What can I use to stitch panoramic photos together?
QI see that Microsoft has withdrawn Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor, see www.snipca. com/42047) from download. I found this a very useful program for creating wide-angle panorama images from a set of photos. Can you recommend a similar free program I can use instead?
AIt’s a shame that Microsoft decided to ditch support for Image Composite Editor. ICE was a great tool with a very straightforward interface and, unfortunately, there’s no like-for-like equivalent available.
Many of the best panorama tools are included within expensive paid-for programs, such as Adobe Lightroom (from £10 a month). Meanwhile, some of the better free tools, such as Autostitch (www.snipca.com/42049), haven’t been updated in a while, so we wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending them.
The closest thing to ICE at the moment is probably Hugin (www. snipca.com/42043), a free program that stitches photos you’ve taken into panoramic images. It’s pretty good, too. Click the ‘Load images’ button ( 1 in our screenshot) then select your shots and Hugin will arrange them in the preview area. Click the Move/drag tab and rearrange them yourself if they’re not in the correct order. Next click Align
2 – this will analyse the images and attempt to connect them together in the best way possible. Finally, click ‘Create panorama’ 3 . If results don’t look right, there are plenty of settings you can play with. These aren’t particularly easy to use though, so refer to its online tutorials if you need help.
There are also several mobile apps that promise to stitch panoramas seamlessly, but most are fairly poor. One you could try is Bimostitch (free with ads on Android, www. snipca.com/42044) or (£3.49 on IOS, www.snipca. com/42045). Bimostitch is pretty basic – you just load your selected images and let the app attempt to stitch them together. Results can be a bit hit and miss.
Do you need our advice on what software to use? Just email us at letters@computeractive.co.uk