Support - FAQ

Yes. You can try PanoramaStudio and PanoramaStudio Pro as fully functional trial versions before purchasing. The only limitation is a watermark that is added to the finished panoramas in the trial version. Suitable downloads for Windows and Mac can be found on the Download page.

You can download PanoramaStudio at any time from the Download page on the website.
Without entering a license, PanoramaStudio initially runs as a trial version. You can then activate the full version using your license.

Windows
Install
Double-click the downloaded installer and follow the instructions.
Uninstall
Select Start > Control Panel.
Click Programs and Features.
Double-click Uninstall PanoramaStudio.
or
Type Uninstall PanoramaStudio into the search field in the Windows Start menu or Start screen and click the corresponding entry.

macOS
Install
Double-click the downloaded installer and follow the instructions.
Uninstall
Drag the application icon to the Trash.

If you still have an older version of PanoramaStudio, you can find suitable downloads for your version at any time on the Download page under "Older Versions".

As a customer of an older version, you also have the option of updating to the current major version at a reduced update price.
You can find all information about this under Buy > Update.

A license remains permanently valid. If you need to activate PanoramaStudio again using your license – for example after changing computers – please make sure to install a suitable version and the corresponding Standard or Pro version.

Also make sure that you are using a suitable version. Downloads for older major versions can be found on the download page under “Older Versions”.

To avoid typing errors, it is best to copy and paste the license information into the corresponding fields in PanoramaStudio.

For orders paid by credit card or PayPal, you will normally receive your license immediately. For payment by bank transfer, the license is usually sent within 24 hours after receipt of payment.
In any case, you will receive an order confirmation immediately after completing your order. If you do not receive an email, please first check your email spam folder.

If you cannot find the email, please contact us at support@tshsoft.com.

Yes, a license covers all minor updates of the respective major version.
This means that a license for PanoramaStudio 4 also covers all subsequent 4.x versions.
For example, in the past, all minor updates from PanoramaStudio 3.0 in 2015 through version 3.6 in 2022 were available free of charge.

When a new major version is released, a discounted update is available.
If the previous version was purchased less than 12 months ago, the update to the new major version is also free of charge.

Yes.
A discounted upgrade to the Pro version is available from any Standard version. This applies both to the current Standard version and to any older version purchased through this website.

You can find all information and prices under “Buy > Update".

Licenses purchased since October 2024 can be retrieved from your user account with FastSpring, the reseller that normally provided your activation code.
Click here to log in.

If you have an older license or retrieving it from the reseller is not possible, simply send a short email to support@tshsoft.com.

Yes, PanoramaStudio licenses are cross-platform.
You can use your license to activate both the Windows and Mac versions.
If you switch systems, you can activate PanoramaStudio again on the new computer using your existing license.

Yes. Both the Standard and Pro versions can stitch images in virtually any arrangement into panoramas.

The Pro version also includes a Grid Assistant for pre-sorting very large panoramas consisting of hundreds or thousands of images, and can create HDR panoramas from exposure brackets.

Yes, images can be arranged in virtually any way, including vertically.

There are two possible causes. First, the focal length used during processing may be incorrect or may have been determined incorrectly. See chapter “4.6.2 Correcting Focal Length/Horizon” in the manual.

If, however, the horizon is straight and vertical lines are exactly vertical, curved lines above and below the horizon are caused by the projection or the way the panorama is displayed. A panoramic image is a flat representation of a sphere or cylinder (spherical or cylindrical projection). In this representation, long horizontal lines above and below the horizon inevitably appear curved. This is the only way to display, for example, a complete 360° view in a flat image.

However, the “Projections” mode offers numerous other projections for displaying the panorama in different ways. For a perspective-correct representation of sections of a panorama, use the Perspective (Rectilinear) projection.

There are two basic ways to retouch a tripod or the nadir point of a panorama:

Option 1) Covering it with a graphic

After alignment, you can use “Edit > Insert Graphic” to place any graphic over the ground, such as a circular logo. This provides a quick and easy way to cover the tripod.

Option 2) Retouching it with an additional ground image

A more realistic option is to remove the tripod after the last shot and take an additional handheld image of the ground. Try to keep the camera in approximately the same position as for the other images. Then import all images into PanoramaStudio.

Open the Image Manager and activate the Viewpoint Correction for the ground image. This compensates for slight deviations from the nodal point that may occur when taking the handheld image.

Then use the Mask Tool to mask the areas where the tripod is visible in the other images. Perform the image alignment as usual and make any further corrections if necessary.

This allows you to create a fully filled spherical panorama without a visible tripod on the ground.

Yes. Existing panoramic images can be loaded into PanoramaStudio using Import Panoramic Image... and connected to form a virtual tour. It does not matter whether they were taken with a panoramic camera or created using other software or PanoramaStudio.

When importing images from a panoramic camera, use the equirectangular panoramas produced by the camera or its associated software. The original raw images from the panoramic camera are not required.

The subsequent procedure is the same as for creating a tour from panoramas stitched from individual images. The various options and functions for creating virtual tours are described in detail in section 4.3.

For an HDR panorama, take an exposure bracket with different exposure times at each camera position instead of taking a single image. Depending on the subject, three, five, or seven exposures with different exposure levels may be appropriate.

The images in an exposure bracket should ideally be taken from exactly the same camera position. A tripod and the camera's AEB mode (automatic exposure bracketing) are ideal, but handheld exposure brackets can also be processed.

Otherwise, take the images just as you would for a conventional panorama: rotate the camera step by step around the panorama axis and make sure that there is sufficient overlap between adjacent images.

A special feature of PanoramaStudio: You do not need to sort or import the exposure brackets separately. Simply import all images together. PanoramaStudio automatically recognizes the corresponding exposure brackets, assigns them to the respective camera positions, and aligns the images just as it does for a normal panorama.

Import all individual images or the images from the exposure brackets as usual in “Create Panorama” mode using “Import...”. Then let PanoramaStudio stitch the images together using “Align”. PanoramaStudio automatically recognizes corresponding exposure brackets and activates the preset HDR mode – HDR/Tone Mapping or Exposure Fusion.

In the “HDR” editing mode, you can switch between the HDR modes, adjust the respective Tone Mapping or Exposure Fusion parameters, and further optimize the panorama using basic image editing filters.

An interactive panorama consists of several files that need to be uploaded to the web server together. The simplest approach is therefore to save the panorama in a separate folder and then upload the entire folder to the web server.

Save and upload the panorama

First save the interactive panorama in a new, empty folder. PanoramaStudio creates all files required for the panorama in this folder. Then upload the entire folder unchanged to the web server using an FTP program or your web host's file manager.

You can then open the generated HTML file containing the interactive panorama directly in a browser, link to it from other pages of your website, or share the link.

Embed the panorama in an existing website

If you want to embed the panorama directly into an existing website, using an <iframe> is the simplest option. Insert the following HTML code into your website and adjust src, width, and height as required:

<iframe 
    src="Path to Panorama.html"
    style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0;"
    allowfullscreen>
</iframe>

For optimal display, it is recommended to save the panorama using the “Fit to Page Size” option. This allows the panorama to automatically adapt to the size of the <iframe>.

Further options for embedding and configuring panoramas, for example for custom website integrations, are described in the PanoramaStudio Viewer documentation.

Maximum size

There is generally no size limit for interactive panoramas. When exporting, PanoramaStudio divides the panorama into small image tiles that are loaded dynamically depending on the current view and zoom level. As a result, only the currently required area needs to be loaded, which usually takes only a few tenths of a second.

You can therefore export interactive panoramas at their full resolution without any problems. This preserves maximum detail even when zooming in. Even very large Gigapixel panoramas are possible.

The additional image data required for the different zoom levels does require some extra storage space, but with today's typical hosting plans this is usually not a problem. Reducing the panorama resolution is therefore normally unnecessary.

Minimum size

Since only a section of the entire image is visible at any one time in a 360° panorama, the panorama should have a significantly higher resolution than a high-resolution 4K monitor. As a rule of thumb, a width of at least 12,000 pixels or a total resolution of around 72 megapixels is recommended – preferably more. This is particularly important if fine details should remain visible when zooming in.

There are two ways to connect multiple panoramas into a virtual tour: the Tour Gallery for a simple overview of all panoramas, or linking individual panoramas using Hotspots.

Tour Gallery

The simplest and quickest way to combine multiple panoramas into a tour is the Tour Gallery. Export all interactive panoramas to the same folder and activate the corresponding option under “Tour Gallery” in the export settings of each panorama.

PanoramaStudio then automatically creates an overview of all interactive panoramas in that folder and integrates it into the panoramas. The individual panoramas are displayed as thumbnails at the bottom of the viewer and can be selected directly. This creates a simple virtual tour without manually linking the panoramas.

Hotspots

Hotspots can be used to specifically link panoramas with each other. Hotspots are graphical elements or icons that can be inserted and edited in PanoramaStudio's Hotspots mode. Link Hotspots can point to other panoramas or websites, while Info Hotspots can display additional information.

To create a virtual tour, place a Link Hotspot at the desired location in the panorama and link it to the target panorama. When the hotspot is clicked, the viewer can switch directly to the linked panorama without leaving the current webpage. Cross-fade effects between panoramas are also possible.

To open a panorama directly within the PanoramaStudio Viewer, enter the .js parameter file of the target panorama in the hotspot's URL field and select myself as the HTML Target.

Example: To link from one panorama to a panorama named panorama2 in the same folder:

URL:

HTML Target:

This allows any number of panoramas to be linked together and even complex virtual tours to be created. By placing hotspots at suitable locations in the panoramas, you can, for example, provide navigation to adjacent rooms, buildings, or viewpoints.

Embedding in a website

Embedding a virtual tour in a website works in exactly the same way as embedding a single interactive panorama. Upload the panoramas and their associated files to the web server and then embed the HTML file of the tour in your website, for example using an <iframe>. If the panoramas are linked using relative paths via hotspots or all stored in the same folder, the links will work after uploading just as they did locally on your computer.

The PanoramaStudio Viewer can integrate a Google Maps map into interactive panoramas and virtual tours and display the locations of the individual panoramas. The panoramas must have GPS location information. This information can either already be embedded in the image files or be added later in PanoramaStudio using “Edit Location and Orientation...”.

To activate the map, select “Show Location on Map” in the export settings. During export, PanoramaStudio automatically searches the output folder for additional panoramas containing location information and also displays their positions as markers on the map. This allows the map to be used for an entire tour without manually entering the individual locations.

The location of the currently displayed panorama is highlighted on the map. You can also display a radar indicating the current viewing direction of the panorama on the map. The map can be placed above or below the viewer controls. The map type, initial zoom level, and other display options can also be configured. Available map types include, for example, “Satellite”, “Roadmap”, “Hybrid”, and “OpenStreetMap”. Note: The OpenStreetMap option uses the corresponding map data, but the Google Maps API is still used for displaying the map.

Google Maps API

The PanoramaStudio Viewer uses the Google Maps JavaScript API to display the map. You need a Google Maps API key to use it, which you can create through Google. Instructions for creating an API key can be found in the Google Maps JavaScript API documentation.

Enter the API key in PanoramaStudio under “Google Maps API key”.

For typical applications, usage will in most cases remain within Google's free allowance. However, extensive use of the Google Maps API may incur charges. For current information on pricing and creating an API key, please refer directly to Google.

In principle, PanoramaStudio can process images from any conventional camera, drone, or smartphone. The Pro version also supports fisheye lenses.
For faster and somewhat more reliable processing, however, it is helpful if PanoramaStudio already knows certain technical details about the camera. This information is provided by the integrated camera database, which already contains more than 2,900 models. If your camera is not yet included, you can add it relatively easily.
However, images from completely new or not yet supported cameras can usually also be processed without any problems.

DNG images can be imported directly, as can RAW files from more than 1,270 camera models.
If RAW import is not yet supported for your camera, you can either use the corresponding software provided by the manufacturer or a specialized RAW converter. When using an external RAW converter, convert the RAW files to a lossless format with high color depth (e.g. DNG or 16-bit TIFF) and then import these images into PanoramaStudio.

The output options only become available once the panorama has been completed.
If these functions are grayed out, this step has not yet been completed.

Creating a panorama basically consists of two steps:
Align and Render

After automatic Align, you can check and, if necessary, edit the panorama in the preview. It is then rendered at full size and quality using Render. Only after this step are the various output formats and the export as an interactive HTML5 panorama available.

You can find the current processing status and information about the next step in the status bar at the bottom of the program window and in the information box in the upper-right corner of the workspace.
A quick guide to creating a panorama can also be found in the included manual. Finished panoramas can even be exported with the trial versions.

PanoramaStudio includes a printing option that allows you to print your panoramas across multiple pages as a poster, which you can then assemble afterwards.
If you want to have your panorama printed as a single poster in photo quality, numerous printing services now offer special panorama formats for printing large panoramic images with the appropriate aspect ratios.

There is indeed no general Undo function (yet). However, there are ways to undo individual editing steps.
Before creating the panorama, all changes to the individual images can be reverted using Individual Images > Restore Originals.
After the panorama has been created, all stitching steps can be modified using the functions in the Edit menu.
All post-processing steps can be undone by running Render again.

PanoramaStudio does not have particularly high hardware requirements. Even on an average modern PC or Mac, normal panoramas can be created comfortably. The main factors affecting processing speed are the processor, RAM, and a fast storage drive.

For simple panoramas with only a few individual images, virtually any current computer with at least 8 GB of RAM is sufficient. For large panoramas with hundreds or thousands of images, high-resolution images, or HDR exposure brackets, more powerful hardware can make a noticeable difference.

RAM: For normal panoramas, 8 or 16 GB of RAM is generally sufficient. For very large Gigapixel panoramas or extensive HDR projects, 32 or 64 GB or more is recommended. PanoramaStudio has its own memory management and can process very large projects even with less RAM, although additional memory can significantly speed up processing.

SSD: A fast SSD is particularly beneficial for large projects. When processing large panoramas, large amounts of data may have to be temporarily swapped to an SSD or hard drive. A fast SSD significantly reduces the required access and transfer times. Sufficient free storage space should also be available for very large panoramas.

In short: A current standard PC is sufficient for normal panoramas. If you regularly process large Gigapixel panoramas or extensive HDR projects, you will benefit most from plenty of RAM and a fast SSD.

No, there is no fixed limit.
The only limitations are imposed by the available hardware.
Even on average hardware, a panorama can consist of several thousand images.

The main requirement is sufficient free storage space. PanoramaStudio has its own memory management, so even 16 GB of RAM is sufficient to process panoramas consisting of 2,000 images or more. This requires several hundred gigabytes of free disk or SSD space. The location can be configured, so external storage can also be used – under “File > Settings > General > Folder for Temporary Data”.

For extremely large projects, however, more RAM means faster processing. A large amount of RAM can speed up the processing of very large panoramas considerably, as swapping data to and from storage can otherwise become a bottleneck when RAM is limited.

There is also no fixed upper limit for the size of a panorama.
PanoramaStudio can create extremely large panoramas with thousands of megapixels or several Gigapixels – some examples can be found in the gallery on the website.

Processing

The main requirement for processing is sufficient free storage space on the hard drive or SSD. PanoramaStudio has its own memory management and can therefore process very large panoramas with an average amount of RAM. For particularly large projects, however, additional RAM can significantly speed up processing because less data has to be swapped during processing.

For very large projects, sufficient free storage space should therefore be available. The folder for temporary data can be selected freely under “File > Settings > General > Folder for Temporary Data”. This also allows another or external drive to be used if necessary.

Output

When exporting, the specifications of individual image formats may limit the maximum image size. The classic JPEG format supports a maximum width and height of 65,535 pixels. For a spherical panorama, this theoretically corresponds to a maximum size of around 2 Gigapixels. The Photoshop PSD format is limited to 30,000 pixels, while the PSB format supports up to 300,000 pixels.

PanoramaStudio takes these limitations into account during export and offers a selection of image formats suitable for the size of the panorama.

There is no such limitation when exporting as an interactive panorama. The image data prepared for the PanoramaStudio Viewer is divided into individual areas (tiles) and loaded dynamically depending on the current view and zoom level. This means that even extremely large panoramas can be published as interactive panoramas without reducing their resolution beforehand.