Editing Panorama Tools

{{Short description|Programs and software for joining images}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = Panorama Tools
| logo                   =
| screenshot             =
| caption                =
| author                 = Helmut Dersch
| developer              = Helmut Dersch
| released               = {{Start date and age|1998}}
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|reference|P348}}
| latest release date = {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|P348|P577}}}}
| latest preview version =
| latest preview date    =
| programming language   = C
| operating system       =
| platform               =
| language               =
| status                 =
| genre                  = [[post-production]]
| license                = [[GNU Lesser General Public License]] ([[Software relicensing|relicensed]] from [[GNU GPL]] 2007)
| website                = {{URL|panotools.sourceforge.net}}
}}
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}

'''Panorama Tools''' ''(also known as '''PanoTools''')'' are a suite of programs and libraries for [[image stitching]], i.e., re-projecting and blending multiple source images into [[immersive panorama]]s of many types. It was originally written by German [[physics]] and [[mathematics]] professor Helmut Dersch. An updated version of the Panorama Tools library serves as the underlying core engine for many software panorama [[graphical user interface]] front ends.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

==History==
Dersch started development on Panorama Tools in 1998, producing software available for creating panoramas and more, but had to stop development in 2001 due to legal harassment and claims of [[patent infringement]] by the company [[IPIX]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://wiki.ffii.org/SwxaiIpixEn | title=iPIX vs. Dersch: German Mathematician silenced by US patent | publisher=Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure}}</ref> Dersch released the core library (pano12) and some of the programs of Panorama Tools under the terms of the [[GNU General Public License]]. The rest of the applications were made available as [[Binary file|binary]] executables only and for free without a copyleft license.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

The development of the source code of Panorama Tools was continued by some members of the original Panorama Tools mailing list. In December 2003 they initiated a [[free software]] project which is currently hosted by [[SourceForge]]. SourceForge requires that all hosted software is released under an [[open source license]]. For this reason Dersch's unlicensed binaries are not hosted there, although they can still be found on mirror websites.

On 5 August 2007, Dersch announced his intention to [[Software relicensing|relicense]] the Panorama Tools source code.<ref name="relicense">{{cite web|url=http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/PanoToolsNG/message/11850|title=Panorama Tools License|accessdate=2007-08-10|last=Dersch|first=Helmut|date=2007-08-05|publisher=www.panotools.org |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519105130/http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/PanoToolsNG/auth?check=G&done=http%3A%2F%2Ftech%2Egroups%2Eyahoo%2Ecom%2Fgroup%2FPanoToolsNG%2Fmessage%2F11850|archivedate=2011-05-19}} [http://www.panotools.org/mailarchive/msg/57813 Alt URL]</ref> On 9 August 2007, Dersch changed the license to a [[GNU Lesser General Public License]].<ref name="DerschRelicenseQuote">{{cite web|url=http://webuser.fh-furtwangen.de/~dersch/|title=Panorama Tools License Change|accessdate=2007-08-10|last=Dersch|first=Helmut|date=2007-08-09|publisher=self published|quote=The license to the Panorama Tools library (pano12.dll, pano12.lib, pano12.so, etc) used by several image processing utilities is changed from this license to the GNU Lesser General Public License. This change is in effect from today (August 9, 2007).}}</ref>

==Sub-components==
[[Image:Panotools5618.jpg|thumb|An example of Panorama Tools' ability to remap an image shot with a [[fisheye lens]] ''(top)'' into [[rectilinear lens|rectilinear]] perspective ''(bottom)''.]]

===Original release===
PanoTools consists of the following components:<ref>Dersch's original home page</ref>

;PTEditor: [[Java (programming language)|Java]] interactive panorama editor.
;PTPicker: Java front end to panorama stitcher and other tools. It provides a graphical interface for feature point selection and position optimization.
;PTCrypt: Java tool for scrambling pictures intended to be viewed on-line with PTViewer.
;PTStitcher: Panorama stitching tool which remaps, adjusts and combines arbitrary images to panoramic views.
;PTOptimizer<sup>†</sup>: Optimizes positions and sizes of images using control-point data.
;PTStereo: Creates 3-dimensional objects from 2 or more [[stereoscopic]] images.
;PTInterpolate: Physically valid true view interpolator. Given two images of the same scene taken from different positions, this tool creates views from any intermediate position.
;PTMorpher: [[Morphing]] tool.
;PTAverage: Averages images to reduce noise and enhance density.
;PTStripe: Combines images into movie-stripes for viewing in object-viewers (PTMovie extension to PTViewer).
;PanoTools Plugins:[[Photoshop]], [[GraphicConverter]] and [[GIMP]] plug-ins for image correction and remapping. Also compatible to many other programs that can use [[Photoshop]] plug-ins.
;pano12 library<sup>†</sup>: The underlying panorama library, currently used by several different panorama front-ends and command line programs.
;pano13 library<sup>†</sup>: Current version of the library. No longer compatible with programs for which no source code is available.
<sup>†</sup><small>Open source.</small>

===Further developments===

In 2006 the functionality of PTstitcher was reproduced by the developers of Panorama Tools. Its functionality was broken into several program, in an attempt to modularize it:

;PTmender<sup>†</sup>: Remaps one image at a time
;PTblender<sup>†</sup>: Implements the rudimentary colour correction algorithm found in later versions of PTstitcher
;PTmasker<sup>†</sup>: Computes stitching masks. It implements the ability to increase depth-of-field by stacking images
;PTroller<sup>†</sup>: Takes a set of images and merges them into a single one
;PTcrop<sup>†</sup>: Crops an image to its outer rectangle.
;PTuncrop<sup>†</sup>: Opposite of PTcrop: takes a cropped file and creates an uncropped one.
;PTtiff2psd<sup>†</sup>: Takes a series of input images and creates a Photoshop PSD file where each input file is a layer.
<sup>†</sup><small>Open source.</small>

===Front-ends and applications===
To make working with Panorama Tools easier and to add functionality, many interactive, graphical front-ends to Panorama Tools have been developed, both open source (e.g. [[Hugin (software)|Hugin]]) and commercial (e.g. [[PTgui]] and PTMac), along with a variety of other companion applications (e.g. smartblend and {{Not a typo|enblend}}), which in many cases make interacting directly with the programs in the original Panorama Tools toolset unnecessary.

==Further reading==
The software Panorama Tools is mentioned and covered in several books, e.g.
* Jacobs, Corinna - ''Interactive Panoramas: Techniques for Digital Panoramic Photography'' {{ISBN|3-540-21140-3}}
* Andrews, Philip - ''360 Degree Imaging: The Photographer's Panoramic Virtual Reality Manual'' {{ISBN|2-88046-732-2}}
* Gulbins, Jürgen & Steinmüller, Uwe - ''Art of RAW Conversion: How to Produce Art-Quality Photos with Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Leading RAW Converters'' {{ISBN|1-59327-067-4}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|panotools.sourceforge.net}}
* [http://webuser.hs-furtwangen.de/~dersch/ Helmut Dersch] author's current site.
* [http://www.panotools.org/dersch/ Helmut Dersch old page] author's site last state before it was taken offline in 2001.
* [http://wiki.panotools.org/ PanoTools.org] primary community page recommended by the SourceForge project<ref name="recommended">{{cite web |url=http://panotools.sourceforge.net/ |title=Panorama Tools: SourceForge |accessdate=2007-05-03 |date=2007-05-03 |publisher=[[SourceForge]]  |quote=Questions and answers about usage of the various tools and front-ends belong on the [https://archive.today/20120630175646/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PanoToolsNG/ PanoToolsNG mailing-list], you might want to consult the [http://wiki.panotools.org/ PanoTools wiki] before posting. There is a panotools-devel mailing list for questions regarding compiling the source and developing it further. The PanoTools wiki aims to be the definitive reference for Panorama Tools. It contains a lot of usage documentation for the tools hosted here on sourceforge.}}</ref>

{{Raster graphics editors}}

[[Category:Free software programmed in C]]
[[Category:Free photo stitching software]]
[[Category:Photo software for Linux]]