Create a Photomerge panorama interactively



Generally, the automatic options in the Photomerge dialog box create satisfactory panoramas. If these options don’t produce the results you want, select the Interactive Layout option. The Photomerge dialog box for interactive layouts lets you manually rearrange your source images.

  1. Choose the Interactive Layout option in the main Photomerge dialog box to open the Photomerge interactive dialog box.
  2. Do any of the following:

    • Select Reposition Only and Snap To Image to preserve the alignment at overlapping image areas. Photoshop Elements applies blending to even out differences of exposure between the source images.

    • Select Perspective and Photoshop Elements selects one of the source images to supply a vanishing point. It also stretches or skews the other images to create a wraparound effect. Use the Vanishing Point tool to change the vanishing point and reorient the perspective.

  3. Drag the images to the work area and manually arrange them.
  4. After arrange the composition, click OK to generate the panorama as a new file. The composition then opens in Photoshop Elements.

The Photomerge dialog box for interactive layouts

The Photomerge dialog box contains tools for manipulating the composition, a lightbox for storing source images that are not in use, a work area for assembling the composition, and options for viewing and editing the composition. You can also zoom in and out to better see the alignment of each file.

Photomerge interactive layout dialog box.

A.
Lightbox

B.
Tools

C.
Work area

D.
Selected image

E.
Status bar

  • To navigate, select the Hand tool  and drag within the work area. Or, drag the view area (the red box) or the scroll bar of the navigator.
  • To zoom, click the Zoom In icon  and Zoom Out icon , or use the Zoom tool . Hold down Alt to zoom out with the Zoom tool.
  • To rotate images, select the Select Image tool , click the image you want to rotate, select the Rotate tool  and then drag in a circular motion around the image.
  • To reorder images in the lightbox, select the Select Image tool and drag an image in the lightbox.
  • To add an image to the composition, select the Select Image tool, and then drag the image from the lightbox to the work area.
  • To remove an image from the composition, select the Select Image tool, and then drag the image from the work area to the lightbox.
Make sure Snap To Image is selected to automatically snap overlapping images into place when a commonality is detected.

Change the vanishing point in a Photomerge panorama

The Vanishing Point tool selects the vanishing point image, which changes the perspective of the Photomerge panorama composition.

  1. Select Perspective in the Settings area of the Photomerge dialog box. The middle image is the default vanishing point image (it has a blue border around it when selected).
  2. Select the Vanishing Point tool , and click on an image in the work area to make it the vanishing point image. There can only be one vanishing point image in a composition.
    Note: Hold down the Alt key when you move the pointer over an image to show the selection border of the photo.
  3. If necessary, use the Select Image tool  to adjust the position of the non-vanishing point images. A non-vanishing point image has a red border around it when selected.

    When you apply perspective correction to a composition, the non-vanishing point images are linked to the vanishing point image. You can break this link by clicking the Reposition Only button, by separating the images in the work area, or by dragging the vanishing point image back to the lightbox. After the link is broken, images return to their original shapes.

    The perspective correction only works up to an approximately 120° angle of view. If your composition has a wider angle of view, deselect the Perspective option.