Picture Stitching Software

[Cirerrek]

I'm looking for some software that stitches photographs together.

Example: I take a 7 pictures of the ocean from left to right in order to get the whole horizon and I want to combine them into one seamlessly (or pretty close to seamlessly).

The software that came with my Canon digital camera will do it pretty well.

But, I'm looking for something that my company can use, so either software we can purchase with a license or freeware that allows for business usage.

Any leads would be appreciated.

Thanks,

[Eaglefeather]

There are those that may disagree with me but for my money the very best image processing software is Paintshop Pro 9 available from JASC Software

http://www.jasc.com

JASC Software was recently taken over by Corel and will compliment Coreldraw but at nowhere near the cost.

Paintshop Pro has always been a top notch image program but because it was late starting out has taken the back seat to Adobe Photoshop. The new version, Paintshop Pro 9, will do anything Photoshop will do and more but at half the cost.

Stitching or merging photos is a simple process and PSP can handle that with no problems. It has tools for making all kinds of repairs to photos as well as enhancing them. But it is not only a Photo program, it can be used for making or enhancing any kind of graphic you can imagine. You are only limited by your imagination.

[TwoRails]

Agreed. PSP is a fantastic program, with the latest version (9) being amazing.

[jamesrpm]

Or you can get Jasc Photo Album if all you want to do is photo work and archiving. I've used it's stiching tool and it worked great for me , plus it helps me keep my photos in order so I can find them when needed.

[SonicVanguard]

PSP can't stich photos - it can merge photos, but it cannot stich them well at all. In the studio we often have to take client photos and stich them together - we've tried Photoshop, PSP and Canvas and none of them can 'stich' photos without leaving parts of the image skewed.

What we've been using is a program called Panorama Tools with a helper program from Max Lyons called PTAssember. It's flawless.

Dave.

[carlmccut]

There is one that I know of and that is Olympus Camedia master 4.0 and Pro. It actually stiches the photos. I recieved the software when I brought my camera. I am sure if you go to:

http://www.olympusamerica.com/

check there I am sure you can get it.

[Eaglefeather]

If all Cirerrek is looking for is a program that stitches, then Sonicvanguards suggestion most likely would be the better choice. After all, time is money and stitching an image with PSP or Photoshop cannot be done with the push of a single button. It does require some experience with image manipulation and a good working knowledge of the various tools available. The advantage to using PSP or Photoshop is that they where designed for a myrid of image processing tasks and they do all of them exceptionally well.

The suggestion that PSP, Photoshop or some of the other imaging programs cannot stitch images well is just not exactly correct. If the images are out of alignment in the first place that would pose a major problem for any program and the resulting stitch would not be a true stitch but a merge. A true stitch would be taking to images, placing them side-by-side and they fit/match up perfectly, if any manipulation is required then it is not a stitch but a merge. I have yet to find reasonably aligned images that I could not merge/stitch together, with no noticable trace of the join, using PSP versions 6,7,8 or 9 or with Photoshop 7, which I also own. I have a number of other imaging programs that will also do the job. New tools in PSP 9 also make it easy to repair, flaws in perspective, mistakes by the camera person, camera tilt, etc., which makes matching up two unaligned images even easier.

In the end it all comes down to what do you really need to achieve your objective. If it is only stitching images, then a program that does that one thing and does it better than any other program on the market would be the smart choice. But if you require a program that is going to let you work on images in a multitude of ways then you would be better off with PSP or Photoshop.

[Cirerrek]

Nice to see all the responses

I figured I was going to need to come back and give this one a bump, since General Software seems to be a road less traveled by.

So

JASC PaintShop Pro
Adobe Photoshop
Panorama Tools + PTA Assembler
Olympus Cammedia

The actual stitching I typically do doesn't have to be 100% perfect. There can be a fuzzy line at intersections. By the time I resize most pictures to get them on an 8.5"x11" sheet of paper, the line is not visible to the naked eye. Of course, being an AR type, perfect is better if it doesn't cost that much more or take that much longer

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll take a look at these programs.

[scomac]

The program I use for stitching programs is from ISee Media and it's called Photovista Panorama. It's much easier than using the software that came with my Canon camera.

Scomac

[mouse1]

Thers also a program that I use,Ulead system COOL 360,make very good pans...HTH.
GaryD

[Tregrad]

Ok, I have Photo Shop 7, how do I stitch or merge two pictures together?

[SonicVanguard]

Originally Posted by Tregrad Ok, I have Photo Shop 7, how do I stitch or merge two pictures together?

You have Photoshop 7 and do not know how to stich photos together? That's one of the simpler things to do in Photoshop - why would someone purchase a program of such expense if they do not have any idea how to use it?

Dave.

[TwoRails]

Originally Posted by SonicVanguard You have Photoshop 7 and do not know how to stich photos together? That's one of the simpler things to do in Photoshop - why would someone purchase a program of such expense if they do not have any idea how to use it?

Because everybody has to learn. Nobody instantly knows how to do everything. Look at all the people with MS Word that don't need to make "tables" and there for have never learned how.

Tregrad, I don't use PS so I don't have a clue. Although I've been using PSP for many years, I've never stiched anything together with it, so I don't know how to do it without learning. Have you looked in the help file? It should be in there, if somebody here doesn't know and post how...

[SonicVanguard]

Originally Posted by TwoRails Because everybody has to learn. Nobody instantly knows how to do everything. Look at all the people with MS Word that don't need to make "tables" and there for have never learned how. Tregrad, I don't use PS so I don't have a clue. Although I've been using PSP for many years, I've never stiched anything together with it, so I don't know how to do it without learning. Have you looked in the help file? It should be in there, if somebody here doesn't know and post how...

To compare users of Photoshop and Word is comparing apples to oranges - Photoshop has a very specific users group - Word's users group is much more varied.

My point is, you purchase a $500 software package without any basic understanding of it's use? Did I buy ProTools for our studio without an understanding of how to use it? No. Before that, did we buy Nuendo without a basic understanding? No...we used Cubase before that and we had used Cakewalk before that. Even before the studio had Calkwalk, we had an understanding of how to use multi-track editing software.

My point is, how many times on these forums does someone post something about using an expensive software package - something fairly simple - it brings up so many red flags within my mind. I'm not accusing anyone of having anything illegal, but if you don't have a basic understanding of graphic manipulation, why not start with something simpler like Photoshop Elements? Then move up to PSP....then to the industry standard Photoshop?

BTW, when I posted earlier, I was working in the studio and put the project to bed (actually to render) so I went over to our other system with Photoshop on it and loaded up three pictures from my digital camera. I figured out how to stich them together fairly quickly - I wasn't impressed with the quality - it was (as I stated before in this thread) more a merge than actual stiching together. Not to mention there's a decent 'how-to' in the help files on the subject.

I've seen people post here (an elsewhere) about having (just as examples) "Reason, Sonar 3, and WaveLab" and they don't have a clue how to use any of them - that's over $1000 in software someone doesn't have a clue how to use??? So although I am not saying anyone is downloading something they shouldn't legally have - I would still stand by my asertation that if you own something like Photoshop you should have a basic grasp of it's use.

Dave.

[Tregrad]

Sonic, What i spend my money on is none of your business (Period) I am just asking a question. I ahve come in here alot with some pretty as-you-say "stupid" questions and have had nothing but willing people to help me out, If you consider yourself "above" the rest of us Low-life-know-nothings then "pound sand" and dont reply to the post, if you arent willing to help and all you can do is ASS-U-ME then dont bother. You do this stuff for a living? if so a simple "go here" click here" would suffice.
I bought a $2000 computer without even know how to use it, does that make me stupid? did you know how to run before you could walk? You parents bought you shoes before you could even walk, does that make them stupid? or maybe they just stole them since you didnt know how.
Next time you want to do some tile or Granite slabs in your kitchen and have a "stupid" question I could only hope that someone will treat you as you have me We all have our expertise and mine obviously isnt this stuff, had it been do you think i would have come to a "Help" forum? that has helped me Over and Over again. You sir have no business even being in here since you have so much knowledge and arent willing to share it with those that arent in the upper class as yourself. As for the help "thingy" <----(word from a stupid person) we all know those things are about as usefull as you are.

MAN!.....Ask a "simple" question and there is always someone there to call you an idiot, who in turn then becomes the idiot.

Two rails, thanks for gettin my back.


GLC/Moderators, Im sorry if i came off a bit harsh but being called "stupid" and a "theif" dosent sit well with me.

[glc]

Both of you are officially warned and this thread is closed. You have both overstepped the bounds of respect as outlined in the rules.

Sonic, you have been around here plenty long enough to know what's acceptable and what is not.

Tregrad, the proper way to handle this would have been to report the post to a moderator using the provided link. All you did was pour gasoline on the fire.