Open two photos in PSE - the photo that contains the TV (target photo) and the photo you want to show on the TV (replacement photo) - I usually use a picture of the front of the house. I have two methods of doing this - the first is quicker, but the second gives better results. Here are the photos I used:
Method One:
- On the target photo, use the Polygonal Lasso tool to draw a selection around the portion of the TV that will contain the replacement photo.
- Make the replacement photo active, Ctrl-A (or from the menu bar, Select, All), then Ctrl-V (or Edit, Copy).
- Make the target photo active, Ctrl-Shift-V (or Edit, Paste into Selection).
- You'll probably only see a small portion of the replacement photo, so you'll need to resize it. Press Ctrl-T (Image, Transform); use the resize handles until the replacement image is approximately the correct size. Don't worry that it doesn't look right; we'll fix that in the next step. Click the check button or just press Enter to accept.
- From the menu bar, Image, Transform, Distort - use the corner handles to move each corner into position until it looks the way you want. Click the check button or just press Enter. Done!
Close-up:
Method Two:
- Make the replacement photo active; make sure the Move tool is selected and drag it onto the target photo in the palette bin. This will create a new layer above the target photo.
- If your photos are the same size, the replacement photo will entirely cover the target photo. Transform should already be active but, if it's not, use the Transform tool (Ctrl-T or Image, Transform) to resize it to approximately the right size. Don't worry that it isn't quite right - we'll fix that in the next step. Click the check button or press Enter to accept.
- From the menu bar, Image, Transform, Distort - use the handles to move each corner into position. When satisfied, click the check button or press Enter to accept.
- In the Layers palette, Ctrl-click the replacement photo layer to select just the replacement photo.
- From the menu bar, Select, Modify, Contract. Enter the number of pixels (I use 2 pixels when working on a fairly large photo - you can experiment to see what works best); click Okay.
- From the menu bar, Select, Inverse; then Select, Feather and enter the same number of pixels you entered in step 5.
- Press Delete. This will delete some of the pixels around the replacement photo and make it looks as if it's recessed into the screen instead of just pasted on top of it.
- I recommend reducing the opacity of the replacement photo to about 75% or 80% - this will make it look more realistic and allow any naturally-occurring reflections to come through just a bit.
I tried to make sure that each step is clear, but if you have any questions about these methods, please let me know. And post your result here!
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