The PanGazer application is free of charge for non-commercial use;
it is Copyright (c) Mike Cowlishaw, 2014–2020.
PanGazer is distributed as a compressed .zip file. Here is the latest
version:
2020.06.09
| 1.46 »
| Image → Save image ... (Ctrl-S) requests now open the file save dialog immediately.
The new Image → Resize image and save as ... menu selection
(or Ctrl-R) opens the resize dialog before the file save dialog
The resize dialog pre-checks the Expand .. to full sphere option
for part-spherical images.
XMP bearing data are written relative to 0° if North is not
set explicitly (this does not affect the Exif metadata).
Image → Extend image to full sphere will convert a part-spherical
image to full 360°×180° without saving the image.
Set viewpoint to nadir/zenith have been added to the View
menu, with ‘n’ and ‘z’ shortcuts.
|
2020.04.22
| 1.43 »
| Instead of showing zoom (magnification) as a multiplier the pel (pixel) ratio is displayed.
For lower-resolution spherical images the initial centred image
is shown as 100% (1:1) instead of using Zoom ×1 if the latter would
enlarge pels.
|
2020.02.20
| 1.42 »
| Save image as ... menu item now opens a dialog that lets you both change the size of the image and (if part-spherical) expand it to a sphere (instead of requiring multiple menu selections).
A view’s window title now shows ‘360° sphere’ for a full-sphere
image and ‘360° spherical’ for a part-spherical image.
The algorithm for fitting a window to the aspect ratio of a non-spherical
image has been improved to increase the accuracy of fit and better
maintain an approximately constant area.
|
2020.02.04
| 1.39 »
| As a simplification, XMP metadata is now written when saving any spherical image; if this would set a default North (0° at the image centre) then confirmation will be requested first.
New ‘Setting North’ help page collects the information about setting
an image’s bearing.
Other pages (‘Saving images’, ‘Sharing images’, and ‘Image geography’)
have been revised and extended to reflect the simplification.
|
2020.01.28
| 1.38 »
| ‘Save image as sphere’ saves a part-spherical image with smoothed filling to make it a full ‘360° × 180°’ sphere.
‘Save image at reduced size’ saves a reduced size version of an
image (especially useful when uploading to ‘social media’).
PanGazer will now write XMP metadata when saving spherical images
if there is none or if the image geometry is changed.
Saved XMP metadata includes the current camera stance (which will
then normally be used on loading the image).
New ‘Sharing images’ Help page summarises sharing images on some
popular platforms.
New ‘Shortcuts’ Help page lists keyboard shortcuts.
|
2019.12.09
| 1.32 »
| XMP metadata in JPEG files is now parsed and used as appropriate; in particular ‘pose’ information in JPEGs from Ricoh Theta cameras, etc., is used to set North and Tilt angles.
The space bar now toggles between hiding and showing all status
and overlay data.
PanGazer now uses the libjpeg-turbo library for loading and saving
JPEG images where possible; this almost always loads or saves images
in half the time taken by the older library (libjpeg).
|
2019.10.07
| 1.29 »
| The new Aspect Ratio dialog allows direct setting of a window’s aspect ratio, as well as rapidly snapshotting views.
|
2019.10.01
| 1.27 »
| Zoom out can now include wider angles of view (with increased distortions).
‘Fit aspect ratio’ is now allowed whenever not viewing an image
as 360°.
‘s’ shortcut key takes a ‘snapshot’ of current view.
New algorithm for calculating the tilt overlay is more accurate
and is stable at high zooms and near −90°.
Improved framing of non-360° images.
|
2019.08.27
| 1.23 »
| Aspect ratio of zoomed-out images is preserved regardless of window shape.
Window shape, zoom, etc., are preserved when reloading ‘flat’ images
(not just spherical images).
Larger ‘starter image’ – although still smaller than the full-size
available (see above).
Improved display of 360° non-spherical images.
Improved heuristics for detecting 360° and spherical images.
Minor performance improvements.
‘Birthday edition’ :-).
|
2019.08.20
| 1.20 »
| If a panorama quacks like a panorama then PanGazer treats it as a panorama even if Exif metadata suggests otherwise (e.g., Theta V JPGs); you can turn off ‘view as 360°’ if this is wrong.
Wide-angle images now fill the window when first loaded (instead
of being zoom ×1).
Lens status line adds visual magnification factor, and zoom is shown
as magnification factor if lens detail available.
|
2019.06.13
| 1.18 »
| Improved algorithms for checking wrap in X and whether bottom is a ‘South pole’, etc.
|
2019.05.02
| 1.17 »
| Exif dates are now shown in ISO format (yyyy-mm-dd).
Increased shared code with MapGazer ».
Multiple windows failed – now corrected.
Minor cosmetic and performance improvements, and reduced .exe
size.
|
2018.12.12
| 1.12 »
| New ‘Set image geography’ dialog allows editing the location, elevation, bearing, and tilt data for images.
New ‘Show tilt angles’ overlay optionally shows an ‘angle strip’
on the left of a view (similar to the compass points for bearings).
The compass points and tilt angles overlays are shown automatically
when the Image Geography dialog is open.
New ‘Set horizon’ in pop-up menu allows setting the horizon for
images (similar to ‘Set North’).
Elevations can now be displayed in metres and feet (or both), and
can be edited in either unit.
Dragging an image to an open PanGazer window now opens a new window
instead of replacing the existing image.
|
2018.11.16
| 1.01 »
| ‘Browse satellite view’ is now called ‘Show location on satellite map’ and has been moved from the View menu to the Image menu.
‘Show location on regular map’ uses Google Maps (plain layer).
‘Show location using GPX (map) viewer’ and ‘Show location using
KML (earth) viewer’ use an application (e.g., MapGazer or Google
Earth) to show the location.
‘Save location as ...’ saves a location as a GPX or KML file.
‘Open image in new window ...’ preserves the current view when opening
an image.
Improved and faster geometry for non-panoramic images.
|
2018.10.29
| 0.55 »
| (Final ‘beta’ release’.)
String as well as numeric Exif metadata are now read by PanGazer;
static status now shows (by default) image descriptions, copyright,
and timestamp.
More Exif metadata are copied when an image or view is saved (e.g.,
camera make and model).
GPS altitude is shown in status.
‘Size’ status now includes horizontal and vertical angles of view.
Zoom effect is also displayed as 35mm-equivalent focal length, if
possible.
‘Image’ main menu split to ‘Image and ‘View’ to avoid confusions.
|
2018.10.22
| 0.53 »
| PanGazer can now modify Exif metadata in JPEG images, so the North point can be saved for an image.
Similarly, when you save views to disk the saved image includes
metadata such as the effective lens focal length of the view, the
camera tilt and also, if known, the location and bearing of the saved
image.
Dynamic status now shows the yaw as a bearing if North has been
set, and pitch is shown as tilt if the horizon is known.
Colour management is applied to images as appropriate, and a wider
variety of image types can be loaded.
Images are always saved in JPEG format so that Exif metadata is
included.
The dragging and zoom algorithms have been improved, especially
at extreme pitch (near −90°).
Fit aspect ratio is more flexible and can move the window if necessary.
|
2018.09.23
| 0.47 »
| New Set North action allows adding compass points (N, S, SSW, etc.) to a view.
Fixed a problem in libexif which prevented it finding Exif
information in some images.
‘Dynamic’ status is now all off by default, and is shown at top
right of the view.
|
2018.09.19
| 0.46 »
| Image files can now be dragged to any MapGazer window to open them; if more than one, new windows will be opened for them.
Coordinates can now be displayed in UTM format.
|
2018.09.18
| 0.44 »
| Added view enhancements: brightness, contrast, warmth, and saturation.
Various minor improvements and enhancements to the user interface.
|
2018.09.08
| 0.43 »
| (First web release.)
Window → Save window image as ... saves current view’s image
as a file.
|
2018.09.04
| 0.42 »
| New imaging code includes
– Gnomonic (rectilinear) projection so
that horizons are straight lines
– Interpolation for better-looking zoomed-in or low-resolution
images
– Multi-thread drawing (almost 4× faster on a 4-core processor).
Performance statistics can be displayed as status (use Settings
→ Status display → Show performance statistics).
Extended zoom-in and zoom-out range.
New Fit aspect ratio window option for images that are not 360° panoramas.
Many minor improvements and enhancements to the user interface.
|
2018.08.08
| 0.36 »
| Additional performance improvements: now about 6.3 times faster than 0.34, and 25 times faster (using interpolated pels) when dragging.
Improved ‘Loading’ messages.
Improved fitting of images allows more ‘zoom out’ than before.
Added Making panoramic images help page.
|
2018.07.24
| 0.35 »
| Spherical projection now about 3.5 times faster than 0.34.
View as 360° and view spherically now independent (and saved in .ini
file).
|
2018.07.11
| 0.34 »
| 360° panoramas are now projected spherically (rather than cylindrically) so you can now view a correct straight-down aspect.
‘Centre viewpoint’ now sets the zoom (as well as yaw and pitch)
to default.
|
2018.06.07
| 0.33 »
| Exif information in an image is now read and selected fields displayed (GPS, exposure, etc.).
‘Browse satellite view’ will open google maps if GPS data available.
New starter image (Bejes, Spain).
|
2018.05.02
| 0.30 »
| Show yaw as bearing now includes compass point (e.g., NNW).
‘View image as 360°’ in main and pop-up menus can be used to switch
between 360° view and plain image view.
Large images will have a ‘Loading’ message displayed while processing.
|
2018.04.25
| 0.25 »
| Status information now controlled by Settings: show mouse yaw & pan, show yaw as bearing, show image full path, show image full size (also test status expanded).
Improved wrap-detection algorithm for 360° panoramas (scaled by
brightness).
|
2018.04.23
| 0.22 »
| Greatly-improved support of large JPEG images for 32-bit Windows (16,000 × 8,000 or larger).
64-bit version included, with better handling of multiple large
images.
Automatic detection of wrapped 360° panoramas.
Command line now allows an image file to be specified/loaded.
New icon and other user-interface tweaks.
|
2018.04.18
| 0.15 »
| Preview release.
|