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In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to import a set of bracketed photographs into Photomatix Essentials RE ... and then onwards to rendering and saving your image.

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If you haven’t watched the video tutorial which shows “how to photograph an interior with a bright window”, then I suggest that you do so first. It explains a simple technique that you can follow when taking the bracketed photos that I will use in this tutorial.

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When you open Photomatix Essentials RE, the first window has a HELP section on the left hand side. The topics listed here explain, amongst others, what bracketed photos are and why multiple exposures are required when dealing with interiors with bright windows. But for now, let’s move over to the right hand side of this window.

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Loading your photos is easy. Here, on the right of the window are two options; firstly, there’s the classic ‘BROWSE’ button.

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Click on this and a file window appears. You will need to navigate through folders inside this window until you find your photos. Once located, click on the first file with your mouse, then press and hold down the CONTROL KEY. Whilst holding down the CONTROL KEY, click all the other photos in the set using your mouse. Then click ‘SELECT’ to load your photos into Photomatix Essentials.

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Or there’s the ‘DRAG AND DROP’ facility. By going directly to your image FILE or FOLDER on your computer, press and hold down the CONTROL KEY. Left-click your mouse and highlight your photos. Then simply drag them into Photomatix Essentials.

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Remember, if you have taken a set of bracketed photos, then the whole set of bracketed photos should be imported together.

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Once imported, you will see that the display changes. Your set of bracketed photos have appeared with ticks alongside them. If you wish to exclude a photo from the merging process, then simply untick it, but for now, leave them all ticked and we’ll carry on with the photos you have imported.

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Photomatix Essentials also acts as a friendly quality control inspector too. Click on the ‘CHECK PHOTOS’ box and Photomatix will advise you on a number of technical features, such as the levels of brightness and darkness in your photos. I should point out that this step isn’t compulsory - it’s more for feedback on the quality of your photos, but useful if you’d like to learn how to improve your technique.

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Now move down to the bottom right of this window and click ‘MERGE & ADJUST’ and Photomatix Essentials will blend your bracketed photos together into a single, low resolution image. You will be able to ‘fine tune’ and make adjustments once it is finished.

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In the Step 2 window you will see a collection of one-click presets on the right.

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4 of these presets - INTERIOR, INTERIOR 2, ARCHITECTURE and ARCHITECTURE 2 - are presets which are often best suited for ‘real estate interiors with a bright window’. Try clicking on each of these and see what results they give.

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These controls allow you to change the look of your image. As an example, let’s say you’ve selected the INTERIOR preset. Move the SHADOWS slider to the right and the dark areas of the image become brighter ... and darker when you slide to the left.

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Below the SETTINGS sliders is the NEXT: FINISH & SAVE BUTTON. Once you are happy with the image you have on-screen, click on it and Photomatix Essentials will save your image at its original resolution.

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Depending on your computers performance, this may take a little time as Photomatix will process the image at full resolution.

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You’re now at the last step, the FINISH & SAVE window. At this point there are a few more adjustments you can make. On the left hand side you will find SHARPEN and below that, CONTRAST.

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SHARPEN, as the word suggests, will sharpen the edges and lines in your image. Click on the SHARPEN button and select MEDIUM to see what happens. Pay close attention to your outlines and edges but don’t go too far.

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The CONTRAST adjustment is directly underneath. Low contrast images light look flat or dull whereas high contrast will brighten the highlights - but can also darken your shadows. Select MILD contrast and see what happens to your bright and shadowed areas. Again, don’t go too far.

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Now we move down to SAVE WITH SIZE. If you’re uploading your image to MLS, then you can choose the Standard or High-res size. Both of these sizes have a 4 by 3 aspect ratio, which is the ratio used by MLS systems.

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Typically, a photograph from a camera has an aspect ratio of 3 by 2, that’s 3 wide by 2 down. However, MLS systems use images that have an aspect ratio of 4 by 3 - that’s 4 wide by 3 down.

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If you RESIZE your image to fit the Standard or High-res MLS, the image aspect ratio will then change from 3 by 2 to 4 by 3 and your image will look distorted. So, to avoid this, use the CROP TOOL to crop the image so it fits into a 4 by 3 frame.

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To do that, click on the CROP TOOL and make sure the USED FIXED RATIO 4 BY 3 box is checked. Then, click on the image and drag your mouse across it to draw a 4 by 3 frame. When you are happy with the cropped frame, click APPLY.

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If you’re not happy with the result, then simply click UNDO CROP and start over, but for now we’ll carry on. All you need to do is to SAVE your finished image. Press the button and a SAVE AS PANEL appears. Decide where you want the image to be saved, and point the SAVE PANEL towards it.

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Photomatix saves the image as a JPEG by default and it’s likely you don't need to change that. However, if you would like to print the image using Photoshop or another program, then click on the 'Save as type' pulldown menu and select "TIFF 16-bit".

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Your image has now been saved and, to find it, navigate to the folder you chose to save the image.