How to capture a clean 360 photo with your phone
A few habits make the difference between a panorama that stitches perfectly and one with seams. This guide covers them in the order you will need them.
Before you start
- 01
Turn on every light
Even lighting helps the photos match. Open curtains unless the sun shines straight in.
- 02
Clear the room
Move bags, cables and anything that might shift between photos.
- 03
Clean the lens
A thumbprint softens every photo and shows up as haze in the panorama.
- 04
Pick the spot
Stand roughly in the middle, at least a metre from the nearest wall or furniture.
During the capture
Turn around the phone, not your body
Keep the phone in the same place in space and rotate around it. Moving the phone sideways causes seams.
Go slowly
Wait for each target to confirm before moving to the next one.
Keep people out of frame
Anyone walking through will appear in parts of the panorama.
Do not change spots mid-capture
Finish the full turn before walking to the next spot.
Choosing spots for a full tour
Plan the route a visitor would walk: entrance, main room, then the rooms that branch off it. One spot per small room is usually enough. Large rooms, long corridors and open-plan spaces read better with two spots, so visitors can step closer to what matters.
Capture doorways from both sides when you can. It makes navigation hotspots feel natural, because the view after each click matches where the visitor expected to be.
Troubleshooting
Why do I see a seam or a doubled object?
Usually the phone moved sideways during the turn, or something in the room moved. Recapture from the same spot, rotating around the phone.
The ceiling or floor looks blurred.
Low light makes the phone use slower shutter speeds. Add light and hold still at each target.
Stitching failed. Did I lose a credit?
No. A failed stitch returns the credit to your account automatically.