How to Use Adobe Lightroom to Create Real Estate Panoramic Images

How to Use Adobe Lightroom to Create Real Estate Panoramic Images

Real estate photographers use wide-angle shots to highlight interiors and exteriors. However, space limitations and poor lighting may result in imperfect shots. If you want to discover how to make a panorama in Lightroom using stitch, we are here to break down each step. This is exactly how our editors combine multiple photos into a seamless, high-quality panorama.

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How to Make a Panorama in Lightroom Using Stitch

To stitch panoramas in Lightroom, start by importing your pictures into a Lightroom catalog and selecting the images you want to merge. Next, choose Photo Merge and then Panorama, which will open the Panorama Merge Dialog where you can adjust projection and other settings to fine-tune your panorama.

Apply the Auto Crop settings to the shot, fill the edges if necessary, adjust the Boundary Warp levels, and finally enhance and fine-tune the details to create a polished, professional panorama.

Adobe Lightroom is known for many things such as file organization. However, not a lot of people know about its ability to produce and enhance real estate panoramic images. These are the steps our Lightroom editors use to create Photo Merge panorama for many photographers.


Steps in making panorama stitch

Steps to Create Panoramic Real Estate Images

Now, we take a look at how this real estate photo editing software easily aids the creation of real estate panoramic images. Even Photoshop editors who have experienced this would know the convenience and intelligence Adobe Lightroom brings into the mix, allowing them to produce a real estate panoramic image in an instant.

1. Import Photos in Lightroom

Like Photoshop with many top features, Lightroom as a real estate photo editing software is easy to work with. This real estate photo editing software is also aware of redundancies. It can detect images that are the same and help you get rid of the extras so you can focus on the ones that matter.

  • From the Library Module, simply select all the images you want to use for the panoramic image.
  • Drag them over to the application and import them into the catalog. 
  • Alternatively, hold down CMD (Mac) or CTRL (Windows) while clicking on each picture in the Grid View. 

2. Use the Photo Merge and Panorama Commands

To launch the Photo Merge and Panorama commands, right-click on a selected image to open the popup menu. Choose Photo Merge from the Lightroom menu options.

Select Panorama from the sub-options (other choices include HDR and HDR Panorama). Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut CMD + M (Mac) or CTRL + M (PC).

3. Adjust Settings in the Panorama Merge Dialog

Now that you are in the working panel, Lightroom will give you an option for how you want to project the panorama. Each of these Projection Settings will have subtle changes depending on what you choose.

  • Spherical: This pertains to a shot you want mapped on a curved surface. We generally don't use this for real estate panoramic images as this will end up with a flat image.
  • Cylindrical: This is when your image is curved yet you want it to look flat. It's an alternative for real estate panoramic images if the original image has warped.
  • Perspective: Finally, this is what editors should go for as it lays images flat and straight, perfect for a listing and ad.

A house with driveway

4. Enable Auto Settings and Stacking Options

The Photo Merge panorama feature in Lightroom offers options like Auto Settings and Create Stack, which can significantly impact the final result and workflow efficiency. Adjusting these settings allows for automatic corrections and better organization of your panoramic images, streamlining the post-processing stage.

For example, we typically enable Auto Settings to automatically apply corrections to the stitched panorama. It also adjusts the panorama DNG file settings. Despite that, we can still do manual editing in the Develop Module, especially for a high-definition range (HDR) panorama.

On the other hand, clicking the Create Stack option organizes images used in Photo Merge panorama stitching. Lightroom uses this to combine separate image frames and merge images into a stack.

5. Auto-Crop the Picture

Auto Crop removes the sides of the real estate panoramic shot. The beauty of this Lightroom feature is its assisted cropping. With the touch of a button, the photograph can be as perfect and pristine as it can be in terms of size and trim.

6. Fill the Edges of the Stitched Panorama

The Fill Edges option fixes the white edges that may appear after stitching individual photos. Lightroom will fill white space using content from other areas in the photograph. 

However, our editors will still use the Clone and Healing Brush tools to fix details like misaligned clouds or repeated furniture. Check the panorama merge preview to view the difference.

7. Modify the Boundary Warp Settings

Adjusting the Boundary Warp slider adjustment lets Lightroom warp individual frames during stitching. It can also eliminate white space around the edges while maintaining the look as if the picture was shot using a wide-angle lens. 

However, excessive warping in Lightroom can cause stitching problems, like gaps in distant hills or the horizon.

8. Merge the Edits and Let Lightroom Process the Adjustments

Lastly, to finish the execution on the working panel, hit the Merge button to complete the real estate panoramic shot. The speed depends on your computer’s RAM or random-access memory which dictates the processing speed of background work. 

After configuring the desired settings for the same panorama, such as Auto Crop, clicking Merge initiates the stitching process. This saves the result as a DNG RAW file alongside the original individual images in Lightroom. 

This preserves your Develop settings and produces a full-sized photograph, though any resizing will require a separate export process. The resulting panorama maintains the flexibility of a RAW file while combining the individual images into a single, seamless view.

9. Enhance and Retouch the RAW Format in the Develop Module

Once the file is done, you can find it in the folder of images where the rest of the Lightroom files were originally stored. Many photographers make the mistake of processing individual images before stitching them in Photo Merge panorama. 

Avoid common real estate photo editing mistakes, keep in mind that Lightroom ignores adjustments applied to RAW pictures before stitching. For example, stitching image files instead of RAW files will stop Lightroom from using lens profiles. Many cameras embed lens profile data in RAW files for improved quality.

For this reason, our Lightroom editors perform panorama stitching in the Library Module before applying adjustments in the Develop Module. From here, we can adjust exposure settings, color contrast, and white balance in the resulting image.

Understanding Panorama for Real Estate Photography

Real estate panoramic images are not shot with one capture. When you want to create a Photo Merge panorama, you need a combination of shots to get a wider view of the subject.

They are a combination of several shots by the camera that require rotating about your point of view or panning around to get the whole view. While it's best for landscape real estate images, photographers can also shoot panoramas in portrait orientation or vertically.

A house on the outside view

Transition of the Panorama Stitching Feature From Photoshop to Lightroom

Lightroom Classic has evolved its ability to stitch panoramic shots, transitioning from relying on Photoshop to an in-house solution that keeps the entire process within Lightroom. This new Lightroom version offers a streamlined workflow for users to stitch panoramas without the need for Photoshop.

While the Lightroom process is faster and preserves RAW file format, there are still more tools to stitch HDR panoramas in Photoshop. Despite that, you can still use Lightroom Classic to experiment with user-friendly settings and achieve the best results for individual images.

Tips for Capturing Multiple Images for Stitching Panoramas

To achieve optimal results when photo stitching in Lightroom, following proper shooting techniques can significantly enhance the quality of the resulting image. While we can do the complex stitching, we can achieve better results when the original shots have better alignment and reduced distortion.

With that said, here are tips for shooting individual images to do a Photo Merge panorama in Adobe Lightroom.

  • Use the RAW format for maximum quality and editing flexibility.
  • Set a tripod to minimize distortion and keep the camera level.
  • Keep at least 30% overlap between all the photos for easier alignment in Lightroom.
  • Consider rotating the camera 90 degrees for a taller, higher-resolution panorama.
  • When shooting two or more rows, maintain consistent overlap both horizontally and vertically.

A woman editing on her laptop

Related Questions

How to Stitch Panorama in Lightroom?

To stitch a panorama in Lightroom, you have three options: Right-click on the thumbnails and select Photo Merge > Panorama, use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + M, or choose Photo > Photo Merge > Panorama from the top menu. These methods will initiate the panorama stitching process, letting you merge multiple shots into a seamless panoramic photo.

How Do You Stitch Vertical and Multiple Row Panoramas in Lightroom?

For a vertical panorama, simply shoot a sequence of images from low to high, following standard panorama shooting guidelines. Make sure each row overlaps the previous one a bit at the sides. In both cases, Lightroom's automatic stitching feature can typically sequence and merge the images correctly, creating seamless panoramic results.

When Not to Use the Panorama Stitching Features in Lightroom?

Lightroom's panorama stitching feature, while convenient, has limitations. It's not ideal for situations requiring manual adjustments for merging, horizon straightening, or perspective tweaking. Additionally, the feature struggles with a complex panorama such as true spherical and multi-row, making it less suitable for these advanced techniques.

What File Types Does the Stitching Feature in Lightroom Work With?

The ability to stitch in Lightroom works with any file type accepted by the software, although RAW files are recommended for optimal results. Using RAW files allows for greater flexibility in adjusting Develop settings and preserving picture quality during the process.

Conclusion

A stitched panorama diversifies your portfolio, letting you offer clients unique and impressive visual representations of their properties. With our team of professional real estate photography editors, you can dedicate your time to taking more photos and leave the Lightroom post-processing to us.

 

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