Today I’m gonna show you a pretty simple technique with which you can amaze your friends. All that you need is a camera, a tripod, a screen and, of course, Photoshop.

 

  1. Take a camera (or a camera phone) and place it on a stable place, using a tripod or some books, for example.

  2. Take a picture of the screen/monitor/laptop.

  3. We now need a second picture that contains the area behind the monitor – only the area that you need for the effect. So we maintain the camera in the same place, take the monitor away/close the laptop and take another picture. Leave the camera in the same place, as we’re gonna need it again for another picture.

  4. Copy the pictures in the PC, then open the first picture and add, in a new layer, the second picture we’ve made.

  5. Select Polygonal Lasso Tool (from the top left side; Feather: 0 px)

  6. Make a selection of the monitor, making a click in every corner of it.
     

  7. Hide the top layer and select the one below.

  8. Press CTRL + C to copy the selection in the clipboard.

  9. Open a new file: File – New – size should be already put there – OK.

  10. The image is deformed. We need to put it on the desktop – so we need to put it in a rectangle.
    Select from the top menu: Edit – Transform – Distort and pull from the left corners.

  11. Now we need to resize the photo. Select from the top menu: Image – Image Size – Uncheck Constrain Proportion and set at Width and Height the resolution of the monitor. For a regular monitor, we can try Width 1024 and Height 768, and for a wide monitor, Width 1280 and Height 768. These are the standard resolutions.Press OK after setting the values.

    It’s possible to have a blurry image, because of the camera with which the photo was made, the photo being taken at a small resolution.

    But this is not a problem, and you will see why.

  12. Save the image. File – Save as – format JPEG – Save.

  13. Now make it your desktop background. Right click on it – Set as Desktop Background.

  14. Now that we have it as a background, it’s time for the last step. Back to the camera, in the same position – take the last picture, download it and show it to your friends.
    You have here a few examples,  but you can always use your imagination.