Pangea Software has released PanoPreviewer 2.0, a new version of their panoramic photo preview software for Mac OS X. The new version cost $19.95; a free demo is available for download.
PanoPreviewer functions as an Adobe Photoshop plug-in. The software simplifies the process of creating “panoramic” images — 360 degree, VR images often used in conjunction with QuickTime or Java-based VR software.
Normally the process to create equirectangular images can be quite cumbersome, requiring the creator to export the file and then load it in to an external viewer to see how it looks. With PanoPreviewer installed, you can view the image within Photoshop, using hardware-accelerated OpenGL.
In addition to Universal binary support that enables PanoPreviewer to operate natively on Intel or PowerPC-based Macs, the new version is also compatible with Adobe Photoshop CS2 and the forthcoming CS3 release.