Comparison of photo stitching applications

Photo stitching applications are a common inexpensive way of producing panoramic pictures. The other method involves using panoramic cameras or panoramic mirror lenses (i.e. one-shot lenses).

Contents

General

Name Developer(s) Operating system(s) License Price WWW Notes
i2Align Quickage Express / Pro DualAlign LLC Windows XP or Vista; Mac OS X 10.2 or higher Proprietary Express: $50 / Pro: $100 i2Align.com Express is limited to four images per panorama
Pixtra OmniStitcher Pixtra Corp. Windows 95 or later Proprietary $49 Pixtra.com Designed for 360x180 degree omniramas.
Pixtra PanoStitcher Pixtra Corp. Windows 95 or later Proprietary $30 Pixtra.com Includes virtual tool authoring package.
Dermandar Dermandar Browser based (Adobe Flash player required), Apple iOS4 Proprietary Free Dermandar.com Panoramas are uploaded on the Dermandar server and they can be viewed with the provided Flash viewer.
PhotoFit Harmony / Premium Tekmate, Inc. Windows 98 or later Proprietary Harmony: $52 / Premium: $277 PhotoFit4Panorama.com Premium has bigger output size limits (12 vs. 1200 Mpix) and more output projections.
PanoramaPlus X4 Serif (Europe) Ltd. Windows XP or later Proprietary £20 Serif.com Video input.
PanoramaBuilder 7.0 / PanoramaBuilder 7.0 Pro 3cim, Inc. Windows ?? Proprietary $199 / Pro: $499 + annual $199 PanoBuilder.com Price incl. hosting for virtual tours.
360 Panorama Professional 360 Degrees of Freedom Windows only Proprietary $99 360dof.com Includes virtual tool authoring package.
VRstitcher Fisheye Pro 360 Degrees of Freedom Windows only Proprietary $499 360dof.com Includes virtual tool authoring package. specifically designed for fisheye lenses.
COOL 360 Ulead / Corel Corp. Windows, up to XP only Proprietary $40 Corel.com Support discontinued.
PanaVue ImageAssembler Std. / Pro. / Ent. PanaVue Windows 2000 or later Proprietary Std: $64 / Pro: $129 / Ent. $199 PanaVue.com Std. limited to 200 Mpix input or maximum 50 kpix output dimensions. Others up to 10 Gpix.
The Panorama Factory v5 Smoky City Design, LLC Windows 98 or later; Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later Proprietary $80 panoramafactory.com
PixMaker Lite / Home / Business ? Windows 95 or later Proprietary Lite: Free / Home: $20 / Business: $349 Singnet.com
PTAssembler Max Lyons Windows only Proprietary $49 / $299 Tawbaware.com Based on Panorama Tools
Panoweaver Standard / Professional / Batch Easypano Holdings LLC Windows 2000 or later; Mac OS X 10.4 or later Proprietary Standard: $100 / Professional: $500 / Batch: $1000 easypano.com
PTgui / PTgui Pro New House Internet Services BV Windows; Mac OS X Proprietary €79 (personal) / €180 (company); Pro: €149 (personal / €349 (company) ptgui.com Based on Panorama Tools.
Autopano Pro / Giga / Server Kolor Windows 2000 or later; Mac OS X 10.5 or later with Intel processor; Linux 2.6 or later Proprietary Pro: €99; Giga: €199 (+taxes) www.kolor.com
Autostitch Matthew Brown & David Lowe Windows only Proprietary Time limited demo only Autostitch home page
Calico Panorama Kekus Mac only Proprietary $39 kekus.com Based on Autostitch.
hugin Pablo d'Angelo et al. Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD GPL Free hugin.sf.net Based on Panorama Tools.
Stitcher 3.0 3DVista Windows 2000 or later Proprietary €/$199 3dvista.com
D Joiner D Vision Works, Ltd. Windows 95 or later Proprietary £300 d-vw.com
Panorama Maker 6 Arcsoft, Inc. Windows XP/Vista/7; Mac OS X Proprietary $79.99 arcsoft.com Video input, 3D output
Photovista Panorama iseemedia, inc. Windows 98 SE or later; Mac OS 9.1 or later Proprietary $250 iseephotovista.com
PanoramaStudio 2 / Pro Tobias Hüllmandel Software Windows 2000 or later Proprietary €35/70€ tshsoft.de RAW file support. Multirow stitching only with Pro version.
Stitcher Unlimited 2009 Autodesk Windows Vista SP2 or later; Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later Proprietary $400 autodesk.com Export to Flash, VRML, QTVR.
ADG Panorama Tools / Pro Albatross Design Group Windows 95 or later Proprietary $40 / $99 albatrossdesign.com Pro version has ability to create hot spots for virtual tours.
Panorama Composer 3 FirmTools Windows 95 or later Proprietary $30 Panorama.FirmTools.com Includes Flash, ActiveX and Java based viewers for web.
Image Composite Editor Microsoft Windows XP or later Proprietary Free for non-commercial use research.microsoft.com
Panorama Perfect Michal Pohanka Windows 2000 or later Proprietary $29 volny.cz
Photoshop CS5 Adobe Systems Windows; Mac OS X Proprietary $699[1] adobe.com
AIPR Lite 1 Mayachitra, Inc. Windows*; Mac OS X 10.6+* Proprietary $29.95 AIPR Lite (*) both 32 and 64 bit versions available.
Gigapan Stitch 1.0 Gigapan Systems Windows; Mac OS X 10.4 or later Proprietary License fee $9.99 Gigapan Stitch 1.0 Assumes images form approximate grid. Works well on large numbers of images ( hundreds, thousands )
PanoramaMaker STOIK Imaging Windows; Mac OS X Proprietary 39€ STOIK.com
Montage Image Mosaic Caltech/IPAC, JPL, CACR, ISI Unix Non-exclusive and non-commercial open source license issued by Caltech and JPL Free, open source Wikipedia article, official Web site Produces science-grade mosaics for astronomical research
PanoEdit Alexander Boltnev Mac OS X Proprietary $29 www.panoedit.com
Name Developer(s) Operating system(s) License Price WWW Notes

HDR, tonemapping and exposure fusion

Name HDR input (EXR, HDR, Logluv, etc.) Merging to HDR from LDR images HDR output (EXR, HDR, Logluv, etc.) Tonemapping Exposure fusion Notes
i2Align Quickage Express / Pro[2] No Yes* Yes* No No *) Pro version only.
Pixtra PanoStitcher No No No No No
Pixtra OmniStitcher No No No No No
PhotoFit Harmony / Premium No No No No No
PanoramaPlus X4 No No No No No
PanoramaBuilder 7.0 / PanoramaBuilder 7.0 Pro No No No No No
360 Panorama Professional No No No No No
VRstitcher Fisheye Pro No No No No No
COOL 360 No No No No No
PanaVue ImageAssembler Std. / Pro. / Ent. No No No No No
The Panorama Factory v5 No No No No No
PixMaker Lite / Home / Business No No No No No
PTAssembler No No No No Yes Exposure fusion with TuFuse or enfuse. Automatic detection of image stacks.
Panoweaver Standard / Professional / Batch[3] ? Yes* No Yes (Basic gamma adjustment) No *) Professional and Batch versions only
PTgui / PTgui Pro Yes* Yes* Yes* Yes* Yes* Exposure fusion with enfuse or TuFuse. *) Pro version only.
Autopano Pro / Giga / Server Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Autostitch No No No No No
Calico Panorama No No No No No
hugin Yes Yes Yes No Yes Exposure fusion with enfuse, automatic detection of image stacks.
3DVista Stitcher 3.0 No No No No No
D Joiner No No No No No
Panorama Maker 6 No No No No No
Photovista Panorama No No No No No
PanoramaStudio No No No No No
Stitcher Unlimited 2009[4] Yes Yes Yes Yes No
ADG Panorama Tools / Pro No No No No No
Panorama Composer 3 No No No No No
Image Composite Editor No No No No No Supports 16-bit camera raw input via WIC plugins
Panorama Perfect No No No No No
Photoshop Yes Yes Yes Yes No
AIPR Lite 1 No No No Yes* No (*) color mapping around the seams allows to preserve the original photometric properties of the images
Gigapan Stitch 1.0 No No No No No
PanoramaMaker No No No No No
PanoEdit Yes Yes Yes No No EXR and 32 bit TIF are supported for export
Name HDR input (EXR, HDR, Logluv, etc.) Merging to HDR from LDR images HDR output (EXR, HDR, Logluv, etc.) Tonemapping Exposure fusion Notes

Image corrections

Name Panorama leveling Vignetting correction Lens distortion correcting White balance correction Exposure correction Viewpoint adjustment Notes
Dermandar Yes No Yes No Yes No
i2Align Quickage Express / Pro[5] Yes ? Yes ? Yes No
Pixtra PanoStitcher[6] Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Also chromatic aberration correction if correction parameters provided
Pixtra OmniStitcher Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Also chromatic aberration correction if correction parameters provided
PhotoFit Harmony / Premium[7] Yes ? Yes Yes ? No
PanoramaPlus X4[8] Yes ? ? ? ? No
PanoramaBuilder 7.0 / PanoramaBuilder 7.0 Pro ? ? ? ? ? No
360 Panorama Professional ? ? ? ? ? No
VRstitcher Fisheye Pro[9] Yes ? Yes ? ? No
COOL 360 ? ? ? ? ? No
PanaVue ImageAssembler Std. / Pro. / Ent.[10] Yes ? Yes Yes ? No
The Panorama Factory v5[11] ? Yes Yes ? ? No
PixMaker Lite / Home / Business ? ? ? ? ? No
PTAssembler[12] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Panoweaver Standard / Professional / Batch[13] Yes ? Yes Yes (manual) Yes (manual) No
PTgui / PTgui Pro Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[14]
Autopano Pro / Giga / Server Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes*[15] (*) Giga only.
Autostitch Yes No No No No No
Calico Panorama Yes ? ? ? ? No
hugin Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[16]
3DVista Stitcher 3.0 ? ? ? ? ? No
D Joiner[17] No No No No No No
Panorama Maker 6 ? ? ? ? ? No
Photovista Panorama[18] No No No No No No
PanoramaStudio 2 / Pro [19] Yes Yes Yes ? Yes No
Stitcher Unlimited 2009 ? ? ? Yes ? No
ADG Panorama Tools / Pro Yes ? ? Yes ? No
Panorama Composer 3[20] Yes ? ? ? ? No
Image Composite Editor Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
Panorama Perfect[21] Yes Yes ? Yes Yes No
Photoshop Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
AIPR Lite 1 No Yes* Yes No No No (*) color mapping about the seams greatly mitigates the effects of vignetting
Gigapan Stitch 1.0 No No Yes No No No
PanoramaMaker Yes ? Yes ? Yes No
PanoEdit Yes No No No Yes No
Name Panorama leveling Vignetting correction Lens distortion correcting White balance correction Exposure correction Viewpoint adjustment Notes

Export options

Name Raster images (JPEG, TIFF, etc.) Flash viewer Java viewer QTVR HTML 5* Notes
Dermandar Yes Yes No No Yes Includes free Flash and HTML5 viewer.
i2Align Quickage Express / Pro Yes No No No No
Pixtra PanoStitcher Yes Yes Yes Yes No Includes ActiveX viewer & export.
Pixtra OmniStitcher Yes Yes Yes Yes No Includes ActiveX viewer & export.
PhotoFit Harmony / Premium Yes No No Yes No
PanoramaPlus X4 Yes No No Yes No Flickr export.
PanoramaBuilder 7.0 / PanoramaBuilder 7.0 Pro Yes Yes* No No No *) Planar viewer.
360 Panorama Professional Yes No Yes Yes No
VRstitcher Fisheye Pro Yes No Yes ? No
COOL 360[22] Yes No No Yes No Embedding of panoramas into executables (.exe) and Microsoft Office files. ActiveX viewer.
PanaVue ImageAssembler Std. / Pro. / Ent. Yes Yes Yes Yes No
The Panorama Factory v5 Yes No Yes Yes No
PixMaker Lite / Home / Business Yes ? ? ? No
PTAssembler Yes No No No No
Panoweaver Standard / Professional / Batch Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
PTgui / PTgui Pro Yes No No Yes Yes[23]
Autopano Pro / Giga / Server Yes Yes No No No
Autostitch Yes No No No No
Calico Yes No ? ? ?
hugin Yes No No No No
3DVista Stitcher 3.0 Yes No No No No
D Joiner Yes ? Yes No No
Panorama Maker 6 Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Photovista Panorama Yes No Yes No No IVR export.
PanoramaStudio 2 / pro[24] Yes Yes Yes No No
Stitcher Unlimited 2009 Yes Yes Yes Yes No VRML export.
ADG Panorama Tools / Pro Yes No Yes Yes No
Panorama Composer 3 Yes Yes Yes Yes No Includes ActiveX viewer & export.
Image Composite Editor Yes No No No No Publish to Photosynth website, Silverlight based viewer.
Panorama Perfect Yes No No No No
Photoshop Yes ? No No No
AIPR Lite 1 Yes No No No No
Gigapan Stitch 1.0 Yes Yes No No No 3D viewer in stitcher / Publishing to gigapan.org 2D flash viewer / Embeddable flash viewer
PanoramaMaker Yes No No No No
PanoEdit Yes No No No No
Name Raster images (JPEG, TIFF, etc.) Flash viewer Java viewer QTVR HTML 5* Notes

* ) Export to HTML 5 usually means WebGL based viewer application.

Compatible equipment

Name Rectilinear lenses (i.e. normal camera lenses) Fish eye lenses Partial or full (spherical) panoramas or images from panoramic cameras Different focal lengths in single panorama Different lens types in single panorama Perspective correction lenses Other/Notes
i2Align Quickage Express / Pro Yes No No ? ? No
Pixtra PanoStitcher[25] Yes No No Yes No No
Pixtra OmniStitcher[26] Yes Yes No Yes No No
PhotoFit Harmony / Premium Yes No No No No No
PanoramaPlus X4 Yes No No No No No
PanoramaBuilder 7.0 / PanoramaBuilder 7.0 Pro Yes No No No No No
360 Panorama Professional Yes No No No No No
VRstitcher Fisheye Pro Yes Yes No No No No
COOL 360 Yes No No No No No
PanaVue ImageAssembler Std. / Pro. / Ent. Yes Yes* No No No ? *) Circular fish eyes not supported[27], diagonal fish eyes up to 180 degree field of view.
The Panorama Factory v5 Yes No No No No
PixMaker Lite / Home / Business Yes No No No No No
PTAssembler[28] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Panoweaver Standard / Professional / Batch[29] Yes Yes* No No No No * Pro & Batch versions only
PTgui / PTgui Pro Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Autopano Pro / Giga / Server Yes Yes No No No No Also supports motorized panoramic heads, in Giga & Pro versions.
Autostitch Yes ? No No Yes ?
Calico Panorama Yes No No No No No
hugin Yes Yes* Yes Yes Yes Yes * As of v2010.2 onwards, all known fish eye projections are supported (equisolid, orthographic, stereographic)
3DVista Stitcher 3.0 Yes Yes No No No No "One shot" i.e. panoramic mirror lenses also supported.
D Joiner Yes No No No No No
Panorama Maker 6 Yes No No No No No
Photovista Panorama Yes No No No No No
PanoramaStudio 2 / Pro Yes No No No No No
Stitcher Unlimited 2009 Yes Yes Yes ? ? No
ADG Panorama Tools / Pro[30] Yes No Yes* No No No *) Cylindrical only
Panorama Composer 3 Yes No No No No No
Image Composite Editor Yes No No No No No
Panorama Perfect Yes No No No No No
Photoshop Yes No No No No No
AIPR Lite 1 Yes No No Yes Yes Yes* (*) homographic model compensates for these type of lenses
Gigapan Stitch 1.0 Yes No Yes No No No
PanoramaMaker Yes ? ? Yes ? ?
PanoEdit Yes No No No No ?
Name Rectilinear lenses (i.e. normal camera lenses) Fish eye lenses Partial or full (spherical) panoramas or images from panoramic cameras Different focal lengths in single panorama Different lens types in single panorama Perspective correction lenses Other/Notes

References

  1. ^ What is Photoshop?
  2. ^ i2Align online help
  3. ^ Panoweaver HDR help page
  4. ^ Stitcher Unlimited 2009 FAQ
  5. ^ "How Quickage works" page
  6. ^ PanoStitcher tutorial
  7. ^ PhotoFit features
  8. ^ PanoramaPlus X4 quickstart guide
  9. ^ Product detaisl page
  10. ^ ImageAssembler help files
  11. ^ The Panorama Factory feature page
  12. ^ PTAssembler home page
  13. ^ Panoweaver user's manual
  14. ^ PTgui viewpoint correction tutorial
  15. ^ Autopano 2.5 announcement
  16. ^ Hugin tutorial — Stitching murals using mosaic mode
  17. ^ D Joiner tips section
  18. ^ Photovista user's manual
  19. ^ PanoramaStudio feature overview page
  20. ^ Panorama Composer's lens settings
  21. ^ [1]
  22. ^ COOL 360 feature comparison chart & COOL 360 features PDF
  23. ^ PTgui 9.0b
  24. ^ [2]
  25. ^ PanoStitcher feature page
  26. ^ OmniStitcher feature page
  27. ^ PanaVue product comparison table
  28. ^ PTassembler help page
  29. ^ Easypano's edition comparison page
  30. ^ ADG Panorama Tools change log