Macromedia Premiere Elements - 7.0 User Guide

Using

ADOBE® PREMIERE

ELEMENTS

If this guide is distributed with software that includes an end user agreement, this guide, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license. Except as permitted by any such license, no part of this guide may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Please note that the content in this guide is protected under copyright law even if it is not distributed with software that includes an end user license agreement.

The content of this guide is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Adobe Systems Incorporated. Adobe Systems Incorporated assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in the informational content contained in this guide.

Please remember that existing artwork or images that you may want to include in your project may be protected under copyright law. The unauthorized incorporation of such material into your new work could be a violation of the rights of the copyright owner. Please be sure to obtain any permission required from the copyright owner.

Any references to company names in sample templates are for demonstration purposes only and are not intended to refer to any actual organization.

Adobe, the Adobe logo, Adobe Audition, Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Encore, Flash, Illustrator, Photoshop, and PostScript are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.

Apple and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Dolby is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories. Pentium is a trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Notices, Terms and Conditions pertaining to third party software are located at http://www.adobe.com/go/thirdparty and incorporated by reference.

Certain contributions made under license by Focoltone Colour System.

MPEG Layer-3 audio compression technology is licensed by Fraunhofer IIS and Thomson Multimedia.

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.

This product contains either BISAFE and/or TIPEM software by RSA Data Security, Inc.

e_Db is a licensed product from Simple Software Solutions, Inc.

This product includes software developed by the OpenSymphony Group (http://www.opensymphony.com/).

Portions of this code are licensed from Nellymoser, Inc. (www.nellymoser.com)

Sorenson Spark™ video compression and decompression technology licensed from Sorenson Media, Inc.

Notice to U.S. Government end users: The software and documentation are “Commercial Items,” as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. §2.101, consisting of “Commercial Computer Software” and “Commercial Computer Software Documentation,” as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §227.7202, as applicable. Consistent with 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §§227.7202-1 through 227.7202-4, as applicable, the Commercial Computer Software and Commercial Computer Software Documentation are being licensed to U.S. Government end users (a) only as Commercial Items and (b) with only those rights as are granted to all other end users pursuant to the terms and conditions herein. Unpublished-rights reserved under the copyright laws of the United States. For U.S. Government end users, Adobe agrees to comply with all applicable equal opportunity laws including, if appropriate, the provisions of Executive Order 11246, as amended, Section 402 of the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (38 USC 4212), and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the regulations at 41 CFR Parts 60-1 through 60-60, 60-250, and 60-741. The affirmative action clause and regulations contained in the preceding sentence shall be incorporated by reference.

Adobe Systems Incorporated, 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, California 95110, USA.

Chapter 1: Getting started

Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Using resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

New features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter 2: Workspace

About the workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Panel overviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Getting started with your Photoshop.com membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Chapter 3: Projects

Creating a new project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Creating an InstantMovie project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Viewing a project’s files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Viewing clip properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Project settings and presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Undoing changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Saving and backing up projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Working with scratch disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

iii

Chapter 4: Capturing video

Getting ready to capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Capture video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Capture stop-motion and time-lapse video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Chapter 5: Importing and adding media

Adding files to a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Using files from Photoshop Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Creating specialty clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Working with offline files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Working with aspect ratios and field options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Chapter 6: Managing clips with the Organizer

View clips in the Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Finding files in the Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Tagging files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Grouping files in the Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Creating albums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Creating and editing smart albums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Editing albums and album groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Backup and synchronize albums and files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Chapter 7: Arranging clips in a movie

Arranging clips in the Sceneline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Creating a slide show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Creating a picture-in-picture overlay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Arranging clips in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Grouping, linking, and disabling clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Working with clip and timeline markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Previewing movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Chapter 8: Editing clips

Trimming clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Changing clip speed, duration, and direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Freezing and holding frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Working with source clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Chapter 9: Applying transitions

Transition basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Applying transitions to clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Create specialty transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Adjusting transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Chapter 10: Applying effects

Effects basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Finding and organizing effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Applying and removing effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Working with effect presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Changing effect properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Reposition, scale, or rotate clips with the Motion effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Superimposing and transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Selecting colors for effects and mattes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Effects reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Chapter 11: Animating effects

Effect animation basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Adding, copying, and removing keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Adjusting keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Controlling change between keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Animating a clip’s position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Chapter 12: Creating titles

Creating and trimming titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Editing and formatting text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Applying styles to text and graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Adding shapes and images to titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Arranging objects in titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Adding color and shadows to titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Designing titles for TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Exporting and importing titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Chapter 13: Adding and mixing audio

Using soundtracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Create narrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Mixing audio and adjusting volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Chapter 14: Creating disc menus

Types of discs and menu options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Working with menu markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Creating disc menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Previewing menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Chapter 15: Saving and sharing your movies

Sharing from the Tasks panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Using Quick Share . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Sharing to DVD or Blu-ray Disc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Sharing for PC playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Sharing to the web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Sharing to mobile phones and players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Sharing to videotape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Sharing to Video CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Common settings for Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Exporting from the Timeline or Sceneline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Supported file types for saving and exporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Compression and data-rate basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Archiving projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Chapter 16: Keyboard shortcuts

Using default shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Customizing shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Chapter 17: Troubleshooting

Resources and guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Capturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

Importing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Playing back and previewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Creating a DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Chapter 18: Glossary

Digital imaging terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Index ...............................................................................................................294

Chapter 1: Getting started

If you haven’t installed your new software, begin by reading this chapter for information on installation and other preliminaries. Before you begin working with your software, take a few moments to discover the resources available for learning the software and getting support. If you’ve used Adobe Premiere Elements in the past, check out the new features for 7.0.

Installation

Requirements

To review complete system requirements and recommendations for your Adobe® software, see the ReadMe file included with your software.

Install the software

1 Close any other Adobe applications or anti-virus applications open on your computer.

2 Insert the installation disc into your DVD drive, and follow the on-screen instructions.

Note: For more information, see the ReadMe file included with your software.

Register

❖ To register, follow the on-screen instructions in the Registration dialog box, which appears the first time you launch

the application.

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

ReadMe file

The installation DVD 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 the following topics:

• System requirements

• Installation (including uninstalling the software)

• Activation and registration

• Troubleshooting

• Customer support

• Legal notices

USING ADOBE PREMIERE ELEMENTS 7

Getting started

Using resources

Using Adobe Premiere Elements Help

Adobe Premiere Elements Help is available several ways. To access Help, choose Help > Adobe Premiere Elements Help (or press the F1 key on your keyboard). If your computer is connected to the Internet, Adobe Premiere Elements automatically launches Help on the web.

Help on the web Help on the web is the most comprehensive and up-to-date version of Adobe Premiere Elements

Help. 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. Browse all topics in Adobe Premiere Elements Help.

Help in the application Help in the application provides access to key tasks and concepts. If you aren’t connected to

the Internet, Adobe Premiere Elements launches Help in the application.

Help PDF Help is also available as a PDF that is optimized for printing. The Help PDF is the best way to access the most

comprehensive Help when you don’t have an Internet connection.

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

corresponding topic in either Help on the web or Help in the application.

Note: If you try to access a Help topic that only exists in Help on the web, Adobe Premiere Elements displays a message with a URL and a link to the complete Help on the Internet.

Tips for searching Help

• If you search using a phrase, such as “shape tool,” place quotation marks around the phrase. The search returns only

those topics containing all the words in the phrase.

• Make sure that the search terms are spelled correctly.

• If a search term doesn’t yield results, try using a synonym, such as “web” instead of “Internet.”

• If you find a topic you want to view again, bookmark it for easy access later.

Print a Help topic To print a topic from Help, use the Print command in the browser.

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

messages by going to Premiere Elements users at www.adobe.com/support/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 of other Adobe

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

Keyboard shortcuts for Help toolbar controls (Windows)

Back button Alt+Left Arrow

Forward button Alt+Right Arrow

Print Ctrl+P

Browse menu Alt+Down Arrow or Alt+Up Arrow to view Help for another application

Search box Ctrl+S to place the insertion point in the Search box

Keyboard shortcuts for Help navigation (Windows)

• To move between panes, press Ctrl+Tab (forward) and Shift+Ctrl+Tab (backward).

USING ADOBE PREMIERE ELEMENTS 7

Getting started

• To move through and outline links in a pane, press Tab (forward) or Shift+Tab (backward).

• To activate an outlined link, press Enter.

• To make text bigger, press Ctrl+equal sign.

• To make text smaller, press Ctrl+hyphen.

PDF documentation

The in-product Help is also available as a PDF that is optimized for printing. Other documents, such as installation guides and white papers, may also be provided as PDFs. To see the PDF documentation included with your software, look in the User Documentation folder on the installation or content DVD.

Customer support

Visit the Adobe Support website, at www.adobe.com/support, to find troubleshooting information for your product and to learn about free and paid technical support options.

New features

What’s new

Smart Tags and InstantMovies

Smart Tags Adobe Premiere Elements automatically analyzes footage for quality and content, tagging clips with

helpful Smart Tags. You can choose to analyze (or Smart Tag) footage immediately after you capture video, when you create an InstantMovie, or at any time you think it would be helpful. Smart Tags are organized into categories such as Dialog, Music, Blur, Pan, Tilt, Zoom, Static, and Shake. You can use these tags to find footage by quality and content.

“Smart Tagging” on page 70.)

(See

InstantMovies Themes are now a part of the InstantMovie workflow. InstantMovies step you through the entire movie

making process—selecting clips, picking a theme, customizing the theme’s title and features, and rendering a complete movie. Using the InstantMovie feature, you can easily create a dramatic movie that uses titles, overlays, transitions, effects, and audio. InstantMovies use Smart Tags to determine which files to use (from the files you’ve selected) and how to use them (editing as necessary). (See

New features for fast and efficient movie creation

Videomerge for quick background keying The new Videomerge effect automatically identifies the background of

your video clip and keys it so that you can superimpose a different background behind it. You can specify a variety of settings for this effect; for example, you can specify which color to key or set the threshold of transparency created. You can easily access this effect by right-clicking a clip in the Timeline. (See page 154.)

SmartSound soundtracks Access and use Quicktracks® by SmartSound® from within Adobe Premiere Elements.

SmartSound soundtracks let you choose from a large selection of custom, royalty-free soundtracks. Using the automatic trimming tools included with Quicktracks, you can ensure that your soundtrack ends with your video, without obvious looping or stopping short. (See

“Creating an InstantMovie project” on page 16.)

“Create transparency with Videomerge” on

“Creating SmartSound tracks” on page 227.)

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Getting started

Enhanced file management

Enhanced easy-access Organizer The Organizer now has its own place at the top of the Tasks panel so you can access

it quickly and easily. From the main view of the Organizer, you can filter your footage by album, tag, star rating, date, or file type, or any combination there of. Double-click a thumbnail to preview the footage in the Tagging window. (See “View clips in the Organizer” on page 66.)

Tagging window Click the Tagging icon at the top of the Organizer to open the Tagging window. In this window,

you can add and view all tags and Smart Tags, filter footage, and create albums and smart albums. Double-click a thumbnail to preview the footage. You can add or remove tags while previewing. (See

“Using the Tagging window” on

page 68.)

Smart albums Create smart albums to automatically tag clips that meet your specific criteria. A smart album is a

dynamic collection of clips that share any number of common characteristics, such as file type, rating, or tags. When you add a new file to the Organizer that meets the criteria of a smart album (or edit a file so that it meets the criteria), that file is automatically added to the smart album. (See

“Creating and editing smart albums” on page 76.)

Easier capture and enriched support for HD formats

Simplified capture and import workflow Adobe Premiere Elements automatically detects the attached capture or

downloading device and sets up the Capture panel settings or Adobe Media Downloader settings accordingly. All you need to do is click the appropriate button in the Get Media view of the Tasks panel (now located in the Organizer view instead of the Edit view). Capture options are easy to identify: DV Camcorder Or WDM Device . All other options, except PC Files And Folders opens the Adobe Media Downloader. (See “Capture video” on page 39.)

, HDV Camcorder , or Webcam

Support for AVCHD and JVC TOD You can now import AVCHD and TOD files directly into Adobe Premiere

Elements. AVCHD and TOD files are high-definition formats for digital tapeless camcorders. To export HD-quality footage, share your final project using either the PC Files And Folders option or the Blu-Ray Disc burning option, and specify one of the 1080, H.264 or MPEG2 presets. (See

“Sharing for PC playback” on page 252, and “Sharing to DVD

or Blu-ray Disc” on page 248.)

Back up your files, and get inspiration with a Photoshop.com membership

Important: Currently, Photoshop.com membership services are only available in the United States. For more information on using Photoshop.com features, make sure that you’re connected to the Internet, and search for “Photoshop.com” in Adobe Premiere Elements Help.

Basic or Plus Photoshop.com membership. Both membership packages provide storage space for backing up your data. Photoshop.com displays helpful tips in Adobe Premiere Elements as you work, and offers downloadable tutorials, effects, DVD templates, title templates, and InstantMovie themes. These special downloads are continually (and seasonally) updated.

At any time, you can purchase additional storage space or upgrade your membership. For more information, see

www.adobe.com/go/learn_pse_membership_en.

Basic membership Free Basic membership provides you with 2 GB of storage space for backup of your data. You also

have access to the Photoshop.com website and a limited number of tutorials and downloadable templates, themes, and effects. If you want more storage space, you can upgrade to other Basic membership plans or, if you want more storage space and access to more downloads and tutorials, upgrade to a Plus membership.

USING ADOBE PREMIERE ELEMENTS 7

Getting started

Plus membership Plus membership provides several different levels of service and storage space, starting with a

minimum of 20 GB (4 hours of DVD-quality video). You also have access to additional movie themes, sound effects, music, overlays, menu templates, and special effects.

Automatic backup and synchronization The automatic online backup to 2 GB or more of storage space securely syncs

and backs up your treasured video memories. You can specify which albums of files you want to back up by setting options in the Backup/Synchronization preferences in Adobe Premiere Elements. If you’re away from your computer, you can access your movies from the Photoshop.com Organizer window and download them to play from any computer with Internet access.

Chapter 2: 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, including video, audio, effects, transitions, and titles, into a single file called a project file.

About the workspace

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.

Premiere Elements

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.

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

See also

“Project view overview” on page 19

“Find an effect” on page 140

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Workspace

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.

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.

• 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 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.

Dock panels

Drop zones along the edges of a panel are for docking panels. Docking a panel places it adjacent to the target panel, resizing all other panels to accommodate the new panel.

Dragging panel (A) onto drop zone (B) to dock it (C)

❖ Hold down Ctrl and drag a panel by its docking header to a drop zone along one of the edges of a panel and drop it.

Open a panel in a floating window

You can open a panel in a floating window. You can add panels to the floating window or otherwise modify it, as you do the application window. You can use floating windows to create a workspace like those in earlier versions of Adobe applications, or to make use of a secondary monitor.

❖ Drag the panel or group from its current location to an area where no drop zones appear.

The panel appears in a new floating window.

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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.

Workspace

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 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 panel to display panel menu B. Click panel menu button to display panel menu

See also

“Display and hide docking headers” on page 7

Restore the default workspace

❖ Choose Window > Restore Workspace.

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Workspace

Adjust panel brightness

You can adjust the brightness of the background color in panels. For example, you may prefer to lower the brightness when working in a darkened room or when performing color corrections.

❖ Choose Edit > Preferences > User Interface, and drag the slider or click Default Brightness.

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.

Edit workspace displaying Effect Properties view

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Workspace

See also

“Project view overview” on page 19

“Adding files to a project” on page 48

“View clips in the Organizer” on page 66

Organize workspace

The Organize workspace (frequently referred to as the Organizer) 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 two applications.

Organize workspace

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

Get Media Lets you add files from a variety of sources including video cameras, webcams, digital still cameras, WDM

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

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.

Tagging Opens the Tagging window where you can create and apply keyword tags and albums to manage and

organize your media (video, still image, and audio files). Tags, Smart Tags, albums, smart albums, and any combination of these let you limit what appears in the Organizer so that you can easily and quickly find the files you want. You can add keywords for anything, such as people’s names, places, or events.

Smart Tagging Opens the Smart Tagging window and automatically analyzes selected video clips. When you analyze

your videos, Adobe Premiere Elements automatically adds quality tags, such as shaky or brightness, or interest tags, such as faces or motion. You can use these tags to quickly find your highest quality video. The InstantMovie feature uses Smart Tags when arranging clips for movies. (See

“Smart Tagging” on page 70.)

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.

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Workspace

From the Edit workspace, you can access the following:

Project Lets you view, sort, and select media that you have added to your project. You can view media in List view

or Icon view. This view provides useful information about the clips in your project, such as whether the clip is currently being used in the Sceneline or Timeline, the media type, frame rate, and duration.

Themes Displays InstantMovie themes that instantly and dramatically enhance your movies. Themes make it easy

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

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, Presets, My Presets, or Favorites. 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 before 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, Audio Transitions, or Favorites. You can also view specific categories by choosing a category, such as 3D or Slide, from the second menu (Show All is the default). To edit a transition before applying it, select it and click Edit Transitions to open Properties view.

Titles Shows preformatted titles you can use in your movie. You can search for a title by typing its name into the

search field. To see only specific types of titles, choose an option from the first menu: Entertainment, General, Happy Birthday, and so on. And then, 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).

Disc Menus workspace

When you’re ready to add menus to your movie for 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. Use Disc Layout view to drag and drop templates and media to personalize your menus.

From the Disc Menus workspace, you can access the following:

Project Lets you view, sort, and select media that you have added to your project. You can view media in List view

Templates Lets you 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 more, choose a specific theme, such as Blue Notes or Popcorn, from the second menu (Show All is the default).

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.

Use Quick share to create and reuse preset sharing options, making sharing quick and easy. For example, if you frequently share projects by burning them to DVD, set up your optimal settings for burning a DVD, and save those settings as a Quick share. The next time you want to burn a project to DVD, use the Quick share preset you created instead of setting all the DVD options again.

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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.

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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Getting started with your Photoshop.com membership

About your Photoshop.com account

Important: Currently, Photoshop.com services are only available to Adobe Premiere Elements users in the United States.

U.S.-based Adobe Premiere Elements users can sign up for a Basic or Plus Photoshop.com membership. The membership extends the power of Adobe Premiere Elements with Internet services. Services include special downloads and the Inspiration Browser with tutorials that help you get the most out of your video clips and movies. You can also protect your videos with automatic back ups to Photoshop.com servers. As a member, you receive updated tips and templates to keep your projects fresh and appealing.

Photoshop.com offers you different membership levels. The free Basic membership gives you 2GB of storage space and access to a variety of tutorials and other inspirational and helpful content. You can upgrade a Basic membership for more storage space, or upgrade to the Plus membership if you want more storage space and access to more downloadable content. With a Plus membership, you get access to a larger quantity tutorials, soundtracks, effects, DVD templates, title templates, and InstantMovie themes. These special downloads are continually (and seasonally) updated.

To get started, simply create an account and sign in.

Photoshop.com membership links

See also

“Backup and synchronize albums and files” on page 79

Create a Photoshop.com membership account

As an owner of Adobe Premiere Elements, you can open a free Photoshop.com membership account to gain instant access to tutorials, content, and many other features. Currently, Photoshop.com membership is only available in the United States.

1 Start Adobe Premiere Elements.

2 Do either of the following:

• In the Welcome screen, click Join Now and follow the instructions to create your Adobe ID.

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• In the title bar, above the Tasks panel, click Join Now.

Note: If you already have an Adobe ID, then just sign in.

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

Important: You don’t have to open a Photoshop.com membership account when the Welcome screen appears. You can open an account anytime you want. Links for signing up are conveniently located on the Adobe

Photoshop.com membership links

Premiere Elements title bar.

Sign in to your Photoshop.com account

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’re a Photoshop.com member and automatically signs you in if your computer is connected to the Internet.

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 Photoshop.com.

The web browser must have cookies enabled.

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

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

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

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 on to your Photoshop.com account, and then click

Tutorials.

• In Adobe Premiere Elements, 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 Insipiration 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 to Photoshop.com, a dialog box opens for you to sign in.

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.

Creating a new project

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 Organizer, choosing a theme for your movie, and customizing any of the theme options, such as title and credits text, and background audio. Adobe 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 your footage in the

See also

“Workspace overview” on page 6

“Creating an InstantMovie project” on page 16

Start a new project

When you start a new project or an InstantMovie project, you can review the default preset and its settings by clicking the Change Settings button. Make sure that you are using a preset that uses the same specifications of your source media. If necessary, you can click New Preset to edit the preset settings and save it as a custom preset.

Important: Some settings, such as frame rate, size and aspect ratio, can’t be changed after a project is created—verify all project settings before starting a project. Using the wrong project settings can adversely affect performance as you work on your project.

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:

• 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 and do either of the following:

• To change the preset used, select a different preset, and click OK.

> Preferences > Scratch Disks.

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• To create a custom preset, click New Preset, specify settings in the Custom Presets dialog box, and click Save. In the

Name Preset dialog box, type a name and description, and click OK.

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

See also

“About project settings and presets” on page 27

“Create or change project presets” on page 28

“About scratch disks” on page 33

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 the file and choosing the application, rather than by double-clicking the project file.

Premiere Elements

See also

“Open a project saved by Auto Save” on page 33

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.

Creating an InstantMovie

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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, 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. Currently, Photoshop.com services are only available to Adobe Premiere Elements users in the United States. (See “Getting started with your Photoshop.com membership” on page 13.)

See also

“Smart Tagging” on page 70

Create an InstantMovie

You can start an InstantMovie from the Welcome screen, the Organizer, or the Edit view of the Tasks panel.

Create an InstantMovie from the Welcome screen or Organizer

1 Do one of the following:

• If Adobe Premiere Elements is not open, open it, and in the Welcome screen, click InstantMovie. In the New

Project box, type a name for your project, and click OK.

• If Adobe Premiere Elements is open, click InstantMovie in the Organizer .

Adobe Premiere Elements opens in InstantMovie mode of the Organizer.

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2 Follow the prompts in the top left of the Organizer. These prompts step you through the process of creating an

Projects

InstantMovie:

a Select the clips that you want to include in your movie. (If you already have clips in the Sceneline or Timeline,

you can now select additional clips if desired.) 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

c Specify properties for your theme. Click Apply.

to watch a preview. Click Next.

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 Smart Tagging 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 Organizer.)

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 Organizer 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.

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.

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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.

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.

InstantMovie syncs with the beats of the music, so changing a music clip may significantly change the final movie. In addition, changing the song changes the duration of the movie to match the duration of the new song.

Break apart an InstantMovie

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

Replace a clip in an InstantMovie

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

2 In the Timeline, right-click the clip you want to replace and choose Replace Clip From > Organizer 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.

Viewing a project’s files

Project view overview

The Project view lets you preview source material for your projects. To access the Project view, click Edit in the Tasks panel, and then click Project.

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DCBA

I J KHG

Project view

A. Show video B. Show audio C. Show still images D. New item E. Folders F. Clip thumbnail G. List view H. Icon view I. Move up a level J. New Folder K. Clear

See also

“Customize List view properties” on page 25

“Trim in the Preview window” on page 117

Display and arrange media items

In Project view, you can display items in either List view or Icon view. List view lets you view more items simultaneously and sort items by properties such as media type and duration. Icon view displays thumbnails that let you visually organize project contents.

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Project view display options A. Icon view B. List view C. Drag scroll bar or panel border to see more column headings in List View.

• To change the view, click the List View button or the Icon View button at the bottom of the panel.

Alternatively, right-click in the Tasks panel, and choose View > List or View > Icon.

• To arrange items in Icon view, drag an item to any square. As you drag, a vertical bar indicates where the item is

going. If you drag an item to a folder, the item goes inside the folder.

• 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 view 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 Tasks panel to the right to resize it, or

drag the scroll bar at the bottom of the panel to the right.

• To remove empty spaces between items in Icon view and arrange them within the width of the Project view, right-

click in the Tasks panel, and choose Clean Up.

Change the display of thumbnails

❖ Right-click in the Project view, and choose any of the following:

• Thumbnails > [command] to hide or set the size of thumbnails.

• View > List to display the thumbnails in a list along with all of the clip information.

• View > Icon to display the clips as icons on a grid. Using this view makes it easy to move the clips around and

change their order. (You can move the icons around, then select them all and drag to the Sceneline to replace the existing clips on the Sceneline.)

• View > Preview Area to hide or show the thumbnail viewer and clip information.

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Preview area and thumbnails in Project view A. Preview area B. Small clip thumbnail

Designate a clip frame as a poster frame

In the preview area of Project view, you can replace the default clip thumbnail (the first frame) by designating any clip frame as a poster frame. Specifying a new poster frame is helpful when the first frame doesn’t adequately represent the clip.

1 In the Tasks panel, click Edit, and then click Project.

Select the clip in Project view. If the preview area is hidden, right-click in Project view, and choose View > Preview Area.

3 In the preview area, click Play or drag the play slider until the frame you want is displayed.

4 Click Poster Frame .

Organize clips in folders

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

❖ In the Project view, do any of the following:

• To add a folder, click the New Folder button at the bottom of Project 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. Or, in List view, click the triangle beside the Folder icon

to expand the folder.

• To navigate from nested folders to parent folders, click the Parent Folder button at the bottom of the Project

view. You can click and hold this button to see a list of all the folders above the one currently listed, and jump to one by highlighting it and releasing the mouse button.

Organize clips with color labels

You can assign colored labels to clips to help organize and track clips. For example, you can use different colors to represent different people in the clips, or different types of clips (audio, still, video, and so on).

• To assign a color label to a clip, select the clip in Project view or the Timeline. Choose Edit > Label, and choose a

color.

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• To select all clips that use the same label, select any clip that uses the label, and choose Edit > Label > Select Label

Group.

• To edit label names or colors, choose Edit > Preferences > Label Colors and edit the names or click a color swatch

to change a color.

• To set default labels for a media type, choose Edit > Preferences > Label Defaults, and select a new label color for

the media type.

Note: Label defaults affect clips you add to the Project view from the time you change the defaults; the command doesn’t change label colors for clips already in the Tasks panel. To change these, choose Edit

> Preferences > Label Colors.

Play back a clip in Project view

1 In the Tasks panel, click Edit, and then click Project to open the Project view.

2 If the Preview Area is not visible, right-click in the Project view and choose View > Preview Area.

3 Select a clip in Project view.

4 Press the Play button in the preview area. The Play button becomes a Stop button. (Playing the clip in the Tasks

panel doesn’t affect clips in the Monitor panel, Timeline, or Sceneline.)

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 Organizer and in Windows remains the same.)

• To rename an original source file, close Adobe Premiere Elements, and rename the file in Windows. The next time

you open the project, Adobe

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

Premiere Elements asks you to locate the file.

Find an item in a project

1 Choose Edit > Find.

2 Specify options according to the contents of any column in List view.

3 Click Find.

To find an item on the hard drive, select the clip, choose File > Get Properties For, and note the path at the top of the Properties panel.

Locate missing files for a project

Adobe Premiere Elements doesn’t store original source files in a project—it references the filename 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 as often as necessary.

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Note: After you create the final movie, you can delete source files if you do not plan to use them in a project again. If you may need 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 filename has changed, deselect this option.

Select Replaces the missing file with the selected original or replacement file.

Find Starts the Windows XP Search feature.

Skip Previews Skips missing preview files so you aren’t asked to find them.

Skip Replaces the missing file with an offline file, a blank placeholder for related clips in the Project view of the Tasks

panel and the Timeline or Sceneline.

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

See also

“About archived projects” on page 274

“Previewing movies” on page 106

Delete a clip

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

• To delete a media file from a project, select it in the Project view, and press the Delete key.

• To delete a media file from the Organizer, right-click it in the Organizer, and choose Delete; or select the file and

press the Delete key. The file is deleted from the Organizer (in both Adobe Photoshop

Elements), but is not deleted from your hard disk.

Premiere Elements and

• To delete a media file from both a project and your computer, select it in the Project view, and press Ctrl+Delete.

Then, click OK in the Delete dialog box.

To identify unused items in a project, note the Video Usage and Audio Usage columns in List view. To display these columns, scroll to the right.

See also

“Managing clips with the Organizer” on page 66

Viewing clip properties

See an overview of basic clip properties

1 Choose Window > Available Media, and either expand the panel or scroll horizontally to view its columns. (Some

columns may be hidden. See

2 To view more details, select the clip in Project view, right-click, and choose View > Preview Area.

“Customize List view properties” on page 25.)

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View comprehensive file information

Adobe 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. Properties for video files can include file size, number of video and audio tracks, duration, average frame rate, audio sample rate, video data rate, and compression settings, as well as information about dropped frames in captured clips.

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

❖ Do one of the following:

• If the clip is in the Project view, right-click it and choose Properties.

• If the clip is in the 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 and select the clip you want to analyze,

and then click Open.

The graphs include the following information:

Data Rate/Second Graph The line represents the average data rate.

Sample Size Graph The blue bars represent the sample size of each keyframed frame.

Differenced Frames Sample Size If displayed, the red bars represent the sample size of the differenced frames between

compression keyframes. You only see these bars if you are analyzing the properties of a clip that was compressed using a codec (compressor/decompressor) that supports differenced frames. Differenced frames store only data that has changed between any two keyframes. DV footage does not contain differenced frames.

Note: The properties for VOB and MPEG files won’t include the data rate or sample size graphs.

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.

See also

“Rename a source file in a project” on page 23

“Project view overview” on page 19

“Check your project’s settings” on page 29

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 In the Tasks panel, click Edit, and then click Project.

2 Right-click in the Project view and choose Edit Columns.

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

Used Displays a checkmark if the clip is used in the project.

Label Color that helps identify and associate clips.

+ 278 hidden pages

Macromedia Premiere Elements - 7.0 User Guide

Contents

Chapter 1: Getting started

Installation

Requirements

Install the software

Register

ReadMe file

Using resources

Using Adobe Premiere Elements Help

Keyboard shortcuts for Help toolbar controls (Windows)

Keyboard shortcuts for Help navigation (Windows)

PDF documentation

Customer support

New features

What’s new

Smart Tags and InstantMovies

New features for fast and efficient movie creation

Enhanced file management

Easier capture and enriched support for HD formats

Back up your files, and get inspiration with a Photoshop.com membership

Chapter 2: Workspace

About the workspace

Workspace overview

Customizing the workspace

Display and hide docking headers

Display and hide panels

Dock panels

Open a panel in a floating window

Resize a panel

Open panel menus

Restore the default workspace

Adjust panel brightness

Examine or remove an alert

Panel overviews

Tasks panel overview

Organize workspace

Edit workspace

Disc Menus workspace

Share workspace

Monitor panel overview

Timeline and Sceneline overview

Info panel overview

Getting started with your Photoshop.com membership

About your Photoshop.com account

Create a Photoshop.com membership account

Sign in to your Photoshop.com account

View your videos on Photoshop.com

Launch the Inspiration Browser

Chapter 3: Projects

Creating a new project

About projects

Start a new project

Open a project

Creating an InstantMovie project

About InstantMovie projects and themes

Create an InstantMovie

Create an InstantMovie from the Welcome screen or Organizer

Apply a theme to an existing project

Theme properties

Edit an InstantMovie

Break apart an InstantMovie

Replace a clip in an InstantMovie

Viewing a project’s files

Project view overview

Display and arrange media items

Change the display of thumbnails

Designate a clip frame as a poster frame

Organize clips in folders

Organize clips with color labels

Play back a clip in Project view

Rename a source file in a project

Find an item in a project

Locate missing files for a project

Delete a clip

Viewing clip properties

See an overview of basic clip properties

View comprehensive file information

Customize List view properties

Specify which properties appear in List view