Thankfully, you can easily eliminate this transparent area with a tighter crop. First, choose Layer -> Flatten Image; the transparent areas around the image will then appear white. Now choose the Crop tool, adjust it to avoid the white areas, and crop. Then save your panorama to your hard disk.

Here you see four photos stitched together with Photoshop CS5's Photomerge feature. Once combined, transparent edges were trimmed from the image using the Crop tool.

Print and frame

One of the biggest challenges with panoramas is that they're usually an odd size, much wider than they are tall. You can print the panorama yourself to the largest paper your printer will accept, and then set out looking for an appropriate frame. On the other hand, it may be best to consult with a professional print shop who will be able to print the panorama at a far larger size and, in most cases, will offer custom framing. Your final task is to either hang it on your wall or that of a friend, or find wrapping paper that's large enough to cover this exceptionally cool gift!

[Chris McVeigh is an author, illustrator and toy photographer who lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.]