Viewing Phantograms

Not all of the images on this site are phantograms, but many are. I'm a huge phant-fan.

So what is a phantogram? A phantogram is a 3-dimensional image designed to precisely imitate normal vision. Give each eye the same information it would get if you were there, and the images will jump right off the pages.

How to do it? Shoot from an angle, reverse the effects of perspective, and resize proportional to the original scene. If you want to learn to do phantograms, there are several links just below. It's really not too difficult, and they're extremely fun and cool once you get the hang of it.

There are many ways to view a phantogram, whether by side-by-side images, anaglyph, or with the modern freeviewing tablets. Ideally you'd like to see a phantogram at the same angle as it was shot, which presents a challenge on most digital devices, so I allow you license to print out any images you find on this site, so long as for non-commercial purposes..

Barry Rothstein

Online Videos and Tutorials on Making Phantograms

3D-Con 2021: Workshop on You-tube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YENN6Zz99ac

LA3D Club Workshop 7: Easy Phantograms on You-tube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwGLqk6LHI8

VSC Phantogram tutorial (downloadable from Dropbox)
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/qsy0026mwrdvafno6gvmr/h?rlkey=rhxjd1zm5e2d3jfz6plhyc0sl&dl=0

Steve Hughes 'Introduction to Making Phantograms' at Portland NSA 2004
(that's how I learned to make them)
https://youtu.be/91ArNRfnHmA

Original Phantogram Tutorial (PDF)
http://3ddigitalphoto.com/phantograms.pdf

3-D Image Making Workflow including making Phantograms with StereoPhoto Maker (PDF)
http://macrophant3d.com/3DPhotographyWorkflow.pdf

Different Styles of 3-D Viewing.

Parallel Stereo Pair
(freeview or use PokeScopeŽ or WheatstoneŽ viewer)

Anaglyph format
(use red & cyan glasses)

Crossview Stereo Pair
Relax & cross your eyes. Converge the images (try to see 3, middle one is in 3-D)

Why 3-D?
How would you like your textbooks to have images of fossils like those below? First look at them without 3-D glasses. Without the glasses on the 2-D images below look better. Next put on the 3-D glasses and compare the 3-D images above to the same 2-D image below. They're all great images, but look at how much more information you get seeing them in 3-D. The fossil images below were taken at the Page Museum, specimens of the LaBrea Tar Pits.
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