8.3. Stage 3

8.3.1. Stitching the horizontal row

Stitcher's interface is fairly basic: there's a toolbar below the main menu; most of the screen is filled by the Stitching Window, where the photographs are assembled; a picture gallery called the Image Strip runs along the bottom.

When you launch Stitcher for the first time, set the various preferences (Edit → Preferences) for memory allocated to the program, thumbnail size, and display quality.

As my photographs were imported (File→Load Images), they appeared as thumbnails in the Image Strip. To place the first photograph, I dragged it into the Stitching Window; the photo automatically appeared centered in the window, with a green border.

Main menu

Toolbar

Stitching window

Image strip

As with any program, it's often easier and faster to use keyboard shortcuts. Here are Stitcher's main (Windows) shortcuts: Alt-rightclick to rotate the workspace; Shift-right-click to rotate a picture; Alt-click to move the workspace; Alt-Ctrl-click to zoom in and out.

I proceeded to position the second photograph the same way, carefully placing it ontop of the first, making the overlap area as clear as possible. I then launched Calibration (Tools → High Distortion→Calibrate), and Stitcher corrected the optical distortion for the entire group of pictures being placed.

The first two pictures arranged in the Stitching Window are especially important. For Stitcher's calibration to work optimally, choose two photographs with as much information as possible, and a generous overlap.

I then positioned the rest of the pictures from the middle (horizontal) row, dragging them into the Stitching Window one after the other. Taking care to overlap them as much as possible, I assembled the photos either by using the contextual menu (by right-clicking the picture) or by pressing Enter.

By default, the Stitching Window will move the most recently stitched photo to the center.

I've gotten into the habit of regularly estimating the focal length used (Stitch→Adjust All Images). When Stitcher recalculates the focal length, it refreshes the workspace display to keep it as close to reality as possible.

I can go to Edit → Properties whenever I like, to confirm that Stitcher has correctly calculated the focal length (about 27.2mm). Because this calculation is done automatically, Stitcher will sometimes suggest an incorrect focal length. When I type in the 27.2mm value directly, theStitching Window display adjusts immediately.

When I reached the last picture in the horizontal row, I selected Stitch→Close Panorama. The appearance of the Stitching Window changed (the background turned blue) and I positioned the last photo on top of the first one. I confirmed the match by pressing Enter, and Stitcher quickly recalculated and refined all the pictures' focal lengths.