New Stitching Product Enables Professional & Amateur Photographers to Create Superb Panoramas From Simple Photos in Just a Few Clicks

Sophia Antipolis, France (January 5, 2005) - REALVIZ, a leader in image processing software development, has announced the release of a brand new stitching product called Stitcher Express. REALVIZ Stitcher Express draws on the award-winning technology of Stitcher 4.0, already used by thousands of professional photographers, architects, multimedia and 3D artists worldwide, and offers an intuitive and complete solution, which enables both professional and amateur photographers to create superb panoramas from a series of simple photos in just a few clicks. REALVIZ Stitcher Express 1.0 is now available in both English and French for Mac & Windows.

"REALVIZ Stitcher Express is a product, which has been on many peoples' wish list for some time now," explains Dominique Pouliquen, REALVIZ CEO. "With digital camera sales still on the increase, there are more and more people out there who fall into the 'amateur' category, yet who still demand a robust, high-quality product, able to deliver the kind of professional results, with multi-row capability up to full spherical panoramas, which the more main-stream photo-stitching products are unable to offer. At a lead-in price of $119 US (99 Euros), Stitcher Express is also affordable to all."

REALVIZ Stitcher Express is a simple and effective application with a clear and intuitive interface, compatible with all kinds of digital cameras. Based on a simple drag, drop and stitch principle, the software enables both professional and amateur photographers to create superb panoramas from a series of standard digital photos in just a few clicks. The software's smooth interoperability with Adobe Photoshop also means that users are able to edit and personalize their panoramas with ease. Stitcher Express is also fully compatible with QuickTime, for the creation of stunning interactive virtual visits, up to full spheres. With Stitcher Express, it is also possible to export panoramas in the format each individual requires.

Stitcher Express will be sold alone, or bundled with Adobe Photoshop Elements 3. The price for the bundle will be $ 190 US (160 Euros). Available from late January 2005.

The Stitcher Express Feature Set Includes:

• Semi-automatic stitching of photos, enabling the creation of panoramas up to 360° x 180° (complete spheres!)
• Automatic light equalization
• The possibility to remove moving objects from images (pedestrians, cars, or any other object moving between two shots)
• Automatic panorama alignment
• Choice of panorama format (cylindrical, spherical, snapshot)
• Automatic trimming of panoramas to an optimum size
• "Best Rendering" feature, enabling users to achieve the best-possible output from their original images
• Export to Adobe Photoshop (images and masks), enabling users to edit and personalize their panoramas with ease.
• Export to QuickTime VR (cylindrical or spherical), enabling users to create stunning interactive virtual visits, and interactively preview their projects.