Panoramic view (and cheap maps?)
 

Ok, this question goes in two directions. One, because I'd like to make realy cool panorama pictures. Two, because I'm a cheap gitt!

I meddled around with something called "autostitch" (think that was the name) to try and make some panoramic pictures. They were blemished by a watermark since I was using the trial version. Fair enough. Doing a google search on the subject, I found various sites, but couldn't quite figure out which ones were good and which ones were free. So, can anyone here recommend a panorama "stitcher" that is free? Does a free version even exist?

Ok, heres the second part. I was playing around with google earth maps and wondered if I couldn't take some screenshots of different areas, crop them so they would overlap each other, and then tell autostitch to put them all together into one picture. Then print it out and laminate it. Voila...cheap map of your desired area. Come on, admit it! I can't be the first to be this cheap :). I was thinking that maybe a "stitching" program would do the trick. Any ideas on this?

I got a copy of "Photostitch" with my Canon Camera and it does an excellent job of stitching photos. I have tried other stitching programs but keep going back to Photostitch for ease of use and accuracy of the final photo. It seems though the program cannot be downloaded. Phone Canon and inquire about purchasing PhotoStitch™ (latest version). They will direct you to purchase a replacement CD for their digital camera line and put you in contact with the purchasing division.

Here's the contact information:

Canon Canada Inc.
6390 Dixie Road
Mississauga, Ont L5T 1P7
Telephone 1-905-795-2042
fax# 1-905-795-2021

I have not tried "stitching" Google earth photos, but will try it as I too think this might be an awesome way to get "maps". I don't see why it wont work.... I'll let you know.

Here's some examples of what Photostitch can do.
Canon Panoramic Software

Duane

Good idea about Canon. I'll check it out.

Oh and do let me know how the google map thing works out.

Photostich
 

Hi there,
I have a version of Photostich (version 3.1), I think it is emailable (about 10MB) if anybody wants it to try...
There shouldn't be any copyright infringement as it is a free utility - I think.

Autostitch is free. AutoStitch

Many have a 30 day or so trial.

I use PTAssembler which might interest you (though you may have to eventually pay for it) as it lets you assign the alignment points in the photo pairs that get stitched together. You could then assign the alignment pairs that you see in your Google maps and let the program do its magic. Lots of information on the PTAssembler pages. PTAssembler

Kodaks photostich
 

Borrowed Kodaks photostich from a friend who has a kodak camera. It works just as I had hoped. There's even an option when stitching that asks you if these are photographs or scanned images. Did a couple of testruns and the result is actually quite good.

I think that if you get a good work system going, you could actually make some usefull maps from google maps. I will give it a whirl anyway. Will propably make a post about it.

Oh and Alexpezzi; I don't think it is free as such. It usually comes on a CD if you buy a Kodak camera. But their webpage doesn't offer a free download of it. But I don't think that Kodak will alert the police if you share it with a friend or two :).

Correction
 

Uhmmm...it was Canon's version of photostich. Not Kodak.

True or not, dont be such a tightwad Mac, spend a little now and again! LOL. You could always draw little sketches if you really want to save..or maybe people would send you their old, outdated maps.

Dont get lost now!
Good roads

I'm using my camera phone which stitches 3 1Meg pics together. It depends what quality you want. I've attached a pic I took from the top of the col de la Bonnete in June.

PTGui. It's not "technically" free but does an excellent job for what you're asking.

CC

Have a look at this thread:
GpsPasSion Forums - Cutting maps of the World with GoogleMV.

Google does not like it that people create maps like this so they might shut your IP-address of for a couple of hours. It depends on the size of the download. Why don't you give it a try with a small area you know.

Cheers
Henk
(Sometimes also cheap)