NEAT TRICKS 317

PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS – FREE TRANSFORM

INTRODUCTION
Assume you had a picture of a computer screen and a photograph.  Photoshop Elements makes it easy to move and skew the picture onto the computer screen.

OPEN PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS AND CREATE A NEW LAYER
Open Photoshop Elements in the Full Edit mode.  Hold the Ctrl key and tap the letter N key (New Blank File) > set size 5” High, 7” Wide, Resolution 72, Color Mode: RGB color, Color: White.  Press Ctrl + number 0 to enlarge the layer view.

CONSTRUCT A COMPUTER SCREEN
Select the Polygonal Lasso Tool > draw a shape of a computer screen  as shown in  Figure 1 > click Edit + Stroke Outline Selection > set Width: 10, Color: Black, Location: Center, Mode: Normal, Opacity: 100% > click OK.  Click Ctrl + D to deselect the marching ants.  The finished shape should look similar to Figure 2.

OPEN A PICTURE AND SIZE TO APPROXIMATELY FIT YOUR FIGURE 2
Press Ctrl + the letter O (Open) > navigate to a folder that holds your pictures > click the View Menu to view Thumbnails > click a picture (select) + Open (the picture is opened) > click the letter V (Move Tool) > click and drag the picture onto your original layer > click and drag the picture until a corner is visible > click the corner and drag to reduce picture size > move the corner near the top and drag down etc. until the picture is the approximate size as the screen that you drew.  Note the W and H numbers > with Constrain Proportions checked, you can type numbers for either W or H to resize.

FIT PICTURE TO YOUR DESIGNED SCREEN SHAPE
Hold the Ctrl key as you drag each corner of the picture to fit the corner of the screen shape > press the Enter key to complete the transformation.

CONCLUSION
That’s it – a simple way to skew a picture to fit a shape.

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