Learn How to Make a Panoramic Photo in Corel Paint Shop Pro
Taking the Photos
Creating a panoramic photo in Corel Paint Shop Pro begins with you and your camera. You want to be sure to get the series of photos as close to seamless as you can. Using a tripod can help you do this, as it allows the camera to be at the same height each time, and allows you simply shift its position slightly each time you take a photo for your panoramic picture. It is also helpful to overlap each photographed section a tiny bit, so there are no gaps when you are attempting to piece them all together.
Remember that a panoramic photo can go horizontally or vertically, with each creating interesting layouts. This article will be covering how to create a horizontal panoramic image, but you can easily translate the instructions into a vertical image.
How to Make a Panoramic Photo in Corel Paint Shop Pro
Preparing Paint Shop Pro
Once you have the photos you want to put together, it is time to load them onto your computer and open them in Paint Shop Pro. This tutorial on how to make a panoramic photo in Corel Paint Shop Pro is using version X2, but these steps will also work in anything from Paint Shop Pro 9 up.
In the Quickview toolbar at the bottom, find the folder with your photos, open it, and scroll to them. This will make switching back and forth easier.
Determining File Size
When you have the pieces of your photo imported to the program, take a look at the first image size by right clicking on it and selecting Image Information. Write down the height of the image and the width. Now go to File>New and create a blank document. This document’s height should be the same as the height of your panorama pieces, and the width will be the width of one photo times the number of photos you have.
For example, the photos I am using each have a height of 600 pixels and a width of 800 pixels, and I have three photos. So the size of my new blank document will have a height of 600 pixels and a width of 2400 pixels (800x3).
Helpful Screenshots
Stitching Your Photos Together
Select the first image and double click to open it in your workspace, then right click on the image and select Copy. Then close the image by clicking the x in gray area in the top right. Be sure not to hit the X which will close the whole program, only the one which will close the current image! Once closed, you should be back to you blank document. Right click on it and select Paste as New layer.
Select the Move tool in the toolbar and move your image to the side, making sure to line it up with the side, top, and bottom. Now repeat the steps for the remaining images, lining them up accordingly. Overlap the image edges as needed to line up the scene perfectly. This will create some extra canvas at the end of your panoramic photo, but that can easily be fixed by selecting the crop tool and cropping out the negative space.
Images
Making Necessary Adjustments
Sometimes there is the possibility not all images will come out with the same lighting and color tone, creating an obvious flaw in the flow of the panoramic image. Once you’ve got all of the pieces together this becomes very obvious, but easy to fix.
Select the layer the “flawed” photo is on to be sure not to affect the rest of the photos. Then select Adjust>Brightness/Contrast>Curves. Adjust the curves for brightness and contrast levels, and if needed, you can adjust the Hue/Saturation by going to that sub-menu under the Adjust menu.
Once you have the lighting, contrast, and tone correct throughout your picture, you can right click on the first layer in the Layers toolbox and select Merge All. You have now learned how to create a panoramic photo in Corel Paint Shop Pro, and can continue to make many interesting and beautiful pictures!
You might also be interested in checking out Bright Hub’s other Paint Shop Pro tutorials and resources.
Final Panoramic Photo in Corel Paint Shop Pro
