4. Use a consistent exposure. Almost all cameras are configured to automatically adjust exposure of the photo depending on lighting conditions, and so as you move the camera from left to right, it may adjust the exposure each time. Photoshop can correct minor differences in exposure, but it will struggle with broader variations. You can avoid this by using the camera in manual mode and locking down both the aperture and exposure.

5. Use manual focus. In normal circumstances your camera is probably set to auto-focus, which is fine if everything you're photographing is 50 feet (or further) from you. However, if you're taking photos where there may be foreground elements, the camera may lock its focus to those objects instead, resulting in a blurred background. You can avoid this by using manual focus, or alternatively, setting the focal method to Landscape (available on many point and shoot cameras).

6. Overlap your photos. In order for Photomerge to determine where a photo belongs in the panorama, you must have generous overlap in each of your photos. So if there's a street sign at the far right of one photo, it should be fully visible on the left side of the next photo. Adobe recommends a 40 percent overlap between each photo for best results.

Construct your panorama

Once you've chosen your photos and placed them together in a folder, constructing the panorama is quite easy. All the heavy lifting is done by an extension called Photomerge, which is essentially identical across Photoshop CS4 and CS5 and Photoshop Elements versions 8 and 9 (except for one additional option provided within Elements). In Photoshop, choose File -> Automate -> Photomerge; in Photoshop Elements, choose File -> New -> Photomerge Panorama. A Photomerge window will appear, and you'll see two key sections: Layout and Source Files. Layout lets you select from several different methods of blending the panorama together; of these, I recommend Automatic and Cylindrical. However, let's take a closer look at what you can expect from each layout method: