Apparatus and methods for the stitch zone calculation of a generated projection of a spherical image. In one embodiment, a computing device is disclosed which includes logic configured to: obtain a plurality of images; map the plurality of images onto a spherical image; re-orient the spherical image in accordance with a desired stitch line and a desired projection for the desired stitch line; and map the spherical image to the desired projection having the desired stitch line. In a variant, the desired stitch line is mapped onto an optimal stitch zone, the optimal stitch zone characterized as a set of points that defines a single line on the desired projection in which the set of points along the desired projection lie closest to the spherical image in a mean square sense.