepanorama(thishappenswhenoverlappingareas
arenotwideenough),tryincreasingthe"SIFTimagesize"(inabsolutevalues,or
percentage)and/ordecreasingAlphaandBeta.Ontheotherhand,ifAutostitch
matchespicsthatshouldnotactuallymatch,trydecreasingthe"SIFTimagesize"
and/orincreasingAlphaandBeta.The"Maxiterations"parameterinfluencesthe
overallprecisionofthealgorithm:thehigheritsvalue,thehighertheprecision(but
alsothehigherthetimeneededtocomplete).
Orientationsettings:ifAutoStraightenischecked,Autostitchtriestostraightenout
wavypanoramas(seealso:Verticalvs.horizontalpanoramas,pg.2).Thethree
relatedparametersTheta,PhiandPsicanmodifytheshapeoftheimage,when
thedefaultresultisnotsatisfactory.PositivevaluesofThetarotatethepanorama
counterclockwise,whilenegativevaluesrotateclockwise;theimageisalsoslightly
curvedlikeanupsidedownU.PositivevaluesofPhi bendthepanoramalikean
upsidedownU,whilenegativevaluesbenditlikeaU.PositivevaluesofPsirotate
thepanoramaclockwise;itspersectiveisslightlycurvedontherightside,whileitisa
bit enlarged on the left side. Negative values of Psi rotate the image
counterclockwise;itspersectiveisslightlycurvedontheleftside,whileitisabit
enlargedontherightside.Theta,PhiandPsiworkevenifAutostraightenis
notchecked,buttheireffectisdimmed.Theseparameterscanbeusefultocorrect
wavypanoramas.
Imagerotation:thedefaultchoice,None,issuitableforpicsthatweretakenwiththe
camerainlandscapeorientation.Ifthepicsweretakenwiththecamerainportrait
position,orupsidedown,thisoptionshouldbesetaccordingly.

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Anincorrectsettingofthe"Imagerotation"optioncanproduceweirdresults.Here"None"wasset,insteadof"Clockwise".

Systemmemory:AutostitchshouldbeabletodetecthowmuchRAMisinstalled,so
this parameter is useful mainly when not all the installed memory is available. It
forces the software to split the panorama image in smaller chunks and perform
matchingandblendingoperationsonthem.IfAutostitchabortsthecreationofthe
panoramawithan"Outofmemory"error,decreasingthisparametercanhelp.
JPEGquality:thisoptionsaffectsthequalityofthepanorama,intermsoftradeoff
betweensizeandlossofdetail(Jpegisalossycompressionalgorithm).Thehigher
thevalue,thebetterthequality.Autostitch'sdefaultis75;ifyouplantoprintthe
panoramainbigformats,it'sbettertosetitto95atleast.

Cosmetics
Whenthepanoramahasbeencomposed,itmayneedsomecosmeticwork,evenifbuilt
automatically by a stitching software. Very probably, as said before, it will need to be
cropped.Somemoreworkcouldbenecessarytocorrectsomestitchingglitches.

Ghosts
Ghostscanappearalsoinautomaticallystitchedpanoramas.Theycanbeamendedas
describedaboutmanualstitching(seealso:Ghosts,pg.10).

Mismatches
Mismatchesusuallyoccurbetween
portionsofmoreorlesslonglines
andareaboundaries;theyaredue
to parallax errors (see also:
Parallax errors, pg.11). They
appear as broken lines or lines
with discontinuities and steps.
Mostof thetimes, mismatches,if
nottoowide,canbeamendedby
meansoftherotationtool.
Using the freehand select
tool with a suitable feather
value, select an area
Particularofapanorama.Amismatch,foundintheoverlappingareabetween
twopics,iscircledred.

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 aroundaportionofthemistmatchingline.Theselctionshouldbedonesothatthe
selectedarea:
Hasmoreorlessatriangularshape,withoneofthesidescenteredwherethe
dicontinuityisandtheoppositevertexlyingonthelineitself;
Is long and wide
enough to make
unevident a slight
rotationoftheline;
Does not include
parts of the image
that must not be
moved together with
the selected portion
ofmismatchingline.
Copy&paste the selection:
this guarantees that the
image will not have blank
areas when the rotation is
done.
Themismatchpointhasbeenselectedintoatriangularselection(outlinedin
Activate the rotation tool yellow).Therotationtoolhasbeenappliedontheselection,andtherotation
and click on the (pasted) center(outlinedinblue)hasbeendraggedontheselectionvertexoppositetothe
mismatch point. After rotating the selection according to the blue arrow, the
selection, then drag and mismatchisnomorenoticeable(redoutline).
droptherotationcenterover
thevertexattheoppositeofthediscontinuitypoint.
Rotatethe selectionuntilthemismatchingedgesoftheline arecloseenoughto
makethelinelookcontinuous.
Anchortheselection.
Ifneeded,retouchthelinewhereyoujustmadecontinuous(itmayappearabit
blurred).
Itisnotsoeasytogetacleanandgoodresultatthefirsttry,sodon'tbediscouraged.Undo
the changes and try selecting the area with a different feather value and different
boundaries.Patienceandexperiencearethekeys.

Missingpanoramaareas
Sometimes, panoramas happen to have missing areas, which usually get filled with a
paddingcolourbythestitchingprogram.
Iftheoverlappingareasarenotwideenoughandthepicshavetobecurvedor
stretched to compensate parallax errors, an empty area between the pics can
appear.Ithasusuallyatriangularshape,likeaconefittedintotheimagefromoneof
itssides.Amissingareacanalsobecausedbyanincorrecthorizontal(orverical)
alignmentofthepics:usuallyitcanbecroppedout,butifthiscausesanexcessive
cropofthewholeimage,thenitisworththewhiletotrytoamendit.

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 Ifthemissingareais
not too big, and
particularly if its
actualcontentshould
not be uniformly
coloured, it can be
amended with the
clonetool.Setapoint
in the middle of a
similar area as the
origin, and start
brushing the missing
area. Use a fuzzy
bordered brush and
change the origin
point often. An
accurate work can A missing area is visible on the bottom of the image. There are also some
mismatchesonthefloorlines,andaghost(barelyvisible)underthetreeswith
make the amended yellowleafs.
area perfectly
integratedinitsenvironment.
When the area is quite extended, better results can be achieved through
copy&paste.Usethefreehandselectiontool,withahighfeathervalue(more
than30pixels,ifpossible),toselectasmallareahavingsimilaritieswithwhat
shouldactuallybeinthemissingarea.Copytheselection,andthenpasteit
intothemissingarea.
Depending on the
characteristics of its
content, it may be
possibletopastethe
same selection
multiple times in
order to cover wider
andwiderportionsof
the missing area.
Sometimes,itmaybe
better to select a
different area after
pasting the formerly
selected one a
coupleoftimes.Ifthe
boundaries of the Alltheglitcheshavebeenamendedusingtheclonetoolwithafuzzybordered
brush.
pasted area do not
integratetoowellwithintheenvironment,decreasingitsopacitycanhelp.

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 Ifanentirepicismissing,usuallytheonlysolutionistoimportitbyhandintothe
panorama,usingthecolourtoolsandtheperspectivetooltointegrateitseamlessly
(seealso:Manualstitching,pg.8).

Perspective
The correction ofparallax errors often
requires that the images be stretched
anddeformed.Thismaycausevertical
linestohavearelevantslope:thisisnot
necessarily bad, since it gives the
panoramaaperspectivethatsomehow
recalls pics taken with extreme
wideangle lenses. However, if the
perspective effect is excessive, it can
be corrected in an image editing
program by means of the perspective
tool(seealso:Parallaxerrors,pg.11). Anexampleofperspectivecorrection,done(picontheright)usingthe
perspectivetool.

Stripedcolours
Whenthepicshavedifferentcolourcasts,wideanduniformlycolouredareasmayresult
striped, even if the stitching is done automatically and blending algorithms are applied.
Unfortunatelythisdefectisnoteasytocorrect,butatryisworththewhile:agoodediting
programofferssomechance.
Withacontiguousregionsselectiontool(usuallytheyhaveamagicwandasicon),
selectthewholeareaof interest. Such tools are guidedbya parameter, usually
calledtreshold,thatsetsthetolerancetovariationsincolourusedtodetermine
whatacontiguousregionis.Basically,iftheareadoesn'tgetselectedcompletely,the
tresholdshouldbeincreased.Ontheotherhand,iftheselectedportionofimage
goesbeyondtheareaofinterest,thetresholdshouldbedecreased.Selectiontools
alsotakeafeathervalue,thatmakestheselectedareaboundariesmoreorless
feathered:forthistask,there'snotanoptimalfeathervalue.Iftheareaisonitsown,
likeablueskyaboveamountainhorizon,chancesarethatafewpixelsfeather(510)
be the best choice. If the area is somehow integrated in an environment, like a
meadowsurroundedbytrees,awiderfeatheredborder(1530pixels)canfit.
Oncetheareaisselected,setanewforegroundcolourbyclickingwithinthearea
itselfwiththeeyedroppertool.
Then, create a new transparent layer and make it the active layer: the selection
shouldnowbedefinedandactiveonit.
Using the floodfill tool, fill the selected area (on the new layer) with the new
foregroundcolour.
Now,changethelayeropacitytomakeitsemitransparent.Thiswillcausethecolour
ofthewholeareaappearmoreuniform.

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 Iftheresultisnotgoodenough,theprocedurecanberepeatedchoosingadifferent
colour(withtheeyedroppertool)fromtheareaontheoriginallayer;settingtheright
opacityforallthenewlycreatedlayerswillgivegoodchancestoachievethegoal.
Inordertosavetheimage,flatteningwillberequired,sinceJpegformatdoesnot
supportlayers:editingprogramsusuallyhave aFlattenimage orMergedown
menuitem.

Conclusion
Thesenotes,dueto theirshortness,cannotaddresseveryissuepertainingpanoramas,
howeverIhopethattheycanbeofsomehelp:afteralltheyshowthatsomeattentionand
patiencecanbeenoughtogetsurprisinglygoodresults.Skills,asalways,comethrough
experimenting:itisnotnecessarytogotothemostbeautifulplaceintheworldtotakeyour
first panorama; your garden, the street where you live, even your living room can be
appropriatetobegin.Starttakingpanoramasmadeofjusttwoorthreepics;tryseveralways
tophotographthesameview(withandwithouttripod,inportraitandlandscapeposition,
focusing at different distances...) and compare the results. Learning is a neverending
process.
Thistutorialisopentocorrections,additionsandrefinementssuggestedbyanyone.
Thanksforreading,andhappypanning.
StefanoBarnihttp://barninga.deviantart.com

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 Index

Barninga'spanoramatutorial..................................................................................................1

Aforeword..........................................................................................................................1

Takingthepics...................................................................................................................1

Someusefulsuggestions...............................................................................................2

Verticalvs.horizontalpanoramas..............................................................................2

Verticalvs.horizontalcameraposition.......................................................................2

Frameslant................................................................................................................2

Thepanningmovement..................................................................................................2

Tripodshooting..........................................................................................................3

Freehandshooting.....................................................................................................4

Cameraaidedpanning...............................................................................................5

Attentionneeded............................................................................................................5

Diggingdeeper:camerasettings....................................................................................6

Focallength...............................................................................................................6

Focus.........................................................................................................................7

Exposure....................................................................................................................7

Whitebalance............................................................................................................7

Stitchingthepics................................................................................................................8

Manualstitching.............................................................................................................8

Ghosts.....................................................................................................................10

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 Parallaxerrors..........................................................................................................11

Softwarestitching.........................................................................................................12

Autostitch.................................................................................................................12

Cosmetics.........................................................................................................................16

Ghosts..........................................................................................................................16

Mismatches..................................................................................................................16

Missingpanoramaareas..............................................................................................17

Perspective..................................................................................................................19

Stripedcolours.............................................................................................................19

Conclusion........................................................................................................................20

Index.....................................................................................................................................21

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