FIGURE F

Photoshop might need some help in lining up your photos. Click picture for a larger image.

Any pictures Photoshop couldn't blend automatically appear in the frame that runs across the top of the Photomerge window. Drag them down and try to place them as best as you can, as shown in Figure G.

FIGURE G

Drag and drop any stray photos into place. Photoshop will blend them. Click picture for a larger image.

You can use the horizon, shadows and other lines to help you eyeball everything together. The zoom slider in the Navigator box to the right will let you get in closer to see the details. When the blended panorama looks decent, click OK.

Step 3: Finishing touches
Photoshop will blend all the photos into a single file. Sometimes Photoshop moves photos up or down a tad - especially if you didn't have a tripod handy when shooting them -- which results in an irregularly shaped patchwork. No worries, just crop all the ragged edges out, like in Figure H.

FIGURE H

You might need to crop your merged picture if it's not a perfect rectangle. Click picture for a larger image.

There's one last thing. Photoshop's blending wizardry is pretty amazing, but it's not quite perfect. If you look closely, as in Figure I, you'll spot random goobers like those disconnected branches floating in the sky. Touch those flaws up with the Rubber Stamp tool and you'll be good to go.

FIGURE I

Erase flaws like those floating branches with your Rubber Stamp tool. Click picture for a larger image.

So now that you know how to use Photomerge, what are you waiting for? Head for the great outdoors -- with camera in tow -- and capture some gorgeous vistas.

For more than 20 years, David Gewirtz, the author of Where Have All The Emails Gone? and The Flexible Enterprise, has analyzed current, historical, and emerging issues relating to technology, competitiveness, and policy. David is the Editor-in-Chief of the ZATZ magazines, is the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, and is a member of the instructional faculty at the University of California, Berkeley extension. He can be reached at david@zatz.com.