Photostitcher is a specialized program for a particular niche. To understand it, what it does, how, & why, consider the other software Teorex is known for, Inpaint & iResizer. They're based on seam carving, which extremely briefly ex cells at stretching parts or all of an image. Teorex is not unique in producing & selling seam carving software -- it's included in image editors like Photoshop & PaintShop Pro etc., as well as in plug-ins.
Inpaint & iResizer are sold relatively inexpensively as something between a utility & software purposely without bells & whistles to keep things as simple as possible. Those closer to the pro end of things simply work around the software's limitations, if/when they choose to use it, while the very occasional user probably won't mind because after all, they do this sort of thing only very occasionally.
So, based on what we know about Inpaint & iResizer, we can logically assume Photostitcher fits the same mold, which I think it does. It's clearly not the best panorama software out there, it doesn't [can't] include the level of computations used with or at Photosynth [photosynth.net], & it doesn't offer the added features of a full image editor. But it can stretch some backgrounds really well, because of the same code base used in Inpaint & iResizer, and it is just as easy & simple to use as those other 2 apps. Finally, just like Inpaint & iResizer, Photostitcher isn't always going to be the best tool for the job at hand, though sometimes it will likely be just that. Depending on your images mileage is going to vary.
Want to skip a lot of the aggravation entirely? Consider shooting video. If you're after a still image panorama, video resolution's only going up, & may be good enough for your purposes. And when there's only 1/4 frame or less difference between pictures, how mismatched can they be? If you want a video made out of your panoramic images, stupid question, why not start there? Sometimes extra work is worth it -- sometimes we just *think* it *must* be worth it. Often in that 2nd case we're wrong. Test.
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On the download page liwi1960 said: "I’ll take some photos in the morning, a 360 degree panorama of a local scenic spot and see what this can do. "
Just FWIW, maybe bear in mind the lighting, lens perspective, and field of view when shooting panoramas. A camera's panorama mode, or software if you're using a cell or tablet, should lock the exposure settings -- if they're not locked it's harder to match pictures that are in effect taken in different lighting. Sometimes, depending on your camera or tablet's/cell's software, you can lock the exposure as an independent setting. 2nd, take a look at where the lens is located on your device, & try to make sure that that's the center of rotation. 3rd, consider the direction you'll be rotating your camera, horizontal or vertical, & then shoot landscape or portrait accordingly.
Honnza said: "As far as ease of use is concerned, the built-in panorama capabilities of the camera I use flat out win. You know instantly if you need to take another scan, you don’t have to ensure overlap while shooting, the parallax effects are less pronounced, and it’s easier on the memory if that’s what you’re worried about. The resulting resolution is sub-par, but I guess other cameras don’t have that issue (feature?)."
All lenses have some distortion. Cameras with permanent lenses have a *potential* edge -- the designing engineers are aware of any such shortcomings & can fix them in the camera's internal software, *IF* they're given the go ahead & budget to do so. When you have interchangeable lenses quality varies, usually in proportion to the price, but software can adjust accordingly once you get those images on your PC's or laptop's drive. Obviously I think, if you import your images into something like DxO Optics Pro 1st, & have it correct for your lens you found listed in its modules, you're a step or three ahead of the game before you give those shots to your panorama software.
As far as using a camera's built-in panorama features, you might find that the camera's designing engineers compensated for the lens & the camera, & you'll get better results faster. Regardless, a camera's firmware is likely not going to be near as powerful as software running on your smartphone or tablet let alone your PC. Because of both factors a smartphone, tablet, or Android-based camera *may* be your best choice overall.
Joe Bloggs said: "I am having the same trouble as #1 kiwi1960 – I navigate to folder, add images, choose my distortion, click to start the stitch process, it works away for a few moments then crashes. I have tried a number of times on different images and done an uninstall and reinstall but no better"
Like Inpaint & iResizer, Photostitcher is a one file program. There's not really much to install or reinstall. If the code in that file doesn't like your setup about all you can do is try Windows compatibility settings or go back to using the last version [assuming that worked]. That said, you might try importing images in another file format. When a program seems to stall the 1st place I look is Task Mgr, to see if my security software is active. If it does show some activity, e.g. any CPU %, I turn off active scanning & *usually* the software that seems in a coma snaps out of it. I don't know that that would be worth checking, but couldn't hurt.