After capturing the images you should import them into The Panorama Factory. Create a new Panorama Factory project with the Neues Projekt / New project command (Datei / File menu) and then use the Bilder importieren... / Import images... command (Datei / File menu) to read the image files into the project. If all of your images are in the same directory, you can import them all at once by using multiple selection in the Bilder importieren / Import Images dialog box.  Each imported image appears in the imported thumbnails pane.

If your images appear rotated when you import them, you can select the thumbnails and use the Um 90 Grad nach rechts drehen / Rotate right 90 command, Um 90 Grad nach links drehen / Rotate left 90 command or Um 180 Grad drehen / Rotate 180 command (Bearbeiten / Edit menu) to get them rightside up.

You’ll need to have the images in left-to-right order for stitching.  If, after importing the images, they are in reversed order (right-to-left), select the thumbnails and use the Reihenfolge der Auswahl umkehren / Reverse selected command (Bearbeiten / Edit menu) to re-order them.  If the order of your images is mixed up, click-drag the thumbnail images one at a time to rearrange them.

This is a good time to run the Kameraeinstellungen / Camera properties dialog box to describe the camera you used to capture the images.  See the Kameraeinstellungen / Camera properties dialog box in Chapter 13, “Dialog boxes” for more information about entering camera parameters.

After you’ve imported all the images, save your project. Saving the project accomplishes two very good things. First, if somehow (heaven forbid) your computer crashes or The Panorama Factory loses its mind (fat chance!) you will not need to repeat this work. Second, whenever you save, The Panorama Factory removes from main memory any images that it can re-read from a disk file. This helps a lot if your machine doesn’t have unlimited RAM. Both of these are good reasons to save your work frequently.

If you are working from scanned photos (negatives, slides or prints), you probably should color correct the imported images and then trim the images before going on to Step 3.  See “Color correct the imported images” and “Trim the images” in Chapter 5, “Extra steps when working from scanned photos.”