Skew transform severely distorts screenshot - any workaround?

Question

I'm trying to create the image below where a screen (640px x 960px @ 72ppi) is shown on a stock photo of a device. Is there any way to maintain high quality of the screenshot on the device? I used Photoshop skew.

Answer 1

I do this quite often and the biggest tip that I can offer you is to always convert the screen image to a Smart Object before you transform it. I say this because it will allow you to open up that smart object and make any changes that you might need to make in the future to the screen image and not have to re-transform the screen.

In the image below, you can see that I have several simulated images, all Smart Objects.

Say that I want to update the iPhone screen image.

All I need to do is double-click on the Smart Object inside my Layers Panel and a new window is opened with my (layered in this case) Smart Object.

I can make any changes that I want to the materials here.

And they are committed to the already transformed screen image.

I know this is off-topic from your question, but I really feel like if you are doing this kind of work that you should hear this tip.

Now, as far as the actual transformation is concerned, I prefer to use the Distort option while Free Transforming.

I first turn the opacity (or fill) of the Smart Object that I want to be my new screen image down, until I can clearly see the screen below it.

Then, I use the Distort transform option to align the four corners of my smart object to those of the device's screen.

You can find the Distort feature by right clicking or ctrl clicking inside the object while you are in free transform.

Unfortunately, due to anti-aliasing, the screen image will often have a somewhat jagged appearance and it is especially apparent with text. I've yet to really find an absolute solution to this.