Hi Jenise,
One thing that comes to mind when preparing for a photomerge is that all of the images must be scanned at the exactly the same dpi. Any variation from image to image and things won’t work. The images don’t have to be the same overall size, just the same dpi. Also, photomerge likes to have a 20% to 40% overlap between images for automatic merging.
I’ve done merging of map images where there was zero overlap, that is the images were exactly adjacent to each other, and it can be done, with patience.
Kyle
P.S.: PSE2 will merge any type of image that it can open, though you’re probably best off working with TIFFs from the scanner.
K
PhotoMerge doesn’t care AT ALL about "dpi".
You just need images of same pixel dimension on vertical dimension, assuming you are merging left/right.
Image of for example, 800pixels high work fine, even if one is saved at 72ppi and one saved at 7200ppi (your "dpi" term).
Only the actual pixel count matters…
M
Mac – Once the documents are in Elements you are absolutely correct – it is the number of pixels that is important. However I think Kyle could be right about the scanning – if you want scanned in portions of the same document to line up correctly in photomerge you need to make sure that the scanner is set to the same ppi for all the scans – at least the low end scanners that I have worked with are set up that way, as they seem to work with ppi rather than pixel dimensions.
wrote:
I have Photoshop Elements 2.0 that I am running on Windows XP pro. I am trying to scan large map-type documents and assemble, and not having any luck. I was saving the scans as pdfs, then as jpegs, last try was as tifs. Nothing works. What happens is that invariably I will get some or none that will merge, and when I drag in the remaining thumbnails, they are either too big or too little and I can’t figure out how to make them the same size as the part that is already merged.
Anyone have an idea of what I am doing wrong?
Make sure you scan each segment of the map at the same resolution and that you overlap each segment at least 20%. I can’t imagine why that wouldn’t work for this application. And I never thought about that usage, thanks.
Susan has it. If you have two roads that cross from one image to another then, at the point where you’re going to merge them, they must be the same number of pixels apart in each image or things aren’t going to line up.
One of the challenges when working with Photomerge is that not only do you need the same number of pixels, but the angles must be consistent. If one of the photographs is turned even just a little bit, it can really mess things up when you try to merge the pictures. I have been experimenting with Photomerge on some landscape photographs. At least my experience has shown that I get more usable merges when I have mounted the camera on a tripod and carefully planned the angles before I start shooting. We have experimented with a few handheld images, and even a little bit of front to back shifting of position can make the merge unmanageable or even impossible. It is a fun technique to play with, but it’s quite a challenge to get images that will merge well. At least that has been my challenge.
I have tried so many things and nothing is working. I am ready to take a flying leap 🙂
When I scan, nothing is changing so everything should be saving with the same dpi. I’m not sure I understand the pixel thing, but if I am not changing any settings, should everything remain the same?
Maybe it is all an angle issue. But would that be why the thumbnail isn’t "growing" to match the other thumbnail when I am dragging it into the main area?
I’m becoming more dazed and confused by the minute.
I’m glad it’s you who is trying to do this project. It seems to me that if these are maps then you would have to devise some method to make sure each scan covered the same amount of the area, using the correct angles, with precisely the same amount of overlap in order to make the merge work properly. When I shoot images in anticipation of creating a panorama I make sure I have the zoom set properly so that I will have a well-framed image throughout the shooting sequence, and then I don’t change the position of the zoom. Otherwise, the images simply will not line up properly for me. So I personally feel that Photoshop Elements probably is not the program you would want to use for the type of Photomerge that you are trying to accomplish. Having said that, I have no other recommendations either.
I think a big photocopier is what I need… 🙂
Hi ho hi ho it’s off to Kinko’s I go…
Jenise,
Its been awhile, but I’ve used Photomerge a lot in past. The automatic feature hardly ever works, so don’t get discouraged by it’s failure. PSE1 was better than 2 in that regard as you could just turn off the automatic try & not waste time waiting for it to fail. JPG will fail faster than TIF so you can try manually overlapping much sooner with JPG!
I’ve done photos galore, & scanned maps. Maps are hard if you are a perfectionist, because the overlap doesn’t align perfectly (due to imperfect angles and scans) so some roads will be crooked / blended. Not much different from a photocopy though, or scotch tape, which will also have imperfect overlap edges. Best not to expect perfect maps!
I reread your posts but can’t see your pixel/scaling issue. Maybe you already tried this but… If you open the images normally with PSE, tile the windows, and scale each to actual pixels (right click with magnifying glass tool), do they look the same size / scaling? If so, you should be able to merge manually (since auto is piece of junk). If they don’t look the same scale with actual pixels, then Image – Resize – Image size the ones that are off to get same, save as new name, and then merge.
It should work, I’ve done many scanned maps. Good luck!
Carl
WOW!!!!! I didn’t know how to do that pixel/scaling thing and that totally fixed it. It is as close to perfect as I think it can be…someone would really have to scrutinize it to see where there is a slight bend on just one property boundary!!
FABULOUS!!
THANK YOU!!!!! 🙂
Well, in the sense that if pix are same physical height, then sure, you must scan at same ppi to get same number of pixels.
That’s the only reason ppi would even enter into the thing. But it’s not important at what ppi the images are saved.
You could save one at 72 and one at 7200, and they’d both still have exact same pixel count on the side.
M
Jenise – You’re welcome. I was partly guessing, so both lucky & glad it helped! – Carl
