ADOBE Premiere Elements 9 User Manual

Using

ADOBE® PREMIERE® ELEMENTS 9

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1994. All Rights Reserved. Proximity Technology Inc. The Proximity/Merriam-Webster Inc./Franklin Electronic Publishers Inc. © 1990 Williams Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. © 1997 - All rights reserved Proximity Technology Inc. © 1990 Williams Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. © 1990 - All rights reserved Proximity Technology Inc. © Oxford University Press © 2000. All rights reserved Proximity Technology Inc. © 1990 IDE a.s. © 1990 - All rights reserved Proximity Technology Inc.

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Last updated 4/20/2011

Chapter 1: Getting started with Adobe Premiere Elements

What to do first . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Using Help and getting support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Converting a catalog from a previous version (Windows only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

About Backing up/Synchronizing files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Working in Elements Organizer and Adobe Premiere Elements Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Importing and organizing photos and videos using Elements Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Troubleshooting tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter 2: Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

About the workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Panel overviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Chapter 3: Projects

About projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Creating an InstantMovie project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Creating a new project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Viewing a project’s files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Viewing clip properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Project settings and presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Undoing changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Saving and backing up projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Working with scratch disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

iii

Chapter 4: Capturing video

Getting ready to capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Capture video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Capture stop-motion and time-lapse video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Chapter 5: Importing and adding media

Adding files to a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Using files from Photoshop Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Creating specialty clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Working with offline files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Working with aspect ratios and field options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

5.1 audio import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Chapter 6: Managing clips with the Organizer

View clips in Elements Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Finding files in Elements Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Tagging files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Grouping files in the Elements Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Creating albums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

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Creating and editing smart albums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Backup and synchronize albums and files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Chapter 7: Arranging clips in a movie

Arranging clips in the Sceneline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Creating a slide show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Creating a picture-in-picture overlay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Arranging clips in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Grouping, linking, and disabling clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Working with clip and timeline markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Previewing movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Chapter 8: Editing clips

Trimming clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Changing clip speed and duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Freezing and holding frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Working with source clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Chapter 9: Applying transitions

Transition basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Applying transitions to clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Create special transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Adjusting transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Chapter 10: Applying effects

Effects basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Finding and organizing effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Applying and removing effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Working with effect presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Changing effect properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Reposition, scale, or rotate clips with the Motion effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Superimposing and transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Selecting colors for effects and mattes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Effects reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Chapter 11: Animating effects

Effect animation basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Adding, copying, and removing keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Adjusting keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Controlling change between keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Animating a clip’s position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Motion tracking effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Effects Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Chapter 12: Creating titles

Creating and trimming titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Editing and formatting text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Applying styles to text and graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

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Adding shapes and images to titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Arranging objects in titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Adding color and shadows to titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Designing titles for TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Exporting and importing titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Chapter 13: Adding and mixing audio

Using soundtracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Create narrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Mixing audio and adjusting volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Chapter 14: Creating disc menus

Types of discs and menu options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Working with menu markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Creating disc menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Previewing menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Chapter 15: Saving and sharing your movies

Sharing from the Tasks panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Create DVD files for web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Sharing to DVD or Blu-ray Disc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Sharing for PC playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Sharing to the web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Sharing to mobile phones and players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Sharing to videotape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Common settings for Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Supported file types for saving and exporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

Compression and data-rate basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Archiving projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Chapter 16: Adobe Premiere Elements keyboard shortcuts

Using default shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Customizing shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Chapter 17: Troubleshooting

Resources and guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Capturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Importing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Playing back and previewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Creating a DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Chapter 18: Glossary

Digital imaging terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

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Chapter 1: Getting started with

Adobe

Adobe® Premiere® Elements 9 software combines power and simplicity so you can easily make your videos look their best. You can share them in imaginative ways, and easily find and view all your video clips and photos.

Premiere Elements

What to do first

Check the system requirements

If you’re not sure that Adobe Premiere Elements can run on your computer, review the complete system requirements and recommendations for your Adobe® software. See the ReadMe file included on your software installation disc.

Install the software

1 Close any other Adobe applications open on your computer.

2 Insert the installation disc (Disk 1) into your disc drive. In Windows, follow the onscreen instructions. In Mac OS,

double-click Install in the Finder dialog box that is displayed when you insert the disk.

For more information, see http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_install_pre9_en

Note: You can specify the language and select the country while installing the application.

3 Insert Disk 2 to install contents (themes) for Adobe Premiere Elements. In Windows, follow the onscreen

instructions. In Mac OS, double-click Install in the Finder dialog box that is displayed when you insert the disk.

Should I uninstall my previous version of Adobe Premiere Elements? Adobe recommends that you uninstall a

previous version of Adobe uninstall a previous version of Adobe

How do I uninstall a version of Adobe Premiere Elements? In the Windows® OS, click the Start menu, and then select

Control Panel. Double-click Add Or Remove Programs. Select the version of Adobe to uninstall, and then click Remove. Confirm the uninstallation when prompted.

On Mac® OS, select Applications > Utilities > Adobe Installers, and double-click Uninstall Adobe Premiere Elements <version_number>.

Premiere Elements before you install the new version. However, it’s not necessary to

Premiere Elements if you don’t want to.

Premiere Elements that you want

Register

After installing Adobe Premiere Elements, register your software to receive complimentary installation support, notifications of updates, and other services.

Note: If you postpone registration, you can register at any time by choosing Help > Registration.

ReadMe file

The installation disc contains the ReadMe file for your software (This file is also copied to the application folder during product installation.) Open the file to read important information about your product.

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Sign up with your Adobe ID

Important: Adobe Premiere Elements free online benefits and Adobe Premiere Elements Plus are available in the United States only. Internet access required.

Sign up with your Adobe ID to receive free online benefits, such as 2 GB of free storage, automatic online backup, automatic syncing of your photos and video clips on multiple computers, tutorials that appear when you need them, access to your photos and videos at Photoshop.com, and a personal URL for sharing your photo/video albums. For more information, see

How do I sign up? Click the link on the Welcome screen or in the menu bar to sign up with your Adobe ID. If you don't

have an Adobe ID, click the link on the Welcome screen or in the menu bar to create one.You can sign up at any time on the Welcome screen.

To display the Welcome screen, click the Welcome screen icon in the menu bar.

www.adobe.com/go/learn_pre9_membership_en.

New and enhanced features

Visit www.adobe.com/go/learn_pre_features_en to learn about new and enhanced features. Improving your videos and doing more with them is easier than ever.

Using Help and getting support

Learning Adobe Premiere Elements

The Adobe Premiere Elements Help and Support page on the web provide links to articles and video tutorials to help you get started with Adobe Premiere Elements. The Help and Support page also includes top troubleshooting tips, advanced articles, and links to Help and forums. For more information, see

www.adobe.com/support/premiereelements/.

How do I ask a question? You can ask questions to and get advice from other Adobe Photoshop Elements and

Premiere Elements users at www.adobe.com/go/forums. You can also use the new Adobe help system to

Adobe provide feedback, and ask questions related to the product.

Using Adobe Premiere Elements Help

For the complete Help for Adobe Premiere Elements, see Help for Elements Organizer and Adobe Premiere Elements.

Help in the application Select Help > Adobe Premiere Elements Help (or press the F1 key on your keyboard) to launch

the Community Help application. This companion application lets you search and browse Adobe and community content on Premiere Elements. You can access Help content after the first download even when you are offline. Being online helps you get the maximum benefits from the Help system.

Help on the web To view Help on the web, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_pre9_en. Your computer must be connected

to the Internet to access Help on the web. Use the Search field to search within Adobe Premiere Elements Help.

Help PDF Help is also available as a PDF that is optimized for printing. Visit

www.adobe.com/go/learn_pre9_printpdf_en, or click the Help PDF link at the top of each Help page.

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Links in the application Some Help links are within Adobe Premiere Elements. Clicking these links takes you to the

corresponding topic in Help.

How to search for troubleshooting topics You can view top issues and search for common problems and error

messages by going to Adobe Premiere Elements users at www.adobe.com/go/forums.

Look for Adobe Premiere Elements updates If your computer is connected to the Internet, you’ll receive notifications

whenever Adobe

www.adobe.com/downloads/updates.

www.adobe.com/support/premiereelements. You can also ask questions to other

Premiere Elements is updated. You can also find out about the latest updates by going to

Contacting customer support

You can get support by contacting Adobe directly or submitting a web case. Visit www.adobe.com/support/contact for contact information. Visit the Adobe Support website at www.adobe.com/go/support. Adobe Support has troubleshooting information, and also information about free and paid technical support options.

Converting a catalog from a previous version (Windows only)

When you open Elements Organizer, you could experience difficulties in opening a catalog you used in an earlier version of Adobe Premiere Elements. Convert the catalog to view the photos and video clips.

1 In Elements Organizer, select File > Catalog.

2 Click Convert in the Catalog Manager.

3 In the Convert Catalog window, select the catalog you want to convert.

Note: Catalogs saved to a folder in a location other than the default location do not appear in the Convert Catalog window automatically. Click Find More Catalogs, and then select the folder where your catalog is located. Catalogs located in that folder are added to the list of catalogs that can be converted.

4 Click Convert.

Show Previously Converted Catalogs

You can view the catalogs that have previously been converted or that were backed up by an earlier version. The Convert Catalog window does not display these catalogs by default. Select Show Previously Converted Catalogs to view a list of the previously converted catalogs.

Note: You cannot use the converted catalog with earlier versions. However, when the catalog is converted, it copies the data into a new catalog file, and the original catalog file remains unchanged. You can continue to use the original catalog in earlier versions.

About Backing up/Synchronizing files

Back up/Synchronize files

Note: Adobe Premiere Elements free online benefits and Adobe Premiere Elements Plus are available in the United States only. Internet access required.

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When you sign in with your Adobe ID, you can back up your albums and catalogs to Photoshop.com servers. Backing up and synchronizing your albums and catalogs is essential for protecting your photos and media files. For example, if you add keyword tags to media files on your computer, the corresponding photos on Photoshop.com are updated with the tags. The albums and catalogs must be marked for Backup/Synchronization.

Important: All images within a stack are automatically backed up/synchronized across all machines. However, you must manually re-create the stack on each machine.

The Backup/Synchronization wizard is automatically launched when the user activates Backup/Synchronization for the first time.

Backup/Synchronization confirmation window

1 Start Elements Organizer, and then sign in with your Adobe ID.

2 Choose an option from the Backup/Synchronization dialog box.

Yes - Turn It On For Me Enables you to set your entire catalog for Backup/Synchronization. All your videos and photos

securely get uploaded to your online account.

Yes - But Show Me The Advanced Settings Enables you to set advanced Backup/Synchronization settings in the

Preferences dialog box.

No - Leave It Off, I Don’t Want To Protect My Photos And Videos Your videos and photos don’t get backed up and

synchronized online.

3 Select the required option, and then follow the onscreen instructions to enable Backup/Synchronization.

View Backup/Synchronization activity status

❖ Do one of the following:

• Right-click/ctrl-click the Elements Backup/Synchronization Agent icon in the system tray, and then select View

Backup/Synchronization Status.

• Double-click the Elements Backup/Synchronization Agent icon in the system tray.

• Click the Elements Backup/Synchronization Agent icon in the status bar of Elements Organizer, and then select

View Backup/Synchronization Status.

The Elements Backup/Synchronization Status dialog box is displayed. The dialog box displays the following information:

• The total number of assets that are being synchronized

• The overall progress of the synchronization activity

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• The online storage capacity being used

• The asset that is being synchronized

The dialog box also allows you to pause and resume the Backup/Synchronization activity.

View Backup/Synchronization activity status

Start backup and synchronization activity manually

Backup/Synchronization is a scheduled activity. The synchronization agent checks for assets to synchronize at regular intervals. Between these periods of activity, the Elements Backup/Synchronization Agent is idle. To synchronize right away instead of waiting for the next scheduled synchronization, click Sync Now in the Backup/Synchronization Status dialog box. The Backup/Synchronization process starts, and any changes that you have made are synced to Photoshop.com immediately.

Working in Elements Organizer and Adobe

Elements Organizer is a part of both Adobe® Premiere® Elements 9 software and Adobe Photoshop Elements. You can use Elements Organizer to import, manage, and view your media files. For extensive editing, you can work with video files in the Adobe Premiere Elements Editor. You can manage your media files (both photos and videos) efficiently using the powerful capabilities of Elements Organizer. Elements Organizer enables efficient organization of media files. Tagging media files enables you to easily search for the required media files. On finding the required media files, you can use the powerful features of Adobe Premiere Elements to create and edit movies. You can navigate from Elements Organizer to Adobe Premiere Elements. When you create a video project in Adobe Premiere Elements, it is automatically saved to Elements Organizer.

• To edit video files, select the media files, and then select Fix > Edit Videos.

• Video projects created in Adobe Premiere Elements can be opened from Elements Organizer.

1 In Elements Organizer, expand Albums to view a list of albums and the option Video Projects.

2 Expand Video Projects to view a list of video projects created in Adobe Premiere Elements.

3 Right-click/ctrl-click a video project, and then select Open With Premiere Elements.

Premiere Elements Editor

Elements Organizer launches Adobe Premiere Elements and opens the required project.

Importing and organizing photos and videos using Elements Organizer

As you work in Adobe Premiere Elements, you start by importing media into Elements Organizer, where you view, manage, and find all of your photos and video clips.

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Use the Media Downloader to download files

1 Connect your camera or card reader to your computer. (See the documentation that came with your device, if

necessary.)

Note: (Windows) If autoplay is enabled, the Windows AutoPlay dialog box opens with a list of options for getting the photos. In the Windows AutoPlay dialog box, select Organize, and Edit using Adobe Elements 9 Organizer, and then click OK. If Elements Organizer is not already open, the Photo Downloader dialog box opens. Click Get Media. Elements Organizer opens and imports the media files.

2 In Elements Organizer, select File > Get Photos and Videos > From Camera or Card Reader.

3 In the Media Downloader dialog box under Source, choose from the Get Photos From menu to specify where to

copy/import the media files from.

4 In the Import Settings area, set the following options:

Location Specifies the folder to which images are downloaded. To change the default folder location, click Browse, and

then specify a new location.

Create Subfolder(s) Creates a subfolder using the naming scheme chosen from the pop-up menu. If you choose

Custom Name, type a subfolder name in the box.

Rename Files Changes the filenames using the naming scheme selected from the pop-up menu. If you choose Custom

Name, type a base filename and a starting number for assigning sequentially numbered filenames to the photos.

Note: If the name you entered exists, the copied image filename is appended with “-1” or another appropriately numbered designator.

Preserve Current Filename In XMP Select this option to use the current filename as the filename stored in the metadata

of the photo.

Note: In Windows Vista®, if your camera is connected in PTP mode, you are sometimes unable to view camera raw or video files in the Media Downloader. To view camera raw or video files, connect your camera in USB Mass Storage mode, or remove the card from the camera. Use a card reader to connect it to your computer.

5 (Optional) To automatically download photos to Adobe Premiere Elements after a device is connected, select

Automatic Download. Automatic download options are set in the Camera Or Card Reader preferences.

6 (Optional) For more download options, click the Advanced Dialog button. For more information, see

www.adobe.com/go/learn_org9_advanceddownload_en.

7 Click Get Media.

The media files are copied to your hard drive.

8 Click Yes in the Files Successfully Copied dialog box.

Note: If Elements Organizer is launched while copying the media, click Yes in the Files Successfully Copied box.

Use video capture device

Capturing video involves recording audio and video directly to your computer from a DV or HDV camcorder, webcam, or other WDM (Windows Driver Model) device. Adobe Premiere Elements automatically detects the attached capture device and sets all capture settings accordingly.

Note: Before you capture digital video, create a project with a preset that matches the format (DV or HDV), television standard (NTSC or PAL), and frame aspect ratio (standard 4:3 or widescreen 16:9) that you’ll use to shoot your footage.

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The Capture panel provides controls that let you remotely control your device, making it easy to play, capture, pause, and stop the video on your device. To open the Capture panel, click Organize in the Tasks panel. The Capture panel enables you to monitor the video and access all the capture commands. Adobe Premiere Elements automatically detects the attached capture device and sets the Capture panel settings accordingly.

1 Connect your video capture device to your computer. (See the documentation that came with your device, if

necessary.)

2 Turn on the camcorder and set it to playback mode, which may be labeled either VTR, VCR, or Play. You can also

keep it in recording mode.

Adobe® Premiere® Elements 9 launches (if it isn’t already running), and then the Capture panel opens. If

Premiere® Elements 9 is already running, choose File > Get Media From, and then select one of the following

Adobe® to open the Capture panel:

• DV Camcorder

• HDV Camcorder

• Webcam Or WDM Device

3 Specify the capture settings in the Capture panel, and then click Capture.

Organizing your photos and video clips

Use Elements Organizer to manage your files. You can find photos, video files, audio clips, and Adobe PDF documents stored in different locations on your computer.

Adobe Premiere Elements automatically organizes media files by date as they download. Elements Organizer has a Timeline (choose Window > Timeline) and Date View for finding media files by date. It’s a good idea to put related media files into an album. Albums are great for sharing photos in projects, creations, and online albums, and they also make it easy to find related media files.

You can further sort and categorize media files by adding star ratings, by stacking photos, and by assigning keyword tags. For more information on using keyword tags, see

Do I have to use Elements Organizer? No. You can copy media files to your computer and use the Editor to fix your

media files. However, there are lots of great things you can do with your photos in Elements Organizer. Also, after collecting hundreds of media files on your computer, you’ll discover that finding and managing media files with Elements Organizer is much easier.

www.adobe.com/go/learn_org9_photos_tag_en.

Create an album

1 In Elements Organizer, click the Create New Album Or Album Category button in the Albums panel, and then

choose New Album.

2 (Optional) From the Album Category menu, choose a category into which to place the album.

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Albums Category menu

3 In the Album Name box, type a name for the album.

4 Drag media files into the Items area.

The album appears in the Albums panel under the album group you specified. For more information on creating an album, see

www.adobe.com/go/learn_org9_albums_create_en.

Finding photos and video clips

You can find photos and video files by date, star rating, album, folder location, filename, media type, keyword tag, text, or other criteria. For more information, see

Here are a few of the features in Elements Organizer to find photos:

Timeline Click a month, or set a range to find photos and media files chronologically by date, import batch, or folder

location. Select Window > Timeline to view the timeline.

Find bar Drag a photo, keyword tag, project, or album onto the Find bar to find matching or similar photos and media

files.

Albums panel Select an album to view only the media files in it.

Keyword Tags panel Select a keyword tag to see only the files with that tag.

Textbox Type text in the Search box in Elements Organizer to find files with matching text. Click Organizer to launch

Elements Organizer from Adobe Premiere Elements. Matches can include items such as filenames, metadata, keyword tags, captions, notes, album names, album groups, camera information, dates, folders, or formats.

www.adobe.com/go/learn_org9_photos_find_en.

Elements Organizer has many tools and features for finding photos. A. Find bar B. Textbox C. Timeline D. Albums panel E. Keyword Tags panel

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Find the actual file of a media clip

1 In Elements Organizer, select the photo or media clip whose file you want to find.

2 Press Alt + Enter to open the Properties window. Click the General tab if it is not already open.

3 Click the Reveal In Explorer icon .

Troubleshooting tips

Here are some things to consider when troubleshooting Adobe Premiere Elements. For more tips, visit

www.adobe.com/go/forums.

• Restart Adobe Premiere Elements, or restart your computer.

• Reset the Adobe Premiere Elements preferences. Start Adobe Premiere Elements, and select New Project. Hold

down the Ctrl + Alt + Shift keys immediately after selecting New Project.

• Turn off other programs, including anti-virus, firewall, and CD/DVD burning applications that run in the

background.

• Make sure that the computer operating system is up-to-date. Install the latest drivers for your video card, sound

card, printer, and other devices.

• Remove any recent additions to your computer. What was the last thing you changed on your computer before the

problem began? Did you install a new printer, font, or other software?

• If something in Adobe Premiere Elements doesn’t seem to work properly, check Adobe Premiere Elements Help.

• If a problem occurs when you open or edit a photo, check if the problem occurs with all photos, or if it occurs with

photos from different cameras or sources.

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Chapter 2: Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

The Adobe Premiere Elements workspace is optimized for organizing media, editing and sharing movies, and creating menus for DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. You can customize the workspace to suit your needs. Adobe combines everything you need to create a movie into a single file called a project file. The resources in a project file are linked to their source. Because assets are linked and not embedded in project files, the size of a project file doesn’t increase drastically when you add assets to it.

About the workspace

Welcome screen

When you start Adobe Premiere Elements, the Welcome screen opens by default. The Welcome screen has the following options:

Premiere Elements

Organize Enables you to launch Elements Organizer.

New Project Enables you to create a project.

Open Project Enables you to open an existing project.

Note: You can log in with your Adobe ID on the Welcome screen to access free online benefits, Photoshop Elements, and Adobe Premiere Elements Plus features. Available in the United States only. Internet access required.

When you click the icon , the Launch Settings dialog is displayed with the following options. Specifying the settings here determine the Adobe Premiere Elements Launch behavior. Select one of the options and click OK:

• Just Show The Welcome Screen

• Always Launch Elements Organizer With The Welcome Screen

• Always Launch Adobe Premiere Elements Editor With The Welcome Screen.

Getting started with your Adobe ID

Create an Adobe ID

You can log in with your Adobe ID to access free online benefits, Photoshop Elements, and Adobe Premiere Elements Plus features. Available in the United States only. Internet access required.

1 Do one of the following:

• (Windows®) Double-click the desktop icon.

• (Windows) Double-click Adobe Premiere Elements <version number>.exe. Locate the file in the folder where you

installed Adobe Premiere Elements. Alternatively, use the Start menu to open the application.

• (Mac® OS) Click Adobe Premiere Elements <version number> in the Application folder (Applications > Adobe

Premiere Elements 9 > folder > Adobe Premiere Elements 9).

2 In the Welcome screen, click Create New Adobe ID, and follow the instructions to create your Adobe ID.

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

3 Follow the instructions in the e-mail to activate your account.

The Welcome screen with the options to create an Adobe ID and Sign in with an Adobe ID

More Help topics

“Backup and synchronize albums and files” on page 80

Sign in with your Adobe ID

1 Make sure that your computer is connected to the Internet, and then start Adobe Premiere Elements.

2 Do either of the following:

• In the Welcome screen, enter your Adobe ID and password, and click Sign In.

• In the title bar, above the Tasks panel, click Sign In.

The Welcome screen changes and greets you with the message Welcome, [user name]. Adobe Premiere Elements remembers that you have an Adobe ID and automatically signs you in if your computer is connected to the Internet.

Signing in with your Adobe ID

View your videos on Photoshop.com

You can view your backed up videos on the Internet from any computer, even one that doesn’t have Adobe Premiere Elements installed.

1 Make sure that the computer is connected to the Internet, open a web browser, and go to the Photoshop.com

website at

The web browser must have cookies enabled.

www.photoshop.com.

2 On the Photoshop.com home page, click Sign In and enter your Adobe ID.

3 After your Photoshop.com page opens, click My Albums.

You can view and navigate through all the videos you’ve backed up to Photoshop.com.

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

Launch the Inspiration Browser

The Inspiration Browser lets you access and organize tutorials that contain ideas and creative ways to do more with your video projects.

❖ To launch the Inspiration Browser, do any of the following:

• In the Adobe Premiere Elements Welcome screen, sign in with your Adobe ID, and then click Tips and Tricks.

• In Adobe Premiere Elements, select Edit > Effects. Click the icon or words that appear in the lower-right area of the

application window, below the Timeline and Sceneline. A small dialog box opens with options. When you open the Inspiration Browser this way, different tutorials open for different workflows. For example, if you are adding transitions, the Inspiration Browser opens tutorials about using transitions.

If you’re not already signed in with your Adobe ID, a dialog box opens for you to sign in.

Workspace overview

The Adobe Premiere Elements workspace is optimized for the four major phases of a project: organizing footage (video, stills, and audio), editing a movie, creating menus for DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, and sharing movies. You can easily change from one task to the other by choosing different task-based buttons in the Tasks panel. As you change tasks, the workspace displays the appropriate panels and panel views. You can also customize the workspace to meet your specific needs by adding and arranging panels.

Drop zones are areas in the workspace onto which you can drop or move panels. As you drag a panel, underlying drop zones become outlined. The highlighted drop zone shows where the panel will be inserted into the workspace. Dragging a panel to a drop zone at any of the edges of a panel results in docking.

Note: To see the names of panels in the workspace, choose Window > Show Docking Headers.

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

Workspace for editing A. Monitor panel B. Tasks panel C. My Project panel (Sceneline view)

More Help topics

“Project view overview” on page 25

“Find an effect” on page 143

Customizing the workspace

The workspace in Adobe Premiere Elements is highly customizable. You can add panels, as well as resize, move, hide, and group them to suit your working style. Modifications you make to the workspace remain intact until you modify or restore it to its original configuration. As you customize your workspace, Adobe changes. When you save the project, the recent layout changes are also saved. The next time you open that project,

Premiere Elements restores the saved layout that you had used.

Adobe

Display and hide docking headers

Each panel has a docking header containing its title, and sometimes, panel menu buttons. You drag the docking headers to drag panels to new locations. To save space on your screen, you can make the docking headers disappear; then, make them reappear when you need to use them. By default, docking headers are hidden.

❖ Do one of the following:

• To make docking headers appear, choose Window> Show Docking Headers.

Premiere Elements tracks the

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

• To make docking headers disappear, choose Window > Hide Docking Headers.

Note: To access any of the commands in the panel menu when docking headers are hidden, right-click/ctrl-click in the panel.

Display and hide panels

• To display a panel or make it active, choose its name from the Window menu or click its docking header, if visible.

• To expand or collapse a docked panel, click the triangle on its docking header. Only docked panels that are vertically

aligned, sharing right and left borders, with another panel can be expanded or collapsed.

• To close a panel that is not docked, click the Close button at the right of its docking header.

Resize a panel

When one panel is moved or resized, the other panels adjust automatically to accommodate the change.

❖ To resize a panel, drag its border.

Drag the divider between panels to resize them. A. Original panels with divider selected B. Resized panels

If you have more than one monitor connected to your system and your system supports a multiple- monitor desktop, you can drag panels to any monitor.

Open panel menus

Most panels include menus with commands that are specific to individual panels.

• If docking headers are hidden (default), right-click/ctrl-click in the panel.

• If docking headers are displayed, click the panel menu button in the upper-right corner of the panel. (To see

docking headers and the panel menu button, choose Window > Show Docking Headers.)

Panel menu A. right-click/ctrl-click panel to display panel menu B. Click panel menu button to display panel menu

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

Restore the default workspace

❖ Choose Window > Restore Workspace.

Examine or remove an alert

Adobe Premiere Elements lists warnings, error messages, and other information you can use to identify and troubleshoot problems, particularly those associated with plug-ins and other components from third-party developers. An alert icon Events panel, and clearing the associated item from the Events panel removes the icon from the status bar.

1 Do either of the following:

• Double-click the alert icon in the status bar.

• Choose Window > Events.

2 Do any of the following:

• To learn more about an item in the list, select it and click Details.

• To clear the events list, click Clear All.

, , on the status bar notifies you of an error. Double-clicking the icon opens the

Panel overviews

Adobe Premiere Elements includes three main panels: Tasks panel, Monitor panel, and My Project panel (Timeline and Sceneline). For all your basic tasks, you use these three panels.

Tasks panel overview

The Tasks panel appears by default for all workspaces. It is the central location for adding and organizing media; finding, applying, and adjusting effects and transitions; creating DVD and Blu-ray Disc menus, and sharing your finished projects. It is organized into four main task workspaces: Organize, Edit, Disc Menus, and Share. Within each workspace are all the tools you need to accomplish tasks.

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

Edit workspace displaying Effect Properties view

More Help topics

“Project view overview” on page 25

“Adding files to a project” on page 52

“View clips in Elements Organizer” on page 71

Organize workspace

The Organize workspace displays thumbnails of all the media (videos, still images, and audio) that you’ve imported into Adobe Photoshop® Elements®, or Adobe Premiere Elements. You can access and share all the files in the Organizer seamlessly between the applications.

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

Organize workspace

From the Organize workspace in the Tasks panel, you can access the following:

Get Media Lets you add files from various sources including video cameras, flip videos, webcams, digital still cameras,

WDM devices, mobile phones, and folders on your hard disk.

Media Displays the thumbnails of all media files.

Instant Movie Automatically and quickly steps you through the selection and editing portion of movie creation,

adding theme-based effects, titles, transitions, and audio. You can change settings as desired.

Project Displays the details of all media files.

More Help topics

“Media analysis” on page 75

Edit workspace

When you’re ready to arrange or edit your media, click Edit in the Tasks panel. The Edit workspace lets you add movie themes and templates to your movies, apply effects and transitions, and create and add titles. In addition, the Properties view appears within the Tasks panel when you choose Window > Properties, or when you edit effects or transitions.

From the Edit workspace, you can access the following:

Effects Shows effects and presets you can use in your movie. You can search for an effect by typing its name into

the Search field. To see only specific types of effects, choose an option from the first menu: Video Effects, Audio Effects, or Presets. You can also view specific categories by choosing a category, such as Adjust or Channel, from the second menu (Show All is the default). To edit an effect after applying it, select it, and click Edit Effects to open Properties view.

Transitions Shows transitions you can use in your movie. You can search for a transition by typing its name into

the Search field. To see only specific types of transitions, choose an option from the first menu: Video Transitions, or Audio Transitions. You can also view specific categories by choosing a category, such as 3D Motion or Slide, from the

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

second menu (Show All is the default). To edit a transition after applying it, select it, and click Edit Transitions to open Properties view.

Titles Shows pre-formatted titles you can use in your movie. To see only specific types of titles:

• Choose an option from the first menu such as Entertainment, General, and Happy Birthday.

• If you want to narrow the choices more, choose a specific theme, such as Blue Notes or Ladybug Picnic, from the

second menu.

Show All is the default option.

Themes Enables you to view Themes. Displays InstantMovie themes that instantly and dramatically enhance

your movies. Themes make it easy to create professional-looking movies. They automatically edit your clips and apply effects, transitions, overlays, title and closing-credit sequences, videos, sound effects, and more. You can apply all the options in a theme, or choose the options you want.

ClipArt Displays clip art that can be used in your video files.

Disc Menus workspace

When you’re ready to add menus to your movie for DVD, Web DVD, or blu-ray disc, click Disc Menus in the Tasks panel. From this workspace, you can access your media and the menu templates.

Note: When you click Disc Menus in the Tasks panel, the Monitor panel switches to the Disc Layout view. Drag templates and media using Disc Layout view to personalize your menus.

From the Disc Menus workspace, you can preview and choose preformatted templates you can use for menus. To see only specific types of templates, choose an option from the first menu: Entertainment, General, Happy Birthday, and so on. If you want to narrow the choices, choose a specific theme.

Share workspace

When you’re ready to burn a disc, or save your movie for viewing online or on a mobile phone, PC, videotape, or other device, click Share in the Tasks panel. This workspace provides all the tools necessary to save your file for sharing with others.

Monitor panel overview

You use the Monitor panel when performing many tasks in Adobe Premiere Elements. For example, you can preview your files and movies, trim and split clips, apply effects, create titles, and position images and text by viewing safe zones, along with many other tasks.

The Monitor panel is available in every workspace. While you’re working with menus, the Monitor panel switches to the Disc Layout panel, which makes it easy to drag and drop images and layout menus. While you’re creating titles, the Monitor panel displays text tools so that you can easily create and edit text.

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Monitor panel

Timeline and Sceneline overview

The Timeline and Sceneline let you assemble your media into the desired order and edit clips. You use the Monitor panel to preview the clips you’ve arranged in either the Timeline or Sceneline.

The Sceneline allows you quickly to arrange your media, adding titles, transitions and effects. The Timeline helps you trim, layer, and synchronize your media. You can switch back and forth between these two panels at any time.

Note: If you choose to show panel headers (Window > Show Docking Headers), the name of this panel is My Project. The Timeline and Sceneline are different views of this panel.

Info panel overview

The Info panel (Window > Info) displays information about a selected item in the Project view of the Tasks panel or the Timeline or Sceneline. For clips, the Info panel displays information such as duration, in point, out point, and the location of the cursor. The information displayed may vary depending on factors such as the media type and the current panel. For example, the Info panel displays different sets of information for an empty space in the Timeline, a rectangle in the Title panel, and a clip in the Tasks panel.

In the Info panel, the Video entry indicates the frame rate, frame size, dimensions, and pixel aspect ratio; the Audio entry indicates the sample rate, bit depth, and channels.

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Chapter 3: Projects

Adobe Premiere Elements combines everything you need to create a movie, including video, audio, still images, effects, transitions, and titles, into a single file called a project file.

About projects

Adobe Premiere Elements creates a project file for every new project you start. By default, a project preset is used for the television standard (NTSC or PAL) you selected when you installed the program.

A project file stores only title files and references to the source files that you capture or import, so project files remain fairly small. Because only references to the source files are stored, avoid moving, renaming, or deleting your source files so that Adobe

You can create a project on your own by adding, arranging, and editing your media, and then adding transitions, effects, and titles; or you can create an InstantMovie project. InstantMovies step you through the process of adding your media from the Organize workspace, choosing a theme for your movie, and customizing any of the theme options, such as title and credits text, and background audio. Adobe your footage in the Timeline, adds transitions, titles, and audio, and then lays it out on the Sceneline so you can preview it and save it in the format of your choice.

Premiere Elements can continue to locate them.

Premiere Elements then analyzes and arranges

More Help topics

“Workspace overview” on page 12

“Creating an InstantMovie project” on page 20

Creating an InstantMovie project

About InstantMovie projects and themes

InstantMovies let you quickly create a professional-looking, edited movie, complete with titles, soundtrack, effects, and transitions by using a simple (and quick) step-by-step process. When you create an InstantMovie, Adobe Premiere Elements analyzes your clips (if they have not already been analyzed) and applies Smart Tags as necessary, edits the clips, and applies a theme of your choosing. You can personalize the theme by using your own title and ending credits, and supplying your own music or effects.

The analysis option is enabled by default. If you have disabled analysis, smart tags are not used.

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Creating an InstantMovie

Movie themes create movies with a specific appearance. For example, the Wedding Doves theme adds an elegant introduction and conclusion, flying white doves overlay, and wedding background music. And the Comic Book theme creates a fun kids party video by adding stylish effects, such as Color Emboss, picture-in-picture overlays, and large artistic fonts in the title. Each theme uses a unique editing style for selecting, trimming, and sequencing clips.

The default duration for a theme is approximately 4 to 6 minutes. You can use InstantMovies on all of the clips in your movie, or on a subset, creating a montage or special feature at the beginning or end of a DVD.

You can choose from a variety of themes. You can apply all of the properties in a theme, or choose to add only a subset. Likewise, you can add a theme to an entire sequence in the Sceneline/Timeline, or you can choose to add it to only a single clip.

Important: For access to a variety of fun new themes, sign up for a Plus membership to Photoshop.com. With a Plus membership, new themes are continually available from the Photoshop.com category of the Themes menu in the Tasks panel. Adobe Premiere Elements free online benefits and Adobe Premiere Elements Plus are available in the United States only. Internet access required.

More Help topics

“Media analysis” on page 75

“Sign up with your Adobe ID” on page 2

Create an InstantMovie

You can start an InstantMovie from the Organize workspace.

Create an InstantMovie from the Organize workspace

1 If Adobe Premiere Elements is open, click InstantMovie in the Organize tab .

Adobe Premiere Elements opens in InstantMovie mode of the Organize workspace.

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2 Follow the prompts in the upper left of the Organize workspace. These prompts step you through the process of

creating an InstantMovie:

a Select the clips that you want to include in your movie. Click Next.

b Choose a theme for your movie. To preview a theme, move the mouse cursor over the theme’s thumbnail to see

a description, and click the Play button

to watch a preview. Click Next.

Note: When you select a theme or move your mouse over the preview, a brief description of the theme is displayed.

c Specify properties for your theme. Click Apply.

Note: You can specify a maximum duration of 15 minutes for an Instant Movie.

You can also create Instant movies from Elements Organizer.

Apply a theme to an existing project

If you’ve already created a project and want to use a theme on all or part of it, use the Themes button in the Edit view.

1 Do one of the following:

• To apply the theme to the entire project, leave all clips unselected.

• To apply the theme to only a portion of the project, select the clips you want to use with the theme.

2 In the Tasks panel, click Edit, and then click Themes.

The Themes view of the Tasks panel opens. To preview a theme, move the mouse cursor over the theme’s thumbnail and click the Play button

that appears.

3 Select a theme and click Next.

4 In the Theme properties view, specify properties as desired, and click Apply.

Theme properties

When you add a theme to your project, you can specify which properties of the theme you want to use and how you want to use them. You access theme properties after selecting a theme and clicking Next in the Tasks panel.

Default options change depending on the theme and how you accessed the theme. For example, when accessing themes through the InstantMovie button, the Auto-Analyzer option is selected by default; it is not selected when you add a theme using the Themes button.

You can specify any of the following theme properties.

Opening and Closing Titles Opening and closing titles can be multiple lines; however, for best results, keep the

opening title to one line.

InstantMovie Specifies whether you want to perform an auto edit, which automatically trims the clips and adds them

to the project based on their Smart Tags. And whether to analyze clips and apply Smart Tags to them.

Apply To Specifies whether to apply the theme to the entire project or to only the clips selected in the Sceneline or

Timeline. (This option is not available, if you created your InstantMovie by clicking InstantMovie from the Organize workspace.)

Music Specifies whether to use the theme music, your own music (click Browse to locate and open it), or no music.

You can select multiple music clips (you can select them here or from the Organize workspace as part of the original asset selection), and they are played in the order selected. Drag the slider between Music/Sound FX and My Clips to set the amount of soundtrack and audio effects used versus the sound from your clips. InstantMovie syncs with the beats of the music, so changing the song may significantly change the results. In addition, changing the song changes the duration of the movie to match the duration of the new song.

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Speed And Intensity Enables you to control the speed of cuts and amount of effects. Click the triangle beside the Speed

And Intensity option and use the slider to adjust the speed of cuts and amount of effects.

Duration Specifies the length of the finished movie. Match Music creates a movie to the length of the theme music.

Specify Duration lets you specify the exact length of time by dragging hours, minutes, and seconds. Use All Clips ensures all the selected clips are used and bases the length of time on their duration.

Note: If you specify a duration that is longer than the theme music, the music will loop. If the duration is shorter than the length of the theme music, the music ends with the last clip.

Sequence Specifies whether clips are placed in the Timeline according to the Time/Date stamp on the clip or

according to the theme’s editing rules.

Theme Content Specifies which aspects of the theme are included in the final movie. Select or deselect any of the

options. If some of your clips have effects already applied, you can choose to keep the applied effects, or remove them and apply the theme’s effects instead.

Render Preview If this option is enabled, the instant movie is rendered after it is created and placed on the timeline.

Rendering helps in better FPS when the movie is played.

Edit an InstantMovie

When you create an InstantMovie, Adobe Premiere Elements combines all the clips into a single clip. You can break apart this combined clip if you want to edit or replace the individual clips. Once you break apart an InstantMovie clip, you can use the Replace Clip command to quickly replace one clip with another without having to trim and edit the new clip to fit, or change the effects or overlays applied to it.

Because Instant Movie is created using beat detect on the added music clip, changing the Audio clip may not produce a well-synced video.

Break apart an InstantMovie

❖ Right-click/ctrl-click the InstantMovie clip in the Timeline or Sceneline and choose Break Apart InstantMovie.

Replace a clip in an InstantMovie

1 In either the Organize workspace or the Project view, select the clip you want to use.

2 In the Timeline, right-click/ctrl-click the clip you want to replace and choose Replace Clip From > Media or Project.

If the incoming clip is longer in duration, it is trimmed from the end to match the existing duration of the outgoing clip.

If the incoming clip is shorter in duration, a warning message appears, giving you the choice to cancel the replace action or use black frames to fill the excess duration.

Creating a new project

Start a new project

When you start a new project, you can review the default preset and its settings by clicking the Change Settings button.

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Make sure that you are using a preset that uses the same specifications of your source media. If the first movie clip that you add to the timeline has different properties (Dimension, FPS, Pixel aspect ratio, Field order) than the project’s preset, a message is displayed. The message reads, “The format of the clips you are adding do not match the project

settings format. For best results you should use a project preset that matches your clips. Do you want to change the project settings to match your clips?”

Click Yes in the message to allow Premiere Elements to change the project’s settings to match the properties of the clip. To retain the project’s settings, click No.

• The message appears only if the timeline is empty when you drag and drop a movie clip to the Timeline, Sceneline,

or Monitor.

• The message does not appear when you drag and drop images, or audio-only clip to the Timeline, Sceneline, or

Monitor.

• The message does not appear if you select multiple clips with different properties and drag and drop them to the

empty Timeline, Sceneline, or Monitor.

By default, the folder for a saved project also stores rendered previews, conformed audio files, and captured audio and video. These files are very large, so save them to your largest, fastest hard drive. To store these files separately from projects, choose Edit

1 Do one of the following:

> Preferences > Scratch Disks / Adobe Premiere Elements 9 > Preferences > Scratch Disks.

• From the Welcome screen, click New Project.

• If Adobe Premiere Elements is open, choose File > New > Project.

2 (Optional) To change the settings used, click Change Settings, select a different preset and click OK.

3 In the New Project dialog box, specify a name and location for the project, and click OK.

More Help topics

“About project settings and presets” on page 32

“Create or change project presets” on page 33

“About scratch disks” on page 38

Open a project

You can open only one project at a time. To ensure that Adobe Premiere Elements can open an existing project, make sure that both the project file (.prel) and the source files used in it are accessible on your computer.

❖ Do one of the following:

• From the Welcome screen, click Open Project, and then click the project name. (If the project isn’t listed, click

Open, select the project file, and click Open.)

• If Adobe Premiere Elements is open, choose File > Open Project or Open Recent Project; then select the project file,

and click Open.

• In Windows®, double-click the project file.

Note: Adobe Premiere Elements can open projects made in earlier versions of the program, but earlier versions of the program cannot open projects made in later versions. If you have two or more versions of Adobe installed, you may need to open a project from within the software, or by right-clicking/ctrl-clicking the file and choosing the application, rather than by double-clicking the project file.

Premiere Elements

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More Help topics

“Open a project saved by Auto Save” on page 37

Viewing a project’s files

Project view overview

The Project view lets you preview source material for your projects. To access the Project view, select Organize > Project.

CA B D

Project view A. Show video B. Show audio C. Show still images D. New item E. Folders F. Clip thumbnail G. Parent Folder H. New Folder I. Delete

More Help topics

“Customize List view properties” on page 30

“Trim in the Preview window” on page 119

Display and arrange media items

In Project view, you can display items in the List view. The List view lets you view more items simultaneously and sort items by properties such as media type and duration.

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