Photoshop Tutorials – Panorama with Photomerge

Today we want to focus on a really neat feature inside of Adobe Photoshop called Photomerge. With this tool, you can combine multiple photographs into one panoramic image very easily. It is best to go out and take the photographs yourself to learn this process, however if you would like to follow along, you can grab the images I took here.











Here are some quick tips for taking the photographs yourself if you want:

-Use a tripod (make sure it’s level)
-If you do not have access to a tripod, keep steady and turn your torso to capture the images
-You can line up markings in the area that you are capturing
-Try to get a little bit of overlap in each image you take
-Before merging, be sure that any color/lighting corrections have been made

Photomerge works wonders with more images, so if you can, take many photos. Below you can view the 4 images I’m using, and the final product.





Alrighty, so now we’re going to try out Photomerge. Open up Adobe Photoshop, and click File>Automate>Photomerge. Here, we have a lot of options. Photoshop is going to take the photographs you choose and use its best judgement to seamlessly combine them for a panoramic photo.



You can select from Auto, Perspective, Cylindrical, Spherical, Collage, and Reposition Layouts. For the sake of the images we are working with today, I am going to simply choose Auto. There are times where you will need to experiment to see which layout settings work the best for your photos.



Now I need to show Photoshop where it can find the images I want to use, so I am going to click “Browse” and find them on my harddrive.



With the correct photographs selected, Photoshop can now begin to merge my images seamlessly. This requires some processing power, so depending on your computer, you may have to wait a little bit.





Now that Photoshop has finished processing the images, you may see something that looks a bit sloppy. Don’t worry, the combined photos are just in need of a crop. Photoshop should have combined them seamlessly, and now you just need to get rid of the “crazy” edges.



So use your Rectangular Marquee tool, and drag out a selection that you like. Then go to Image>Crop to get your final product.



As you can see, we now have a finished panoramic photograph by using Photoshop’s unique Photomerge option. Thanks joining me for this tutorial, and be sure to check back for more.