Print

The printing of panoramic images is made difficult because most printers are designed to accept standard paper sizes such as A5, A4, A3, A3+ and so on. When panoramic images are printed on these papers they occupy only a narrow strip across the centre of the paper, and the remainder is wasted. The maximum length of the panoramic image is also limited by the larger dimension of the paper.

One solution to this problem is to cut the panoramic image carefully in half and print each half separately. This is easy to achieve using software such as Photoshop, but is a tiresome process not least because the two printed halves must be carefully realigned at a later stage. However panoramic printing software is also available. This makes much easier the process of printing an image across multiple pages, and facilitates various other adjustments required by panoramic workers.

A better approach is to use printing paper intended for panoramic work. Leading paper manufacturers produce various higher-aspect ratio sizes. It is important to realize that although most printers accept only paper of a specific maximum width, they can be used with paper of any length. Some are equipped with rollers and work well with rolls of paper up to several metres in length. However, large format papers can also be carefully cut in to strips of the required width while retaining their original length. An A4 printer might therefore be used with a strip of paper 210mm wide cut from an A3 sheet 420mm in length. A panoramic image of maximum dimensions 210mm x 420mm might then be printed.