*** From the Archives ***

This article is from January 10, 2007, and is no longer current.

Auto-Stitch with Photoshop CS3

When you have a series of images you want to stitch together in a panorama or grid, the auto-align and auto-blend tools in Photoshop CS3 are your best solution. They’re two incredibly powerful tools that are best used in tandem. In a way, they’re like the Photomerge of old, but CS3 does it a lot better.
In this tutorial, we’ll create a panorama.

Step 1

Open all the images that will make up your panorama in Photoshop CS3. Drag each image onto a separate layer in the same document and hold the shift key to center each image (Figure 1). You could also use a script to open the images and place them into a single layered document.


Figure 1.

Select all the layers by clicking on the bottom layer in the layers palette, holding Shift, and clicking the top layer. For this to work, you cannot have any locked or linked layers except for the background.

Step 2

Choose Edit>Auto-Align Layers. You will now see a dialog box with four options (Figure 2). For the majority of panoramas, the auto option will work the best. Click OK.


Figure 2.

Step 3

After Photoshop does a little thinking, you will see your images arranged in such a way that they overlap each other nicely (Figure 3). Don’t worry about the seams and color differences at this point. The important thing is the arrangement.


Figure 3. Click image to see larger version.

My example has eight images. Notice that the canvas size has automatically changed to accommodate all the images.

Step 4

Choose Edit>Auto-Blend Layers. Very quickly, Photoshop adjusts the exposure and white balance of each image and prepares a layer mask with gradients between images. Figure 4a is a close-up that shows what a good job Auto-Blend has done with these images. Figure 4b is a comparison of panoramas created by Photoshop CS2’s Photomerge and by the Photoshop CS3 beta. What a difference!


Figure 4a. Click image to see larger version.

Figure 4b. The results of CS2’s Photomerge are on top; CS3 beta results are below. Click image to see larger version.

Step 5

Finally, crop and display your panorama (Figure 5). The hardest part of all this is trying to find a printer large enough to output these massive files!

Figure 5. Click image to see larger version.
 

  • kipfxdesign says:

    Thankyou, this was easy enough to understand, and have had three awesome results already, Scottish scenery will not fit on one lens :) .
    I am an amateur in all ways, but have a great creative streak, which is blagging me through, tutorials like these help me expand my abilities, I pray for the day I can post these and help another newbie.

    Again, Thanks!

  • petralian says:

    Or you could take the even easier road and use
    File > Automate > Photomerge and make things even easier ;-)

    Cheers, Nathan

  • Anonymous says:

    Very helpfull, thank you!

  • Anonymous says:

    Thank you very much, worked perfect!

  • Anonymous says:

    Thank’s Colin, Much appreciated!

  • Anonymous says:

    Very useful! I followed your guide, and i am truly amazed by the photoshop!! thanks …

  • Anonymous says:

    This tutorial can prove to be incredibly frustrating if you are completely unfamiliar with Photoshop CS3. I am mostly referring to the first step involving those “layers” because it is incredibly vague on 1) how you can open several photos on a single document, 2) drag them onto individual layers, and 3) practically eveything else involved with that first task.

    This comment might seem completely laughable to most who will read this but the frustrations that this tutorial can give you if you do not have prior experience with the ins-and-outs of Photoshop CS3 are unbearable.

    This is a very well intentioned explanation but I’m afraid that for many like me it just leads to more questions than answers.

  • Anonymous says:

    Thanks for the tip!

  • Anonymous says:

    great tutorial, worked on cs4 as well :)

  • Anonymous says:

    Thank You so much, I am actually using this for scrapbook pages, scanning in two lots and then editing to stitch them together, works a treat!

    Thanks again!

  • Anonymous says:

    As a previous poster mentioned, it’s much easier to just do “File – Automate – Photomerge”. You don’t have to mess with putting in layers or anything. A window just pops up and allows you to search for the files/pics you want to stitch together! Thanks to whoever gave that tip!

  • Anonymous says:

    Thanks for posting this tutorial :) I managed to stitch various panoramas I had that Canon´s own software did badly but in PS CS3 Extended did it smoothly!

  • Anonymous says:

    Hey this is a simple yet great tutorial, thanks!!!!

  • Anonymous says:

    When I googled “photoshop panorama cs3” this was, thankfully, the first hit! After years of using Photoshop, I’ve never needed/wanted to do a panorama until now and your tutorial got me from start to finish in less than 5 minutes. While some may want a more automated, hand-holding method, yours was just what I needed, especially giving me more control over the process and final result. Thanks!

  • Anonymous says:

    Thanks for that ;)

  • Anonymous says:

    This helped me a lot! :)

  • >
    Notice: We use cookies on our websites to give you a great online experience. If you keep browsing, we'll assume you're ok with this. For more information, see our privacy policy. By closing this banner, you agree to the use of cookies.I AGREENo