Setting up a Photomerge composition

The setup information you provide instructs Photoshop Elements which source files to use and how to process them. You can choose to let Photoshop Elements create a composition automatically, in which case it tries to find similar image areas and align them. Or, you can choose to simply load the source images and assemble the composition yourself. If you choose to have Photoshop Elements automatically detect and align your images, you can still override the results in the assembly window.

To set up a new Photomerge composition:

1 Choose File > Photomerge.

2 Click Add in the Photomerge dialog box.

3 Navigate to the source files and select the files for your Photomerge composition.

4 Click Open to add the files to the Source Files list in the Photomerge dialog box. You can always remove a file from the Source Files list by selecting the file and clicking Remove.

Note: For information on opening an existing composition, see Saving and opening Photomerge compositions.

5 Specify an Image Size Reduction value to set the size at which the source files are imported. A reduction value of at least 50% is recommended for 2 megapixels or larger.

6 Do one of the following:

7 If you selected Attempt to Automatically Arrange Source Images, you can select additional options. These options determine how Photoshop Elements processes the source images when assembling the composition.

8 Click OK. The source images open automatically, and then the Photomerge new composition dialog box appears.

If Photoshop Elements is unable to automatically assemble the composition, a message to this effect appears on-screen. You can still assemble the composition manually in the Photomerge dialog box. However, you may want to review the information in Taking pictures for use with Photomerge to make sure that your source images follow the recommended guidelines.

Transforming and Retouching > Creating panoramic images using Photomerge > Setting up a Photomerge composition