Image Composite Editor

Note: This project is retired and no longer supported

What is Image Composite Editor?

Image Composite Editor (ICE) is an advanced panoramic image stitcher created by the Microsoft Research Interactive Visual Media Group (opens in new tab). Given a set of overlapping photographs of a scene shot from a single camera location, the app creates a high-resolution panorama that seamlessly combines the original images. ICE can also create a panorama from a panning video, including stop-motion action overlaid on the background. Finished panoramas can be shared with friends and viewed in 3D by uploading them to the Photosynth web site. Panoramas can also be saved in a wide variety of image formats, including JPEG, TIFF, and Photoshop’s PSD/PSB format, as well as the multiresolution tiled format used by HD View and Deep Zoom (opens in new tab).

Automatic image completion

ICE can now fill in any missing pixels around the edges of your panorama, making a smooth boundary even in cases where you missed a shot.

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Redesigned user interface and workflow

ICE has a new look that makes all the features more understandable and easier to use. The app guides you through the steps required to make a great panorama. And you can back up and change settings, then see the effects of those changes without having to start over from scratch.

Full-resolution preview

ICE allows you to zoom in to see every detail of your stitched panorama, no matter how big, before you export. Unlike earlier versions of ICE, panorama previews are no longer limited by your screen resolution.

Built-in Photosynth uploader

When you want to share a panorama, ICE can upload it directly to Photosynth, where your friends can view it using an interactive web viewer or the Photosynth app for iPhone or Windows Phone.

Additional features

• Accelerated stitching on multiple CPU cores
• Ability to publish, view, and share panoramas on the Photosynth web site
• Support for “structured panoramas” — panoramas consisting of hundreds of photos taken in a rectangular grid of rows and columns (usually by a robotic device like the GigaPan tripod heads)
• No image size limitation — stitch gigapixel panoramas
• Support for input images with 8 or 16 bits per component
• Ability to read raw images using WIC codecs (opens in new tab)
• Photoshop layer and large document support
• State-of-the-art stitching engine
• Automatic exposure blending
• Choice of planar, cylindrical, stereographic, orthographic, Mercator, or spherical projection
• Orientation tool for adjusting panorama rotation
• Automatic cropping to maximum image area
• Native support for 64-bit operating systems
• Wide range of output formats, including JPEG, JPEG XR, Photoshop, TIFF, BMP, PNG, and Silverlight Deep Zoom (opens in new tab)

System Requirements

Image Composite Editor works with 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1.

Support

Image Composite Editor is provided free of charge and without official support. However, if you have questions or issues with Image Composite Editor, you may find help at the Image Composite Editor Forum (opens in new tab), which is monitored by the developers and provides community-based support.