I want to do one of those panoramic pictures that is made up of three separate pictures – i.e. not touching. My question is should the image be simply cut into three, or do I need to miss out extra bits to represent the bits you cannot see in the gaps.

maybe try both on a smaller scale?

will depend on the picture, and the desired effect, so have a trial run. doesn’t matter if your printer’s not up to much, it’s just the composition you need to see…

triptych is the word you are looking for.