Photoshop CS4 Photomerge

Kudos

very helpful!!

Cynthia & Ashley,

Thanks for your comments! Best of luck with your panoramas.

According to Adobe, this feature will do a 360 pano.

I did no see you demo this.

I use a software. I use an app called PanoVr to render into a Virtual Tour (flash).

And I use PTGui to render photos for PanoVr.

It seems like perhaps this new feature in not that it all that it is cracked up to be

ken

Ken,

Yes, Photomerge will do 360-degree panoramas. In such a short video, it is impossible to cover all of the possible uses of a given feature or tool. That said, there will always be a use for specialized software plugins or standalone app. When PSCS4 is released, I’d suggest comparing it with PanoVr to see which software best suits your needs.
Jay

Jay,

Thanks for the demo finally photo merge explained; I was always told just stick to auto.

Steve

Very well done.

Thanks for your recent comments. Steve, I’m glad I could help clarify Photomerge. While Auto works well in many situations, it’s worth your time experimenting with the other blending options.
Jay

I love this feature in PS3, great tutorial and tips. I tried it with a landscape using 8 images. Each image over lapping by at least a 1/3 in sequence. PS seemed to only want to do any four images at a time? I thought maybe the two central pics could not be merged, so I used Bridge & PS to merge just the two frames that it had trouble with and it was fine, it merged them perfectly, so why would it not want to join all 8 in a series? Have you come across this?

Benjamin,

No, I haven’t come across the problem you describe. Are you using PS Standard or Extended? If you’re using the extended edition, you might try loading all 8 files into an image stack (File>Scripts>Load Files Into Stack) and see if this circumvents the problem.

Hello there

I just installed CS4 premium but my version hasn’t a Photomerge command under File- Automate

Where is it?

Pierlucio in Montreal

Pierlucio,
I had a client who had this problem when they upgraded to CS3. It seems that the Photomerge plugin wasn’t installed. You might try looking on the Adobe Knowledge Base to see if you can install the Photomerge plugin separately. Otherwise, you may need to reinstall Photoshop.
If I come across any specific information, I’ll post it here.

Jay

hi..

i just installed adobe photoshop cs4 and i really don’t know how to use this program..

i have this picture and i would like to cut the pocket of my shirt and also i would like to place a pin on my collar..

need help badly..

thanks

Ronald,
Thanks for stopping by and viewing the tutorials. Unfortunately, there isn’t a simple way for me to describe the steps needed to perform the steps you’ve described. I’d suggest looking for a tutorial on making selections and masks as those are the foundational techniques you’ll need to cut the pocket of the shirt and add a pin.

I’d start your search here, to see if there are any tutorials that suit your needs.

All the best.

Jay

great tutorial, will give a try. i have spent hours messing with layers and transforming layers to get a decent panaroma look.

this makes it look all so easy.

great video

anyone know how to photomerge an image sequence? or video layers?

i have 8 video cameras mounted underneath a remote control helicopter and need the feature, i cant seem to stitch them on my own using warping and mattes……

was hoping apple’s SHAKE software would do it, but doesnt seem smart enough…

Brett,

Have you tried using the photomerge feature in Photoshop CS 4 Extended to merge the video layers? I just ran a quick check to verify that the Auto-blend Layers option will work on video layers.

Let me know if that works. If not, I’ll be happy to see if I can help you accomplish it another way.

I’m just starting. The tutorial was easy to follow and greatly appreciated.
thanx.
JW

Hello everybody! I tried to use Photomerge in CS4 also to put together couple photos i took during dusk, so they are “little bit” dark. I guess there is very little detail for the programme to calculate with because the result is huge canvas with two or three separate pictures (blended from 2 or more photos each). Is there any way to “show” the Photomerge the sequence of photos? (as i believe it is possible in Elements or “Interactive Layout” in CS3)

Or do you have any other recommendations how to finalize the blending?

Thank you very much for your time and help!

Sumak

Sumak,
Try bringing the photos into Photoshop or Adobe Camera Raw first to lighten the images. If you’re using Photoshop Extended, you can use the script File>Scripts>Load Files Into Stack. This will create individual layers for each of your photos. Next, select all the photos in the Layers Panel by shift Clicking on the top and bottom layer tile. Under the edit menu select Auto Blend (Edit>AutoBlend). This is a back-door into the Photomerge dialog box.
Best of luck!

thnks

how come I am not getting any panoresults under my windows menu?

how come I am not getting any panoresults on my photoshop CS4 extended?

TJ, Thanks for your email. I don’t think I have enough information to answer your question correctly, but I’ll offer some suggestions on what I do have. When you select the Photomerge command through Bridge or Photoshop, do you get the Photomerge dialog box? If not, you may need to reinstall Photoshop as one or more of the components is missing or corrupted.

If you can see the Photomerge dialog and can select the layout method (Auto, Perspective etc.) but cannot see a finished panorama, make sure you’re giving it enough time. Depending upon your computer and the number of images in your panorama, it may take a long time. Try making a simple panorama with three, low-resolution images to make sure Photoshop is functioning correctly. If not, please let me know which step in the process is failing and I’ll see if I can help you resolve it.

I am pretty new to cs4 and never have used bridge…but all I am is frustrated right now because I wanted to make a collage, but I have no idea how you got to the screen which shows you all of the different panoramic options in Bridge. Is this some kind of workspace that you created.

If I apply the photomerge, photoshop just turns everything into a panoramic, and that is it. I want to be able to scroll through the different panoramic options.

Is this only a CS4 extended option?

At this point just frustrated…

Tim,
I’m sorry you’re having difficulty with Photomerge. I appreciate how frustrating it can be. From Bridge, make sure you are selecting the Photomerge command from the Tools>Photoshop>Photomerge menu. This will bring you to the Photomerge dialog where you can select between blending options. Alternatively, you can access Photomerge from the File menu in Photoshop (File>Automate>Photomerge). You will be prompted to select files to use in the panorama then brought to the Photomerge dialog to select your blending option.

Neither of these options are contingent with having CS4 Extended. I hope this helps ease your frustration.

I have been using Photoshop CS3 and Photomerge with the interactive layout option. It is very useful when I am stitching a difficult many image composite. This is not an option in CS4. Where has it gone or how do you do it now in the new release?

Barry,

I’ve received a number of emails about this. The best suggestion is to bring photos into Photoshop as individual layers then use the Auto-Blend to combine photos automatically. The workflow looks something like this.
If you are working in Photoshop Extended, go to the File menu and select Scripts>Load Images Into Stack. Select the images you wish to include in your panorama and press okay. Once the images are brought in as layers, you can position them manually. Next, select all the layers in the layers palette by clicking once on the top layer and shift-clicking on the bottom layer, and go to the Edit menu and selecting the Auto-Blend option. This will give you the same options as the Photomerge dialog, but your finished panorama will still contain your layers should you need to refine your blending or positioning.

Thanks for the tutorial. I just tried Photomerge for the first time and it works great. I’m amazed at it. However, while I can use select tools (lassos and so on), I can’t use dodge, burn, heal and so on. (The little circle with diagonal line through appears instead of the tool when I hover over the image.) Therefore, I can’t edit the image. I started the merge from within Bridge. What have I done wrong?

ps – I’ve discovered that if I select just one of the images in the panorama, I can edit that, but when I select more than one, the little circle/ line appears. So I can’t edit more than one part at a time.

I use the photomerge option directly from the bridge
and yes a dialog box does appear

I made a panorama in this way, using the Auto mode in which I was taken to the main screen of photoshop and saw the all the images being stitched together

TJ,

That’s very strange. It sounds like there may have been a problem with the installation. I’d recommend emailing Adobe’s tech support or the Photoshop user forum http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bbf2764/.

Chris,

You’ll need to flatten the layers in your document before you can use the other tools (Layer>Flatten Image). You might want to save a copy of your layered files before flattening to allow you to go back and make adjustments to the original, layered panorama.

I have the CS4 extended. So as to stitch photos I chose the ‘reposition’ option from the ‘photomerge’ window. But the software finishes everything automatically leaving no chance for arrangement! How can I access to the interactive preview?

Bahadir,

Thanks for your note. The Interactive field is no longer an option in Photoshop CS4. Your best bet is to begin your panorama using the File>Scripts>Load Images Into Stack script available in CS3 and CS4 extended. You can then use the Auto-Align images and Auto-blend images to access Photomerge’s image blending features while preserving the layers for future adjustment.

it was awesome thanks

I’ve just installed cS4…was watching the tute when it suddenly showed the ad..for the second time! Now it won’t pick up where it left off so I guess I’ll need to reload where I’ll be forced to watch this extremely annoying and intrusive advertisement for the third time in five minutes. Urgh.

After a reload the same problem..ad, bit of tute, ad, bit of tute…now the tute has disappeared altogether. If Adobe insists on blasting ads at potential upgraders who want to learn how to use their new products they’ve lost me.

..thanks for an informative video.
before I dive too deeply into photomerge…I intend to take several rows of images and merge them vertically and horizontally. I understad that this can be done through cs4 API automatically and without user intervention as mentioned below. Will this work? Thanks

http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=200&message.id=22020&requireLogin=False

I am looking for a program to make virtual tours of houses for a reality company and was wondering if photoshop would be worth the money to get the results I need for panoramic tours?

CS3 is a big improvement over CS2 in many ways in the creation of Panoramic images. My hobby is creating panoramic images while traveling the world, without a tripod.I am creating about 250 images of India at the moment.I have used all modes of the photomerg process and in the final assesment “interactive “is a vital option when all else fails. I was thinking of up grading to CS4, but without the easy use of” interactive” the program is a step backward instead of forward for me.This is the basic hands on photomerg process.I have created about 2000 images over the past 7 years using several program and CS3 is the best to date.Put “interactive” back in the easy options and I will upgrade. Thanks for the vidio and this opertunity to comment.

Thanks for the great tutorial! I will definitely take advantage of the tools here in NM where these types of opportunities are always present given our landscape.

This is a great overview of the photomerge tool, but it would be nice to see how the cylindrical panorama can be exported as a QuickTime movie to be used as a QTVR. Another thing I’d like to see is if it is possible to take a panorama from one photo and make it 3D. It seems PhotoShop requires that at least 2 pictures be used to even create a panorama.

Jay, i have the same problem as TJ. I’ve watched your tutorial and tried making a panorama through bridge. You show a command in Bridge – “Window, PanoResult” which appears to give previews of the different results. When I go to “Window” there is no “PanoResult” option. Any idea why? Is this simething that is only available in the extended version of Photoshop?
Many thanks

Thank You!

what are you going to do?

Jay
Please add interactive back in to CS4 Had I know that this was dropped no way would I have gotten CS4 I do 90% of all photo work. I was forced to revert back to “CS3 Much better over all” The raw are outstanding but 4 in general use is lacking yes there is new items but they are just a defer-en way of doing the same thing. Thanks for your for the information it was vary helpful

Like many of these posters, I am VERY disappointed that Adobe has removed “interactive” as an option. About 30% of the time, Photoshop CS4 just says it can’t line the images up and you have no option to guide it manually, which was true with the CS2 and CS3 versions. This is a significant loss of functionality. Please bring it back!

In the meantime, here is a suggestion based on what I learned to do. In these situations, rather than giving up, I select the files in my finder and choose “open with CS3″ from the contextual right click menu. Then I do photomerge in CS3 and I am usually successful. Obviously, this requires you to leave a copy of the older CS3 Photoshop on the hard drive, but I find that this does not create problems for me. My wife even has a CS2 because her Epson scanner does not work with CS3 or CS4.

John,

Have you tried using the “Load Images Into Stack” option? You can use this through the File>Scripts menu (CS4 Extended) or from Lightroom. Each image will open as a layer, you can position them as necessary and then use the Auto-Align and Auto-blend images commands. This accesses the same merge functions as Photomerge but with a lot more flexibility.

I understand why you’re disappointed Adobe removed the Interactive option, but I feel the new system is, for the majority of users, far more flexible than its predecessor.

Great tutorial thanks. I’m able to follow all the steps and things are going well until the very end. I don’t see a final result. I see the scripts/automation taking place in the progress bar and when it finishes there isn’t a new window or file that I can find with the ‘Untitled_Panorama1′. I’ve tried using different picts all of which have more than enough overlap. I’m using CS4 on a new 8 core Mac Pro with 12Gb RAM. Any help would be appreciated.
Cheers

i want to merge photos for the entire corridor what i was able to make in CS2 but it seems difficult in CS4 with Automate Option. Can i have any option of manully aligned of photo not layers?

Paul,

Sorry for the lengthy delay in responding to your comment. I’ve been out of the country. It sounds like there may be a problem with the installation of the Photomerge plugin. Your best bet is probably to reinstall Photoshop to ensure the Photomerge plugin is installed in the correct location and accessible from both Bridge and PS.

Jitendra,

I apologize for the lengthy delay in responding to your comment. I’ve been out of the country. You can manually adjust the layout of images in PSCS4 Extended using the Auto-Align/Auto-Blend method. Scroll through my comments above for more detailed suggestions on how to best accomplish this.

Best regards,
Jay

Provided good insight of Photo-merge for CS4