Looking for an app to stitch together an oversized document

Our family has a pretty comprehensive family tree dating back to the 1700s that was compiled on the Isle of Man about 40 years ago in the form of a scroll about 12 feet long.

Recently I took a series of photos of it with my iPhone. I’d like to stitch the individual shots (32 photos) together and recreate the complete document.

The lighting conditions weren’t ideal and the individual images are not perfectly aligned. I did my best to make sure that there was plenty of overlap to be able to align them later.

Any suggestions for software that could help me do it? I downloaded Panorama Stitcher Mini but it’s limited to 5 photos unless you upgrade. I’m hesitant to pay for the Plus version for a one off job.

If you have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, you can use it to create a Photomerge Panorama. See Guided mode - Photomerge Edits in Photoshop Elements

I’ve done this to scan vinyl album covers. My scanner can’t handle pages larger than A4 size. I scan the cover four times - once from each corner - and then use a Photomerge Panroama to combine them. The result isn’t perfect, but it’s been good enough for me.

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If you have the originals, on my iPhone 8, I have Scanner Pro which quickly scans multiple documents and merges them into a pdf. You have to vary the distance a bit and then it suddenly grabs the image.

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Check out DoubleTake as a possibility.

https://echoone.com/doubletake/

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Affinity Photo comes with a generous trial period. You could stitch them using it.

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I second the recommendation of DoubleTake – it’s a great bit of software.

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These are all great suggestions. Thank you very much.
I tried Photomerge in Photoshop and it was able to stitch together most of it. In the process I realized that I may have to take another stab at getting pictures of the scroll. The exposures vary a lot and photomerge put everything in two rows. I’ll play around some more and see what I can do.
Thanks again!

It’s been a while since I used Photomerge, but the last time I did, you could drag the images around on the screen (before the final render, of course), to correct situations where the automatic algorithm puts them in the wrong place.

I can probably help you… but what are you trying to achieve? What do you want to do with the final image?

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It’s mostly to have as an archival backup of the original document. It’s a long and unwieldy scroll (10-12’ x 1’) and there’s only one paper copy. I’d hate to lose it.

If you decide to have a go at taking pictures, the major problem is to get good, even light. Try to go outside on an overcast day. This will get you pretty even light. For photomerge in Photoshop take 1/3-1/2 overlap in all directions. In Photoshop, edit the photos to be as close to each other in visual exposure level and then do the photomerge.

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If I were you, I’d go to a repro-house and ask them to scan and print it. Anywhere with e.g. an HP Designjet plotter or scanner could do it for you. You might be able to have it printed on a paper similar to the original as well. Then you can put the original somewhere safe and enjoy the print. I’d guestimate cost ~$100-$150

If you prefer to try and do it with your phone, or a camera, then P. Boersting is spot on with outside on a cloudy day. If you use an iPhone/iPad, you might use the Notes app, which will square each shot up as a sort of ‘faux’ scan. I’d shoot from above, so you’ll need something flat to put it on. You can leave it rolled and work your way through it. So the area/work-surface you need isn’t very big. You need to get the paper as flat as possible and always centre the lens above the area you’re shooting. Get a large sheet (A0) of white card or board to use as a reflector, which you need to place on the side opposite to the brightest part of the sky. You’re looking for the flattest light you can get. Make each shot as similar as you can. You can aid the alignment process by simply putting 4 Post-its on the paper at the corners. This will make it easy for the software to align and also for you to visually check. Once aligned, you can simply ‘rubber stamp’ the Post-its to remove them. I’d do the pano/alignment 2 images at a time, although it might work in a ‘oner’. Won’t hurt to try. I think Affinity is best at alignment/pano.

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Is the objective to preserve the scroll or the information it contains? If the latter, consider a family history / genealogy program and type the information into it. This is (probably) more work but the result (after checking) will be a great deal more use to you and subsequent generations. Such programs also have the capability to print trees in sections which you could then assemble if you require a paper copy.
I use MacFamilyTree but there are a number of other alternatives.
Keith

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Great suggestion, Keith! I’ll explore options.
Given that the scroll was made more than 40 years ago, there are some additions to be made, so an editable digital record is good idea.
I suspect that much of it is already on Ancestry.com, but I’ll have a look.

BTW, I took the photos of the scroll during a visit with a family member. I’ll have to wait for another opportunity to copy it.

If you have access to Ancestry then put the information in there. From there you can print the tree if you wish (I generally prefer a pdf).

IIRC Ancestry has a free membership option which enables you to use their family tree building facilities but doesn’t allow access to their historical records. There’s also a package from MacKiev called Family Tree Maker which can (used to be able to?) sync with trees on Ancestry. I’ve used FTM in the past and it is very capable but once you start using one package it’s quite a lot of work to change so I’m still using MFT.

If the scroll dates from 40 years ago then there will be corrections and completions galore. It’s worth asking if there are any supporting documents for the scroll - birth and other certificates for example.

And since you have photos of all of the scroll, there’s no real need to wait … :sunglasses:

Looks as if Cubbon is an Isle of Man family name …

Keith

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If you have the opportunity to photograph it again, you might try the PANO (panorama) option to your iPhone camera to capture the entire document in one photo. ―Ken Nellis

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I recently did this for 9 legal size pp. using Preview. It’s a bit kludgy and you have to save the photos as PDFs first, but once you’ve done that you can open them in Preview & follow the instructions for “Add, delete, or move PDF pages” in the User Guide to create a single PDF.

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If your iPhone does panoramas simply lay the scroll flat on the floor, start the camera in panorama mode and walk along the scroll. It may take a few tries to get the whole thing in one picture. I usually take pictures of my long and narrow flowerbeds that way. Works great!

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I’ve done this on occasion. The big issue here is that you need to hold the phone very steady. Vibrations can create distortions in the image. At least on my iPhone 6 - can we assume that this tech has improved over the years?

If you have a tripod with wheels, to avoid as much vibration as possible, you will get better results.

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