CanvasToGlobe — Support

Last updated 3 October 2026

CanvasToGlobe is for artists painting 360° panoramas by hand. Photograph a 2:1 painting, mark its four corners, and see it as the sphere it becomes — on your iPhone or iPad, or in a VR headset.

Getting started

Tap Camera and photograph the painting. Fill as much of the frame as you can; for a wide painting, turn the phone sideways. You can also import a photo with the photo or folder buttons beside Camera.
The app finds the outline of the paper and places four pins on its corners. Drag any pin to adjust it. While you drag, a magnifier shows the corner up close. If the photo is sideways, turn it with the rotate buttons at the bottom.
Tap Flat to see the straightened 2:1 image, with guides showing how much of each band survives on the sphere.
Tap Sphere, hold the device up, and turn around. You are inside the painting. Dragging and pinching work too.
Tap the share button to send the finished panorama anywhere: Photos, AirDrop, Files, or a headset app.

Every painting is kept in the library on the first screen. Tap one to reopen it; press and hold one to delete it. Changes save automatically.

Photographing a painting

Shoot as straight-on as you can, with the whole sheet in the frame and a little wall around it. The pins correct for an angle, but a square-on photo keeps more detail.
Even light matters more than bright light. If one side of the photo is darker, turn on Correct lighting gradient under the sliders button.
Photograph the painting again whenever you have worked on it. Each photo becomes its own entry in the library, so you keep a record of how the painting developed.

The corrections

Open them with the sliders button. Double-tap any slider to put it back to its default. None of them change your photograph; they only change the panorama made from it.

Control	What it is for
Convergence	The top and bottom rows of the painting each shrink to a single point on the sphere. This blends them so the zenith and nadir do not spin into a starburst.
Top / bottom exposure, saturation and blur at pole	Adjust only the areas near the poles, fading out toward the horizon.
Seam blend	The left and right edges of the painting meet on the sphere. This feathers the join. Show seam at centre moves it into view.
Horizontal roll	Turns the whole panorama, choosing which part faces forward.
Correct lighting gradient	Evens out a photo that is brighter on one side.

Viewing in a headset

Exported images are 2:1 JPEGs carrying the standard 360° panorama metadata, so headset galleries and 360° photo viewers recognise them as spheres. Share the image to your computer or a cloud folder, then copy it to the headset's photo or file library and open it there.

Troubleshooting

The pins did not land on the corners

Outline detection needs the paper to stand out from what is behind it. Drag the pins into place by hand; the magnifier makes this precise. The reset button returns them to where the outline was first found.

A warning shows something like “1.34 : 1”

A 360° panorama must be exactly twice as wide as it is tall. The number is the shape your corners describe. Tap it to choose between stretching the painting to 2:1 or keeping its proportions with empty bands at the top and bottom.

The sphere does not move when I turn

Check that the gyroscope button in the Sphere view is on. It is on by default and switches off while the little-planet view is showing.

The camera says it needs access

Camera access is off. Tap Open Settings on that screen, or open the Settings app, find CanvasToGlobe, and switch Camera on. You can still import photos without it.

Contact

Questions, bugs, or requests: faurc@denison.edu