Macromedia Premiere Elements - 11.0 User Guide

ADOBE® PREMIERE® ELEMENTS

Help and tutorials

Getting Started tutorials

Getting started tutorials

Knowing your devices

You can take photos or videos with a variety of devices and bring them into Elements. Here are some
guidelines that are good to follow:

Read the documentation that came with your device.
Switch on the camera.
Follow any instructions that appear on the computer to install drivers and other software.
If your camera or computer is not responding, try using a card reader instead.

Installing Premiere Elements

How do I install Premiere Elements?
How do I convert a trial version into a full version?

Organizing videos

I have imported thousands of videos. How can I
organize them ?

Is there a way I can mark or tag people in videos?
How can I add information about places in my

videos?
In videos of birthdays and other events, can I add

event information?

Importing videos

How do I
import
videos
from
Elements

Organizer?
What methods are available to import videos?
How do I import from DVDs, camcorders, phones, and removable drives?
How do I import photos from my digital camera or mobile phone ?
How do I add files from my hard drive?
How do I capture live video from camcorders and webcams?

Editing videos

How do I trim clips to remove unwanted sections from the footage?
How do I split video clips?
How do I add special effects to my videos?
How to I apply transitions between video clips?

Creating titles

How do I create titles?
How do I apply styles to title text and graphics?

Saving and Sharing

What are
the various
ways to
share my
movies?

How do I
publish my
movies to a
DVD?

How do I
share my movies on YouTube ?

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What's new

What's new

Quick and Expert views for new and advanced users
New features in the Quick view

Time remapping
New special effects
Instant movies
Tracks in timeline
Drag media to timeline
Split icon on current-timeline indicator
Adjust panel
Applied Effects panel
Transition contextual control
Minor changes

New features in the Expert view

Project Assets panel
Keyframes
New options in the Tools panel
Split toning
HSL tuner

Quick and Expert views for new and advanced users

In Adobe Premiere Elements 11, Quick and Expert views provide new and advanced users with their own workspaces. If you are a new hobbyist
user, explore the Quick view first. As you gain confidence with the application, use the powerful tools in the Expert view to do amazing things with
your videos.

The Quick view aggregates basic features that hobbyists commonly use to quickly edit video footage and share with others. Use the options on the
action bar to accomplish common editing tasks. For more information about various options, see Quick view.

Quick view

The Expert view provides advanced features and tools that professionals use to accomplish intricate video editing tasks. Use the options in the
action bar to accomplish advanced tasks. Compared to the Quick view, the Transitions panel, and the Effects panel in the Expert view contain
more options organized under various categories. For more information about various options, see Expert view.

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Expert view

New features in the Quick view

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Time remapping

You can now play sections of your footage at variable speeds, such as slow motion, fast motion, reverse motion, or a combination of speeds.
Variable speeds help create sophisticated effects in which subjects appear to smoothly pass through different speeds, for example motion effects

in movies. With Time Remapping, you can depict a swift punch in slow motion to emphasize its force of impact.
Use Time Remapping to add a time zone to a section and specify a variable speed for the time zone. When you play the footage, the time zone

plays the section at the specified speed instead of its normal speed.

1. Select a clip and click Tools from the Action bar. The Tools panel is displayed.

2. From the list of options, choose Time Remapping. Adobe Premiere Elements switches to the Time Remapping mode.

Time Remapping mode

3. Drag the CTI over the footage to the point where you want to add a time zone.

4. Do one of the following:
Click the Add button on the current -time indicator. A time zone (green color) is applied to the footage.

Click the Add Time Zone button on the action bar. A time zone (green color) is applied to the footage.

Time zone applied to footage

5. Drag the sides to the left or right to adjust the time zone.

6. Set the speed of the time zone. Select a variable speed from the speed slider or specify a time in the Duration box.

Note: The speed slider is displayed only when the time zone is selected.

Speed slider

7. Click Done. When you click the Play button, the section where you added the time zone plays at the specified speed.

You can add multiple time zones to your footage. To add another time zone, place the CTI at the point where you want the new time zone. Then,
add the time zone in the normal way. Use the Previous Edit Point and Next Edit point buttons to quickly navigate to the start and end points of time
zones.

Select Easing In and Easing Out to eliminate abrupt changes in speed at the start and end of a time zone. In addition, you can click render for a
smooth video playback.

When you play a footage at variable speeds, the accompanying audio may not remain in sync. To remove audio playback, select the Remove
Entire Clip’s Audio box.

To play a section of footage in reverse speed, click the Reverse button on the action bar after you add a time zone to the section. The color of the
time zone changes from green to brown.

Reverse time zone

The reverse time zone plays the section in three phases. In the first phase, the reverse time zone plays the section in the forward direction at
normal speed.

In the second phase, it plays the same section in reverse motion. You can use the speed slider or the Duration box to modify the playback speed
for this phase.

In the third phase, the reverse time zone replays the section in normal playback. To remove all time zones you added to your footage, click Reset.

New special effects

Vignetting

Apply the Vignetting effect to reduce the brightness or saturation of your clip at the periphery compared to the center.
Vignetting adaptively adjusts the exposure of your clip, preserving the original contrast and creating a more visually pleasing effect.

For example, you can apply the Vignetting effect to the following clip:

Original image

To apply a Vignetting effect, select the clip in the Quick view timeline and apply the effect from the Adjust category in the Effects panel.

Vignetting effect applied to clip

FilmLooks

You can now add one or more of the effects under the FilmLooks category of the Effects panel to let your footage resemble a movie. For example,
add the Dreamy effect to your clip to make it appear as a dream sequence. For step-by- step guidance, see Add FilmLooks effects.

Original image

Here's how the clip looks when you apply the Dreamy special effect:

Dreamy effect applied to clip

Temperature and tint

Using the Temperature And Tint video effect, you can introduce warmth or coldness to your image. You can also control the amount of green and
red tones in your image. Use the Temperature slider controls to change the amount of orange or blue tone. Increasing the amount of orange
introduces warmth to your image. Increasing the amount of blue introduces coldness to your image. Use the Tint slider control to add more red or
green tone to your image. For step-by-step guidance, see Adjust temperature and tint.

Opacity blending modes

Premiere Elements support layer blend modes that change the way layers react with each other. You often use some of the common modes in
every day work. For example, if your image is too dark, you can quickly make it brighter by duplicating the photo layer in the layers palette. Later,
you change the duplicate layer mode to screen.

Use the Opacity filter to select blending modes for various layers of your video. Adobe Premiere Elements 11 supports 27 blending modes. Select
a blending mode from the list and apply it to your image. Use the sliders to increase or decrease its effect.

Instant movies

Use the Instant Movie option on the action bar to quickly create a movie by selecting a movie template and making small edits to your clips.
Instant Movie also lets you add theme- based effects, titles, transitions, and audio to your movie. You can change settings as desired. For more
information, see Creating instant movies.

Tracks in timeline

The Quick view timeline includes the following tracks for your clip:

Title: Add a title for your clip on this track
Video: Edit your video on this track
Sound: Add audio files for your clip to this track
Narration: Add a narration for your clip to this track

Note: The Expert view timeline provides more tracks for video and audio in addition to the narration and sound tracks.

Drag media to timeline

Drag a clip from the Explorer window to the Quick view timeline to edit the clip. Use the trim handles to trim the clip on the timeline. The trim
handles appear when you select the clip on the timeline. If you have multiple clips in the Quick view timeline, you can rearrange clips.

Split icon on current-timeline indicator

Remove unwanted portions of your video clip directly on the timeline. Use the Split icon on current-time indicator to split your clip and remove the
unwanted portion.

Adjust panel

Use the options in the Adjust panel to adjust the inherent properties of your clip, for example color and lighting. You can also use the Smart Fix
tool to enhance the quality of your video footage. To display the Adjust panel, select the clip and then click Adjust on the right.

Adjust panel

If you add a title to your clip, use the Adjust panel to alter its properties, if necessary.

Applied Effects panel

View and modify the properties of effects already applied to your clip using the options in the Applied Effects panel.

Applied Effects panel

To display the Applied Effects panel, select the clip to which effects are applied, and click Applied Effects on the right.

Transition contextual control

Tweak the transitions in your clip using the options in the Transition contextual control.

Transition contextual control

The control automatically appears when you apply a transition to your clip for the first time.

Minor changes

Vibrance and Auto Tone are now available as two separate controls.

New features in the Expert view

In addition to the new features in the Quick view, the Expert view includes the following additional features:

Project Assets panel

Preview media files for your projects using the Project Assets panel.
Use the panel options to view the files as a list or grid.
The grid view displays a thumbnail for each media file. The files that your current project uses are indicated with a green icon.

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Keyframes

Animate effects by making an effect start and stop at specific times. Use keyframes to adjust the values of the effect over time.
After applying an effect to your clip, access the Applied Effects panel to apply a keyframe to animate the effect at a specific point.
To apply a keyframe, first click the toggle button to set the animation on. Use the reset button to remove all keyframes you applied to your clip.

You can also use the Adjust panel to apply keyframes.

New options in the Tools panel

The Tools panel in the Expert view provides the following new options:

Time Stretch: Changes the playback speed and duration of a clip without changing the In or Out points.
Audio Mixer: Lets you adjust the volume and balance for your different audio tracks.

Split toning

Use the Split toning effect to tint the highlights in your image with a particular color and the shadows with a different color. You can achieve best
results, if the highlights and shadows in your image are of opposite colors. Use the Hue and Saturation control sliders to adjust the hue and
saturation for both highlights and shadows.

1. Select the image in the Expert view timeline.

Original image

2. Click Effects on the Action bar and choose the Color Correction category from the drop-down list in the Effects panel.

3. Drag the Split Tone effect to the image on the Expert view timeline.

4. Use the Hue and Saturation slider controls in the Applied Effects panel to adjust the hue and saturation for the highlights and

shadows in the image.

Split Tone effect applied

HSL tuner

Adjust the hue, saturation, and luminance of specific colors in your image or video using the HSL tuner.

Use the HSL tuner slider controls to increase or decrease the hue, luminance, or saturation for the following colors:

Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Aqua
Blue
Purple
Magenta

The HSL tuner enables you to provide a movie-type look to your video. For step-by-step guidance, see Add an HSL Tuner effect .

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Workspace

Workspace

Welcome screen
Quick view
Expert view
Add Media panel
Quick view timeline
Expert view timeline
Action bar
Adjust panel
Applied Effects panel
Publish and Share panel

The Adobe Premiere Elements workspace presents a simplified interface for enthusiasts. It organizes features into the Quick view and Expert view
based on their complexity.

The Quick view aggregates basic features that enthusiasts commonly use to quickly edit video footage and share with others. It optimizes common
tasks that you perform with clips, such as editing clips, creating menus for DVDs and Blu -ray discs, and sharing movies.

The Expert view includes advanced features and tools, such as Audio Mixer, Time Stretch, that professionals use to perform intricate video editing
tasks.

Welcome screen

When you first launch Adobe Premiere Elements, the Welcome screen opens.

Welcome screen

Click Video Editor to open an existing project or create a project in the workspace.
Access the Elements Organizer to organize, tag, and perform basic editing tasks on your media before importing them into Adobe Premiere

Elements.

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Customize launch options

By default, the Welcome screen opens when you launch Adobe Premiere Elements for the first time.
Click the Settings button on the Title bar to specify the window or application that you want displayed on subsequent launches of Adobe Premiere

Elements.
Select one of the following launch options:

Welcome Screen: Launches the Welcome screen each time you open Adobe Premiere Elements. This option is enabled by
default.

Organizer: If you use Elements Organizer to organize your media before editing them in Adobe Premiere Elements, choose
this option.

Video Editor: Select this option if you want the Adobe Premiere Elements workspace to open every time you launch Adobe

Premiere Elements.

Quick view

Use the options in the Quick view to add titles, effects, and transitions, background music, and graphics to your clips. Pan or zoom your clip, if
necessary, or use Smart Trim for a crisper video. Use Instant Movie to automate movie creation steps.

The Quick view contains the Add Media panel, Quick view timeline, Action bar, Adjust panel, Applied Effects panel, and the Share panel.

Expert view

In addition to the panels available in the Quick view, the Expert view contains the Project assets panel.
This panel contains the media files you import into your Premiere Elements project. Use the panel options to organize the files as a list or in a grid.

The grid view displays a thumbnail for each file. If you add any media asset to the timeline, a green icon appears below the thumbnail for the
asset.

Add Media panel

The Add Media panel lets you add media files from various sources to the Quick view timeline so you can rearrange and edit them.

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Add Media panel

Use the Add Media panel to add media files from sources, such as video cameras, flip videos, webcams, digital still cameras, WDM devices,
mobile phones, and folders on your hard disk.

Quick view timeline

The Quick view timeline contains the following tracks:

Video: Edit your video clips and images in this track
Titles: Add text titles to your clips here
Sound: Add background music and other sounds to your movie
Narration: Include recorded narrations for your movie here

Quick view timeline

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The Quick view timeline displays each clip as a series of frames that span the entire clip length. You can trim unwanted portions within individual
frames and rearrange them. You can also swap the position of a clip with another to make a coherent movie sequence.

Expert view timeline

For more advanced editing, use the Expert view timeline. The Expert view timeline graphically represents your movie project as video and audio
clips arranged in vertically stacked tracks. When you capture video from a digital video device, the clips appear sequentially as they occur.

Expert view timeline

The Expert view timeline uses a time ruler to display the components of your movie and their relationship to each other over time. You can trim
and add scenes, indicate important frames with markers, add transitions, and control how clips are blended or superimposed. Compared to the
Quick view, the Expert view timeline has more tracks.

Action bar

The Action bar contains options that provide easy access to common features you use for editing tasks. Use the options to add titles, transitions,
special effects, graphics, music, and markers to your clips.

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Action bar

The Action bar contains the following options:

Organizer: Opens Elements Organizer to let you organize and manage your media files
Instant Movie: Automatically guides you through the movie creation process. It lets you quickly select movie templates and edit clips. Instant

Movie also lets you add theme-based effects, titles, transitions, and audio to your movie. You can change settings as desired.
Tools: Provides options that let you add cool effects to your video. For example, use Time Remapping and Smart Mix to add sophisticated motion

effects to your video. You can choose Smart Trim to let Premiere Elements automatically edit your footage for a crisper video.
Transitions: Provides transitions you can use between your movie clips. The Transition contextual control appears automatically when you apply a

transition for the first time. Use it to modify the transition properties. To open the Transition contextual control later, double-click the transition. The
Expert view provides more transition effects compared to the Quick view.

Titles and Text: Contains pre-formatted title templates you can use in your movie. The Title contextual control appears automatically when you
apply a title to your movie for the first time. Use it to modify the title properties. To open the Title contextual control later, double- click the title. The
Expert view provides more title templates compared to the Quick view.

Effects: Shows special effects and presets you can apply to clips in your movie. To edit a special effect after applying it, click Applied Effects to
modify the properties in the Applied Effects panel. Compared to the Quick view, the Expert view provides more effects that are organized under
various categories.

Music: Lets you add theme music to your movie. You can select multiple music clips from here, and they are played in the order selected. Click
Use Smart Sound to choose third-party music plug-ins for your movie.

Graphics: Lets you add graphic images, such as clip art and callouts (thought bubbles or speech balloons) to specific portions in your clips.

Adjust panel

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The Adjust panel lets you adjust the inherent properties of your clip, for example color and lighting. You can also use the Smart Fix tool to enhance
the quality of your video footage.

Adjust panel

To display the Adjust panel, select the clip and then click Adjust on the right. If you add a title to your clip, use the Adjust panel to alter its
properties, if required.

Applied Effects panel

The Applied Effects panel lets you view the properties of effects already applied to your clip. The panel provides various options that enable you to
modify the applied effects.

Applied Effects panel

To display the Applied Effects panel, select the clip to which effects are applied, and click Applied Effects on the right.

Publish and Share panel

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Use the Share panel to save and share (export) your finished project.

Publish and Share panel

You can save your project for viewing on the web, a mobile phone, a computer, DVD, Blu-ray disc, and more.

Web DVD: For high-quality video that can be viewed online or on your computer
Disc: For copying your movie to DVDs, Blu- ray or AVCHD discs
Online: For video that can be uploaded to video sharing websites, such as Facebook, YouTube, and Vimeo
Computer: For video that can be viewed on computers
Mobile phones and players: For video that can be played on mobile phones and other devices

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Creating a video project

Creating a project

Projects
Review project presets and settings
Start a new project
Open a project

Projects

Premiere Elements creates a project file for every new project that you want to publish or save to work on it later. You can also create a project
before importing media.

The project file references the media that you add to a project including videos, images, titles, and themes.
Project files are small in size. They include title files and references to the source files that you capture or import. Because the project files store

references, avoid moving, renaming, or deleting the source files so that Premiere Elements can locate them.

Review project presets and settings

When you create a project, you can review the default preset and settings by clicking the Change Settings button in the New Project dialog. Adobe
Premiere Elements automatically adjusts your project settings based on the type of media you import.

1. In Premiere Elements, select File > New Project.

2. Click Change Settings.

Start a new project

1. Do one of the following:
From the Welcome screen, click Video Editor and select New Project.
If Premiere Elements is open, choose File > New Project.

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

Note: After you change your project settings, you cannot modify them later.

If you do not change the project settings, Adobe Premiere Elements uses the settings of your previous project. Alternatively, it
creates an NTS/PAL AVCHD full HD project based on your region settings.

You can import a clip whose settings do not match the settings of an empty project. Adobe Premiere Elements overwrites the
project settings with the settings of your clip when you drop it on to the Expert view timeline.

By default, the folder where you save your project also stores rendered previews, conformed audio files, and captured audio and video. These
files are large, so save them to your largest, fastest hard drive. To store the files separately from projects, choose Edit > Preferences > Scratch
Disks.

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Open a project

You can open only one project at a time. To ensure that Premiere Elements can open an existing project, ensure that both the project file (.PRE)
and the source files are accessible on your computer.

Do one of the following:

In the Welcome screen, click Video Editor and then click Existing Project. Choose the project name. (If the project isn’t listed,
choose Open, select the project file, and click Open.)

If 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: Premiere Elements can open projects you create in earlier versions. However, previous versions cannot open projects
you create in later versions. If you have multiple versions of Premiere Elements installed, open a project from within the
software. Alternatively, right-click/ctrl-click the file and choose the application.

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Saving and backing up projects

Save a project
Back up a project with Auto Save
Open an Auto Save project

Save a project

Saving a project saves your editing decisions, references to source files, and the most recent arrangement of panels. Protect your work by saving
often.

To save the currently open project, choose File > Save.
To save a copy of a project, choose File > Save As, specify a location and filename, and click Save.
To save a copy of a project and continue working in the original project, choose File > Save A Copy. Specify a location and

filename, and click Save.

To specify where Premiere Elements stores project-related files, such as captured video and audio, and previews, set up a
scratch disk.

Back up a project with Auto Save

To revisit editing decisions or recover from a crash, enable the Auto Save option. This option automatically saves backup project files to the Adobe
Premiere Elements Auto-Save folder at a specified time interval. For example, you can set Premiere Elements to save a backup copy every 15
minutes.

Automatic saving serves as an alternative to the Undo command, depending on the project changes between each save. Because project files are
smaller compared to source video files, archiving multiple versions of a project consumes less disk space.

1. Choose Edit > Preferences > Auto Save.

2. Do one of the following, and then click OK:
Select Automatically Save Projects, and enter the duration in minutes after which Adobe Premiere Elements saves the

project.
Type a number for the Maximum Project Versions to specify how many versions of each project file you want to save. For

example, if you type 5, Premiere Elements saves five versions of each project you open.

Note: Each time you open a project, save it at least once before the Auto Save option takes effect.

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Open an Auto Save project

1. Do either of the following:
Start Adobe Premiere Elements. In the Welcome screen, click Video Editor and then click Existing Project.
In Adobe Premiere Elements, choose File > Open Project.

2. In the project folder, open the file in the Adobe Premiere Elements Auto-Save folder. (If no files are available, the Auto Save

preference is possibly turned off.)

Note: When you start Premiere Elements after a crash, a message prompts whether you want to open the last saved version
of your project.

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Project settings and presets

About project settings and presets
Dynamic sequence preset
Create or change project presets
Check your project’s settings

About project settings and presets

Project settings determine the properties of your video and audio project assets. For example, they determine their format (DV, HDV, AVCHD),
source (hard disk or Flash memory camcorder), and aspect ratio (standard or widescreen video). Project setting also specify the frame rate, audio
sample rate, upper or lower field first, and bit depth for your project.

When you start a new project, Premiere Elements applies a project preset to it. A project preset is a collection of preconfigured project settings.
You can use the default project preset for the television standard for the Premiere Elements version installed on your computer.

NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) is the television standard for the Americas, the Caribbean, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
PAL (Phase Alternating Line) is the standard format for Europe, Russia, Africa, Middle East, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific, China,

and other parts of Asia.
Because you can’t change the project preset after starting a project, verify the format of your source footage before selecting a project preset.

If you specify lower quality settings for output (such as streaming web video), do not change your project settings. Change your export settings
instead.

Dynamic sequence preset

When you add a movie clip to the Expert view timeline, Adobe Premiere Elements automatically changes your project settings in the background
to match the clip properties. They include dimension, fps, pixel aspect ratio, and field order.

Create or change project presets

Adobe Premiere Elements includes default project presets for media from common sources, including DV camcorders, cameras, DVD discs, and
mobile phones. You cannot create a custom project presets or change a project preset after selecting a preset and starting a project.

To change the project preset when starting a new project, click the Change Settings button in the New Project dialog. Select the preset that
matches your footage.

If you add a movie clip whose preset does not match the project’s preset to the Expert view timeline, a message appears. Click Yes to let Adobe
Premiere Elements change the project’s settings to use the closest available preset. For more information, see Dynamic Sequence Preset.

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Select a project preset

By default, Premiere Elements uses an AVCHD preset for the television standard you specify when you install the program. Select a new preset to
create projects in a different format, television standard, or frame aspect ratio.

The preset you select becomes the default, which is used for all new projects, until you select another preset. If you choose a preset temporarily,
change it when you’ve finished using it.

1. Start Premiere Elements.

2. In the Welcome screen, click Video Editor, and then click New Project. (Or, choose File > New > Project.)

3. In the New Project dialog box, click Change Settings.

4. Select the preset that matches the format and standard of the footage you want to edit. For example, to edit most HDV footage

from 1080i camcorders, choose HDV 1080i 30 or HDV 1080i 25.

5. Click OK.

6. Provide a name and location for your project, and click OK.

Change the settings of an open project

After you create a project, you can only make minor display-related changes to the project settings.

Note: You cannot change the Editing mode and the format of Preview files after you create a project.

1. Choose Edit > Project Settings > General.

2. In the Project Settings dialog box, specify project settings for General, Capture, and Video Rendering.

3. Click OK.

Check your project’s settings

Project presets include project settings under three categories: General, Capture, and Video Rendering. After you start a project, you can’t change
most of the settings, such as frame rate, size, and aspect ratio. However, you can review the settings to ensure that the media you want to add to
the project is compatible.

Open the project in Premiere Elements, and choose Edit > Project Settings > [category].

Note: Third-party products, such as PCs, capture cards, and hardware bundles sometimes include custom presets. See the third-party
documentation for details.

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NTSC vs PAL presets

NTSC presets conform to the NTSC standard, where each video frame includes 525 horizontal lines displayed at 29.97 frames per second. The
Standard NTSC preset applies to footage that has a 4:3 aspect ratio. The Widescreen NTSC preset applies to footage that has a 16:9 aspect ratio.

PAL presets conform to the PAL standard, where each video frame includes 625 lines displayed at 25 frames per second.

General settings

General settings (Edit > Project Settings > General) control the fundamental characteristics of a project. They include the editing mode used to
process video, frame size, aspect ratios, count time (Display Format), and playback settings (Timebase). These settings match the most common
source media in your project. For example, if most of your footage is DV, use the DV Playback editing mode. The quality of your video can
deteriorate if you change these settings arbitrarily.

General settings include the following options.
Editing Mode Identifies the television standard and format for the project. You cannot change the Timebase, Frame Size, Pixel Aspect Ratio,

Fields, and Sample Rate preview settings. The editing mode determines these settings.

Note: The Editing Mode setting represents the specifications of the source media, not the final output settings. Specify output settings when you
export a project.

Timebase Specifies the time divisions used to calculate the time position of each edit (PAL: 25, NTSC: 29.97).
Playback Settings This button is available if you use a DV preset, a DV editing mode, or install a plug-in that provides additional playback

functions. For a DV editing mode, this option indicates where you want your previews to play. For information on the playback settings for
third-party plug-ins, see the developer documentation.

Frame Size Specifies the frame pixels for your project playback. In most cases, the frame size for your project matches the frame size of your
source media. You can’t change the frame size to compensate for slow playback. However, you can adjust the playback settings: Right-click/ctrl­click the monitor and choose Playback Settings. Adjust the frame size of the output by changing the Export settings.

Pixel Aspect Ratio Sets the aspect ratio for pixels. The video format (PAL or NTSC) determines this ratio. If you use a pixel aspect ratio that is
different from your video, the video can appear distorted when you render it and play.

Fields Specifies the field dominance, or the order in which the two interlaced fields of each frame are drawn. Premiere Elements captures DV
footage with fields, even if the footage was recorded as progressive scan.

Display Format (video) Specifies the way time appears throughout the project. The time display options correspond to standards for editing video
and motion-picture film. For DV NTSC video, choose 30-fps Drop-Frame Timecode. For DV PAL video, choose 25-fps Timecode.

Title Safe Area Specifies the frame edge area to mark as a safe zone for titles, so that titles aren’t cut off by TVs that zoom the picture. A
rectangle with crosshairs marks the title-safe zone when you click the Safe Zones button in the monitor. Titles require a wider safe zone than
action.

Action Safe Area Specifies the frame edge area to mark as a safe zone for action so that TVs that zoom the picture do not exclude the action. A
rectangle marks the action -safe zone when you click the Safe Zones button in the monitor.

Sample Rate Identifies the audio sample rate for the project preset. In general, higher rates provide better audio quality in projects, but they
require more disk space and processing. Record audio at a high-quality sample rate, and capture audio at the rate at which it was recorded.

Display Format (audio) Specifies whether audio time display is measured by using audio samples or milliseconds. By default, time is displayed in
audio samples. However, you can display time in milliseconds for sample-level precision when you are editing audio.

Capture settings

Capture settings (Edit > Project Settings > Capture) control how video and audio are transferred directly from a deck or DV camcorder. (Other
Project Settings panels do not affect capturing.)

Video Rendering settings

Video Rendering settings control the picture quality, compression settings, and color depth that Premiere Elements uses when you play video from
the Expert view timeline.

To access Video Rendering settings, choose Edit > Project Settings > Video Render. These settings include the following options:

Maximum Bit Depth Allows Premiere Elements to use up to 32-bit processing, even if the project uses a lower bit depth. Selecting this option

increases precision but decreases performance.

File Format Specifies the format of the preview video.
Compressor Identifies the codec (compressor/decompressor) that Premiere Elements applies to generate movie previews. The project preset

defines the codec. You cannot change it because it must conform to the DV standard.

Note: If you don’t apply effects to your clip or change its frame/time characteristics, Adobe Premiere Elements uses the clip’s original codec for
playback. If your changes necessitate frame recalculation, Adobe Premiere Elements applies the codec identified here.

Optimize Stills Select this option to use still images efficiently in projects. For example, you can use an image that has a duration of 2 seconds in
a 30-fps project. Premiere Elements creates a 2-second frame instead of 60 frames, each with a duration of 1/30 second. Deselect this option if
projects encounter playback problems when displaying still images.

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Viewing a project’s files

Project Assets panel overview
Rename a source file in a project
Find an item in a project
Locate missing files for a project
Delete a clip

Project Assets panel overview

The Project Assets panel lets you preview source material for your projects. Select the Expert view and then click Project Assets.
You can view the contents of a project using the list view or the grid view. Use the panel options menu to switch between the views.
The grid view displays a snapshot of the video you imported into the project. The Project Assets panel indicates files that you use in the Expert

view timeline with a green icon. Use the Search box to search for files within the panel.

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Display and arrange media items

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

To sort items in List view, click the column heading by which you want to sort the items. (For example, click Media Type to sort
items by type.) If folders are expanded, items sort from the top level and down the Project Assets panel hierarchy. To reverse
the sort order, click the column heading again.

To see more of the column headings in List view, drag the right side of the Project Assets panel to the right. Alternatively, drag
the scroll bar at the bottom of the panel to the right.

Organize clips in folders

The Project Assets panel can include folders into which you can organize project contents in the same way as folders in Windows Explorer.
Folders can contain media files or subfolders. Consider using folders to organize media types, such as DV captures, Adobe Photoshop Elements
still images, and audio files.

In the Project Assets panel, do any of the following:

Note: To access the Project Assets panel, select Project Assets in the Expert view.

To add a folder, click the New Folder icon at the bottom of the Project Assets panel. In the list view, if you click New Folder
multiple times in a row, each new folder is nested inside the previous new folder.

To move an item into a folder, drag the item to the Folder icon. You can move folders into other folders to nest them.
To display the contents of a folder, double- click the folder. Alternatively, in List view, click the triangle beside the Folder icon to

expand the folder.
To navigate to parent folders, click the appropriate icon. You can click and hold this button to see a list of all the folders above

the one currently listed. You can also jump to a folder by highlighting it and releasing the mouse button.

Rename a source file in a project

To rename a clip, select it, choose Clip > Rename, type the new name, and press Enter. (The change affects only references
used in the project; the name of the original source file in the Project workspace and Windows remains the same.)

To rename an original source file, close Premiere Elements, and rename the file in Windows. The next time you open the
project, Premiere Elements asks you to locate the file.

You can also rename a selected clip by clicking its name once to select the text, typing the new name, and pressing Enter.

Find an item in a project

Right-click an item in the Expert view timeline, and select Reveal In Project.

To find an item on the hard drive, right-click the clip, choose Properties, and note the path at the top of the Properties panel.

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Locate missing files for a project

Premiere Elements doesn’t store original source files in a project—it references the name and location of each source file when you import it. If
you later move, rename, or delete a source file in Windows, the Where Is The File dialog box opens when you next open the project.

In addition to source files, a project also references preview files. Preview files allow you to preview effects in real time without having to render
them—a process that can take hours. Preview files can be re-created if necessary.

Note: After you create the final movie, you can delete source files if you do not plan to reuse them. If you plan to re-edit the movie in the future,
archive the project with the Project Archiver before deleting source files.

In the Where Is The File dialog box, choose one of the following options:
Display Only Exact Name Matches Displays only the files that match the name of the missing file when the project was last closed. If you know
that the name of a file has changed, deselect this option.

Select Replaces the missing file with the original or replacement file.
Find Starts the Windows XP Search feature.
Skip Previews Ignores missing preview files so you aren’t asked to find them.
Skip Replaces the missing file with an offline file. The offline file acts as a placeholder for related clips in the Project Assets panel and the Expert

view timeline.

Skip All Replaces all missing clips with offline files without asking you for confirmation.

Delete a clip

Because Premiere Elements doesn’t store media files in the project, deleting a clip from a project removes all instances from a movie. However,
Premiere Elements does not delete the clip’s source file from the Windows desktop. To conserve disk space, delete the source file.

To delete a media file from the Project workspace, do one of the following:

Select the file in the panel and click the Delete icon.
Right-click/ctrl- click it in the Expert view timeline, and choose Delete. You can also delete by selecting the file and pressing the

Delete key. The file is deleted from the Elements Organizer, but it is not deleted from your hard disk.

To identify unused items in a project, see the Video Usage and Audio Usage columns in List view. To display these
columns, scroll to the right. A green check mark (list view) and a green dot (grid view) indicates that the asset is being used
in the project.

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Viewing clip properties

See an overview of basic clip properties
View comprehensive file information
Customize List view properties
View details about effect properties

See an overview of basic clip properties

To view the basic properties of a clip, right-click/ctrl-click the clip in the Project Assets panel, choose Properties.

View comprehensive file information

Premiere Elements includes tools that you can use to evaluate a file in any supported format stored inside or outside a project. For example, you
can determine whether a clip you exported has an appropriate data rate for Internet distribution. Video file properties can include file size, number
of video and audio tracks, duration, average frame rate, audio sample rate, video data rate, and compression settings. In addition, they include
information about dropped frames in captured clips.

Use the Get Properties feature to check for dropped frames in a clip you captured. Use the Data Rate Analysis graphs to evaluate how well the
output data rate matches the requirements of your delivery medium. The graphs depict the render keyframe rate, the difference between
compression keyframes and differenced frames (frames that exist between keyframes). They also depict the data rate levels at each frame.

Do one of the following:

If the clip is in the Expert view timeline, select it and choose File > Get Properties For > Selection.
If the clip is not in the project, choose File > Get Properties For > File. Locate the clip you want to analyze and then click

Open.

Customize List view properties

You can customize the List view to display only the information you want to see. You can also rename columns, add columns of your own,
rearrange columns, and change the width of columns.

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Specify which properties appear in List view

The Name property appears by default, and displays the clip name on disk. You cannot remove the Name property using the Edit Columns dialog
box. You can change the name the clip uses inside the project.

1. Open the Project Assets panel.

2. Right-click/ctrl- click in the Media view, and choose Edit Columns. Ensure that you click an area outside the rows containing
the assets.

3. Select any of the following properties you want to appear in Media view, and click OK:

Used Displays a check mark if the clip is used in the project.
Media Type Media, such as Movie or Still Image.
Frame Rate The frame rate of the clip, such as 29.97 fps.
Media Duration Length of the captured media on disk, expressed in the Display Format specified in the General section of the

Project Settings dialog box.

Note: In Premiere Elements, all durations in a panel include the frames that the In point and Out point specify. For example,
setting the In point and Out point to the same frame results in a duration of one frame.

Video Duration The duration of the clip the Video In point and Out point define. Incorporating any adjustments applied in
Premiere Elements, such as changing the clip speed.

Audio Duration The duration of the clip the Audio In point and Out point define. Incorporating any adjustments applied in
Premiere Elements, such as changing the clip speed.

Video Info The frame size and aspect ratio of the clip, and whether an alpha channel is present.
Audio Info The audio specifications of the clip.

Video Usage The number of times the video component of a clip is used in the movie.

Audio Usage The number of times the audio component of a clip is used in the movie.
Status Specifies whether a clip is online or offline. If a clip is offline, this option also indicates why.
Client Field for adding a client’s name or other details.

Adjust columns in List view

Use the List view to quickly evaluate, locate, or organize clips based on specific properties.

1. Open the Project Assets panel.

2. Do any of the following:

To change the width of a column, position the pointer over a dividing line between column headings until the Column
Resize icon appears. Then, drag horizontally.

To create a column, right-click/ctrl-click and choose Edit Columns, click Add and select a column name (after which the
new column appears). Type a name and choose a type for the new column, and click OK. Text columns can contain any
text you enter. Boolean columns provide a check box.

To display a column, right-click/ctrl-click and choose Edit Columns, and then click the box next to the column name you
want to display.

To sort columns in ascending or descending order, click their heading.
To rearrange columns, right-click/ctrl-click and choose Edit Columns, select a column name, and click Move Up, or Move

Down.

Note: Premiere Elements locks some column attributes. You can’t locate or change these attributes in the Edit Columns
dialog box. For example, you can change the names of columns you added, but not the names of columns built in
Premiere Elements.

View details about effect properties

1. Select a clip in the Quick view timeline or the Expert view timeline.

2. Click the Applied Effects button and view the properties in the Applied Effects panel.

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Undoing changes

Undo changes incrementally
Undo any previous change

Undo changes incrementally

If you change your mind about an edit or effect, Premiere Elements provides several ways to undo your work. You can undo only those actions
that alter video content; for example, you can undo an edit, but you cannot undo scrolling a panel.

To undo or redo the most recent change, choose Edit > Undo. (You can sequentially undo a series of recent changes.)
To undo a change, and all successive changes that occurred since you last opened a project, delete it from the History panel.
To stop a change that Premiere Elements is processing (for example, when you see a progress bar), press Esc.
To undo all changes made since you last saved the project, choose File > Revert.

To undo changes made before you last saved a project, try opening a previous version in the Adobe Premiere Auto -Save folder. Then choose
File > Save As to store the project outside the Adobe Premiere Auto-Save folder. The number of changes you can undo depends on the Auto
Save preference settings.

Undo any previous change

The History panel records the changes you make to a project. Each time you add a clip, insert a marker, or apply an effect, the History panel adds
that action to its list. The tool or command you used appears in the panel along with an identifying icon. You can use the panel to quickly undo
several changes. When you select a change in the panel, the project returns to the state of the project at the time of that change. The more recent
changes turn gray and disappear when you make your next change.

The History panel records changes only for the current session. Closing a project or choosing the Revert command clears the History panel. While
the panel lists most changes, it does not list individual changes within some panels, nor does it list program-wide changes, such as Preferences
settings.

To display the History panel, choose Window > History.
To select a change in the History panel, click it.
To delete a selected change, click and then click OK.
To move around in the History panel, drag the slider or the scroll bar in the panel. Or, choose Step Forward or Step Backward

from the History panel menu.
To clear all changes from the History panel, choose Clear History from the History panel menu, and then click OK.

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List of changes in the History panel

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