Adobe Photoshop CS3 offers a nice array of improvements.  I cannot remember the exact upgrade (I want to say from v6 to v7) but there have been times when upgrading to the newest version just didn’t seem worth the time or money.  CS3 is different, and the panoramic merge improvements are just one of many examples.

With the previous version of Photoshop that I was used to, CS, I found that the panoramic merge, while a nifty utility, left a little to be desired.  However, there are new improvements to this merging engine that I think vastly enhance the output.  First, I noticed a change in the options available.

The “Auto” option at the very top was what I noticed right off the bat, and since it seemed like it would require the least amount of work, I ran with it.

I tested this new option on two photos.  First, I did not really setup this shot properly, but tested it out anyway.  I took this at Fort Clinch State Park in Amelia Island, Florida.  The final size of the image is 11560 x 2241.  This was merged from a total of 4 photos which were shot by my shaky and unsteady hands.  Unfortunately, I had no tripod with me so that was not an option. 

The results were not bad.  I did some correction in Photoshop and minor tweaking.  For example, I added in the boat, which I took.  I also had to correct some of the areas where the photos were merged as CS3 did not line them up correctly.  I have found that this is more the case with photos not shot on tripods.

Here is the result:

Flickr

Most recently, I actually planned a shot at a local historic battlefield site.  I set up the tripod and took about 4 or 5 shots for this one to specifically merge with CS3.  This park, the largest in Henry County (200+ acres), is said to have been the site for battles during the Civil War. 

Here is the result:

Flickr

So far, the shots taken on tripod have been great.  The one above required very little editing at all.  In fact, the only real Photoshop work was done to remove a truck that was unloading some items on one of the fields in preparation for an event.  I checked the image at 100% and found it to be rather seamless, which impressed me.

This new merging technique is really nifty, to say the least.  Leaving the layers in tact to see some of the behind the scenes work is nice.  The software takes patches of the photos and truly merges everything rather than just overlapping them on top of another and calling it a day.

The photomerge improvements are a nice addition to the upgrade.