The Mission
PanoPress was born from a simple observation: immersive media should be accessible to everyone. In an era of increasing digital walls and subscription models, PanoPress provides high-quality, professional-grade 360° utilities... free of charge and with a focus on user privacy and creative freedom.
The Creator
I am Keith Martin, a photographer, designer, educator and developer based in London. My journey in the immersive media space spans decades, working at the intersection of design, publishing, and interaction technology.
Education & Academic Work
For more than 20 years, I have served as a university educator, teaching design and media to the next generation of creative professionals. I have been a Senior Lecturer at the University of the Arts London (LCC) – my own alma mater, where I originally wrote my undergraduate dissertation on the then-beta software QuickTime, submitting it as a HyperCard stack on a SyQuest disk.
Today, I continue to teach as an Associate Lecturer on the Interaction Design Arts course at LCC, focusing on classic design thinking, deep dives into creative typography, and immersive VR media. I also teach design and media production on the Fashion Media undergraduate course at the Fashion Retail Academy.
Technical Publishing & Authorship
As well as my background in academia, I spent nearly two decades – from 1997 to 2015 – as the Technical Editor for MacUser magazine. That role demanded a rigorous understanding of creative software and hardware workflows. This expertise led me to write several books, including the Haynes Mac Manual and Creative Suite 3 Integration (Focal Press). I have also contributed to collaborative volumes such as 1000 Fonts, Web Expert: Color, and the Digital Designer's Bible (Ilex Press).
Community Leadership
I believe strongly in the power of cooperative, creative environments. I previously served as the President of the International Virtual Reality Photography Association (IVRPA). Currently, I am a co-admin for '360 Panoramic Photographers on Facebook'. Founded by my good friend and location scout Sam Rohn, it is one of the oldest and most active groups on the subject, providing a helpful environment for creative idea sharing to around 28,000 members.
Immersive Media Development
Alongside creating the PanoPress suite, my work in the immersive space includes pioneering the embedding of interactive VR media within FXL EPUB documents. In 2022, this accumulated expertise led to a contract with Meta, where I was tasked with designing and building a comprehensive educational resource for the immersive media industry.
Why PanoPress?
Whether you are using tools such as PanoLite to build complex virtual tours or Exif Fixer to restore social media metadata, the philosophy across the PanoPress ecosystem remains the same: Privacy First. With PanoLite your images never leave your computer; they are processed locally in your browser memory. This toolset is built by a creator, for creators.