Macromedia Premiere Elements - 9.0 Instruction Manual

Using

ADOBE® PREMIERE® ELEMENTS 9

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

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Last updated 11/7/2011

Chapter 1: Getting started with Adobe Premiere Elements

Getting started tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Installing Adobe Premiere Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Creating an Adobe ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Registering your software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Purchasing/Benefits of a PLUS account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Supported software and hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

What’s new in Adobe Premiere Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Convert a catalog from a previous version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Help resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Adobe Premiere Elements and Elements Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Creating a movie in 6 quick steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Back up/Synchronize files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

iii

Chapter 2: Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

Welcome screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Customizing launch options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

About the workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

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

Getting started with your Adobe ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Chapter 3: Projects

Creating a new project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Saving and backing up projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Project settings and presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Creating an InstantMovie project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Projects and project files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Viewing a project’s files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Viewing clip properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Undoing changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Working with scratch disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Chapter 4: Capturing video

Getting ready to capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Capture video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Capture stop-motion and time-lapse video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Chapter 5: Importing and adding media

Import from DVDs, camcorders, phones, and removable drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Add files from your computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Supported file types for import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Supported devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Last updated 11/7/2011

USING ADOBE PREMIERE ELEMENTS 9

Contents

Add photos using the Photo Downloader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Other methods to add media to your project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Using files from Photoshop Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Guidelines for adding files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Add numbered still-image files as a single clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Set duration for imported still images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Creating specialty clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Working with offline files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Working with aspect ratios and field options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

5.1 audio import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Chapter 6: Managing clips with the Organizer

View clips in Elements Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Finding files in Elements Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Tagging files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Grouping files in the Elements Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Creating albums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Creating and editing smart albums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Backup and synchronize albums and files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Grouping, linking, and disabling clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Working with clip and timeline markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Previewing movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Chapter 8: Editing clips

Trimming clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Changing clip speed and duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Freezing and holding frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Working with source clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Chapter 9: Applying transitions

Transition basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Applying transitions to clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Create special transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Adjusting transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Chapter 10: Applying effects

Effects basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Finding and organizing effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Applying and removing effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Working with effect presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Changing effect properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Reposition, scale, or rotate clips with the Motion effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

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Superimposing and transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Selecting colors for effects and mattes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Effects reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Chapter 11: Animating effects

Effect animation basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Adding, copying, and removing keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Adjusting keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Controlling change between keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Animating a clip’s position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Motion tracking effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Effects Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Chapter 12: Creating titles

Creating and trimming titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Editing and formatting text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Applying styles to text and graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Adding shapes and images to titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Arranging objects in titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Adding color and shadows to titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Designing titles for TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Exporting and importing titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Chapter 13: Adding and mixing audio

Using soundtracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Create narrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Mixing audio and adjusting volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Chapter 14: Creating disc menus

Types of discs and menu options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Working with menu markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Creating disc menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Previewing menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Chapter 15: Saving and sharing your movies

Sharing from the Tasks panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Create DVD files for web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Sharing to DVD or Blu-ray Disc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Sharing for PC playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Sharing to the web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Sharing to mobile phones and players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Sharing to videotape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Common settings for Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Supported file types for saving and exporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Compression and data-rate basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Archiving projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

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Chapter 16: Adobe Premiere Elements keyboard shortcuts

Using default shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Customizing shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Chapter 17: Troubleshooting

Resources and guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Capturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Importing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Playing back and previewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Creating a DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Chapter 18: Glossary

Digital imaging terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

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Chapter 1: Getting started with

Adobe

Use the getting started information to install Adobe® Premiere® Elements 9 on your computer and get started with using the software. The resources provided are designed to help you learn the product at your own pace.

Adobe recommends that you go through the resources in the book before you look for external Help. The resources help ensure that you feel confident about using the product and also save you valuable time.

For an overview of Adobe Premiere Elements, see http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_chlvid002_pre9_en.

Premiere Elements

Getting started tutorials

Video tutorials

For a complete list of getting started tutorials on Adobe TV, see Learn Premiere Elements 9.

Download PDF tutorial

You can download a PDF version of the Adobe Premiere Elements 9 tutorial from

http://prodesigntools.com/pdf/Adobe_Premiere_Elements_9_Guide.pdf.

Need more info on getting started?

Use the feedback mechanism (Was this helpful?) on top of this page to provide us with the kind of information you were looking for.

System requirements

To ensure that you have the required hardware and software to run Adobe® Premiere® Elements 9, read the system requirements in the ReadMe file.

If your computer is connected to the Internet, see http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_readmeprel9_en. This document contains the latest information on Adobe® Premiere® Elements 9.

If you do not have access to the Internet, open the ReadMe file on the installation disc.

Installing Adobe Premiere Elements

Install from disc

Ensure that you have a DVD drive (not CD drive) connected to your computer before you begin installation. Insert the relevant DVD into the drive and follow instructions.

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See http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_installprel9_en for comprehensive information on installing Adobe Premiere Elements.

Install downloaded software

See http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_installonlineprel_en.

Converting a trial version to a licensed (purchased) version

See http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_convertprel_en.

To remove the watermark in movies created in a trial version, open the project created in the trial version in the licensed version and re-export. Watermarks in exported files from trial versions cannot be removed by running them in the licensed version.

Can I have more than one version installed?

Installing Adobe Premiere Elements doesn't automatically remove or replace any previous versions installed on your computer. It's not necessary to uninstall a previous version of Adobe versions once you are comfortable with the latest version of the software.

Premiere Elements. You can uninstall earlier

Creating an Adobe ID

For information on how to create an Adobe ID, and the advantages of having an Adobe ID, see

http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_adobeid_en.

Registering your software

For information on why you must register your purchased Adobe software, and the benefits of registering, see

http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_regstnfaq_en.

Purchasing/Benefits of a PLUS account

For information on the benefits of upgrading your Photoshop.com account to PLUS, see

http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_plusprel_en.

Supported software and hardware

To ensure that your computer hardware, camera, and files you intend to use work with Adobe Premiere Elements, see

http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_readmeprel9_en.

If you do not have access to the Internet, open the ReadMe file on the installation disc.

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Getting started with Adobe Premiere Elements

What’s new in Adobe Premiere Elements

Visit http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_pre_features_en to learn about new and enhanced features.

Convert a catalog from a previous version

If you had a previous version of Adobe Premiere Elements on your computer, you are prompted to convert your catalog for compatibility with the current version. Converting a catalog is a one time process and once complete, a converted catalog can no longer be used in previous versions.

Note: Before converting a catalog from a previous version of Adobe Premiere Elements, it is recommended that you back up the catalog using File > Backup.

1 In Elements Organizer, select File > Catalog.

2 Click Convert in the Catalog Manager.

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

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

4 Click Convert.

Show Previously Converted Catalogs

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

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

Help resources

If you have questions about installing or using Adobe Premiere Elements, Adobe recommends that you use these resources before contacting Adobe support. These resources contain answers to many common questions.

Welcome screen

The Welcome screen appears whenever you first launch the software. Apart from acting as a starting point to create or open projects, it has resources that help you get started with Adobe

Premiere Elements.

Inspiration browser

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

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

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Getting started information

If you are new to Adobe Premiere Elements, these resources help you quickly get started with editing and creating videos.

Getting Started page See http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_pre_gs_en. The Getting Started page contains FAQs, Help

topics, videos, and other resources that help you quickly start using Adobe Premiere Elements.

Help and Support page See http://www.adobe.com/support/premiereelements/ for an overview of all the available

Help content.

Adobe Premiere Elements Help

These resources provide you with information on all the features in Adobe Premiere Elements with information on how to use them.

Online Help (User guide) The online version of the user guide. See http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_usinprel_en.

Download User Guide (PDF) See http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_pdfprel9_en.

Using Help within the application Press F1 to launch the Help client. Ensure that you are online at least once to

download the Help content. Thereafter, the Help client uses the downloaded content on your computer or downloads content from the Internet based on your computer's connection status.

Help menu

Use the Help menu in Adobe Premiere Elements to quickly access a list of resources that help you get started with the software. You can locate the Help menu in the menu bar at the top of the application.

Adobe Premiere Elements Help Launches the Help client containing the online version of the user guide. Depending

on whether you are online or offline, the online Help content or the downloaded Help content is loaded.

Keyboard Opens the Help page listing the keyboard shortcuts in Adobe Premiere Elements.

How to Use Help Opens the Help page containing the Getting Started information. Most of that information is similar

to what is contained in this book.

Online Support Opens the Help and Support page containing information on Help and Troubleshooting resources.

Provide feedback on product/post useful tips and tricks

• Visit http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_prefeed_en.

Troubleshooting tips

Troubleshoot yourself - Try these things before you call customer support.

Here are some things to consider when troubleshooting Adobe Premiere Elements.

• Restart Adobe Premiere Elements, or restart your computer.

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

Ctrl + Alt + Shift (Windows), or Option + Command + Shift (Mac OS) keys immediately after selecting New Project.

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

background. These programs sometimes conflict with Adobe

Premiere Elements operations.

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

card, printer, and other devices.

• If Adobe Premiere Elements was working fine until recently, remove any recent additions to your computer. What

was the last thing you changed on your computer before the problem began? Did you install a new printer, font, or other software?

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

• For issues with opening or editing photos, check if the problem occurs with all photos, or with photos from different

cameras or sources.

Ask experts

To reach out to experts in the Adobe Premiere Elements community that can help you with your problem, visit

http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_forumprel_en.

Support for How-to questions

How-to questions and most issues related to using Adobe Premiere Elements can be best solved using the following resources:

• Help and Support page (http://www.adobe.com/support/premiereelements/)

• Getting Started page (http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_pre_gs_en)

• Adobe Premiere Elements Forums (http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_forumprel_en)

Customer support for product orders, installation, activation

For the most efficient ways to get through to customer support, try the following:

• If you prefer getting answers through email, log in to the customer support portal

http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_cust_por_en and create a web case. If you do not have a registered Adobe ID, click

the Create An Account button to create your ID.

• If you do need to call, Adobe recommends using the pop-up menus found on the contact page

http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_contact_en. You are given the option of Live Chat (if available) or a phone

support through this contact method.

• If you call and encounter a long hold time, you can request a callback from the first available agent. Alternatively,

you can schedule a callback at a more convenient time.

Adobe Premiere Elements and Elements Organizer

Elements Organizer

Elements Organizer is a part of both Adobe Premiere Elements and Photoshop Elements. You can use Elements Organizer to import, manage, and view your media files (photos, movie clips, audio, and so on).

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Getting started with Adobe Premiere Elements

Adobe Premiere Elements

Adobe Premiere Elements is an editor that helps you quickly create professional looking movies using your video clips and images imported from Elements Organizer or other sources. Adobe professional grade editing effects and transitions which can be applied using a simple drag-and-drop operation.

After you have completed creating a video, you can export it to DVD or upload to video sharing websites.

Premiere Elements provides you with various

Workspace

The workspace in Adobe Premiere Elements is designed keeping in mind the capture/import - edit - share workflow.

Adobe Premiere Elements includes three main panels: Tasks panel, Monitor panel, and My Project panel (Timeline and Sceneline). The Tasks panel includes the Organize panel, Edit panel, Disc Menu panel, and Share panel.

Adobe Premiere Elements workspace A. Monitor panel B. Timeline C. Sceneline D. Tasks panel

Organize panel

Media Contains media that you imported into your project. You can drag assets from this panel to the timeline,

sceneline, or monitor for assembling and editing purposes.

Get Media Contains options for importing media from various storage media such as camcorders, cameras, and hard

disks.

InstantMovie Quickly create a movie using assets in the Project view. Select the assets in the Project view, click

InstantMovie, and follow instructions to create your movie.

Project Contains a list of all the media imported into your project.

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Edit panel

Use this panel to add special effects, transitions, titles, themes, and clip art to your movie.

Effects Displays effects and presets you can use in your movie. To apply an effect, select a movie clip in the Timeline

or Sceneline. Select an effect and click Apply. To edit an effect after applying it, select it, and click Edit Effects.

Transitions Transitions are effects you apply to phase out one clip and phase in the next. To apply a transition between

two clips in the Timeline the clips must be on the same track, with no space between them. Drag the transition from the Tasks panel to the cut between two clips in the Timeline, and release the mouse button when an icon appears.

To edit a transition after applying it, select it in the Timeline or Sceneline, and click Edit Transitions to open Properties view.

Titles, Themes, Clip art Display titles, themes, and clip art that you could use to enhance the appeal of your movies.

Disc menu panel

Menus help users navigate to specific portions of your movie. Use this panel to create a menu that are displayed at the beginning of the movie. You can also use menu templates in Adobe

Premiere Elements to add menus to your movie.

Share panel

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

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.

Tape For video that you want to copy to a connected digital videotape.

Creating a movie in 6 quick steps

Select a project preset

Before starting a project, choose a project preset that best suits the following considerations:

• The type of movie clip you plan to edit

• The final output

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Project presets

For example, if you have a MiniDV camcorder, choose a DV project preset because:

• The preset gives you the best editing experience

• The preset is ideal for exporting your project to DVD

The high definition project presets are meant for editing footage from high definition cameras and ideal for exporting to Blu-ray.

If you add a movie clip that has different properties (Dimension, FPS, Pixel aspect ratio, Field order) than the project’s preset to the timeline, a message is displayed. Click Yes in the message to allow Premiere Elements to change the project’s settings to match the properties of the clip.

Create a project

The project that you create includes references to the location of all the media you use in your movie. Media refers to items you use in your movie such as movie clips, audio, still images, and titles. Because a project contains links to assets and not the assets themselves, ensure that you relink the assets if you change their location on your computer.

For more information on creating a project, see http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_createproj_en.

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Add media to your project

Options to import media into Adobe Premiere Elements

To import media into your project, do one of the following:

• Capture recorded content from a tape device

The process of transferring a video, or portions of it, from a recording device to your hard disk is called capturing. When you capture a movie using Adobe format and saved on your hard disk. References to the captured movie clips are created in the project.

Premiere Elements, the captured movie clips are converted to a compatible

• Capture live recording using a webcam or WDM device

• Import from devices such as DVD camcorders, AVCHD, mobile phones, and your hard disk.

• Drag-and-drop files you previously imported into Elements Organizer.

For a video on capturing videos using Adobe Premiere Elements, see

http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_chlvid001_pre9_en.

Assemble movie clips in your project

The quickest way to assemble movie clips in your project is to use the Sceneline. If you want better control and flexibility in working with movie clips, use the Timeline.

For more information on using the Timeline, see http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_chlvid003_pre9_en.

Edit movie clips

Editing movie clips involves the following tasks:

• Trimming unwanted portions

• Adding and mixing audio

• Adding special effects

• Adding transition effects between movie clips

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• Adding text and titles

Adobe Premiere Elements provides you with the required tools to edit your movie according to your requirements.

For a quick tour of creating effects in Adobe Premiere Elements, see

http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_chlvid004_pre9_en.

Copy movies to disc (Blu Ray, DVD)/Share movie

You can export and share movies, stills, and audio in various file types to the web, mobile devices, videotape, and Blu Ray discs/DVDs. You can also copy and save projects for editing and storage.

Back up/Synchronize files

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

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

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

Backup/Synchronization confirmation window

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

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

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

securely get uploaded to your online account.

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

Preferences dialog box.

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

synchronized online.

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

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View Backup/Synchronization activity status

❖ Do one of the following:

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

Backup/Synchronization Status.

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

View Backup/Synchronization Status.

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

• The total number of assets that are being synchronized

• The overall progress of the synchronization activity

• The online storage capacity being used

• The asset that is being synchronized

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

Start backup and synchronization activity manually

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

View your videos on Photoshop.com

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

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

website at

The web browser must have cookies enabled.

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

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

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

www.photoshop.com.

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Chapter 2: Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

Welcome screen

When you start Adobe Premiere Elements, the Welcome screen opens by default. In addition to resources that help you get started with using Adobe

Organize If you want to organize your movies in Elements Organizer before you open them for editing in

Adobe Premiere Elements, click this button.

New Project Click this button to start a new project. After you create a project, you add, organize, and edit media you

add to the project.

Open Project Click this button if you want to open a project that you have created previously in

Premiere Elements.

Adobe

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

Premiere Elements, the Welcome screen has the following options:

Customizing launch options

You can choose to customize the window or application that you want displayed when you launch

Premiere Elements. Click the icon on the Welcome screen to open the Launch Settings dialog.

Adobe

Just Show The Welcome Screen Launches the Welcome screen every time you open Adobe Premiere Elements. This

option is enabled by default. The Welcome screen contains options that help you quickly get started. Adobe recommends that you do not change this option until you are comfortable with using the software.

Always Launch Elements Organizer Only If you frequently use Elements Organizer to organize your media before you

edit them in Adobe

Always Launch Adobe Premiere Elements Only Select this option if you want the editor to open every time you launch

Premiere Elements.

Adobe

Premiere Elements, choose this option.

About the 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.

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Adobe Premiere Elements 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.

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)

More Help topics

“Project view overview” on page 32

“Find an effect” on page 145

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Adobe Premiere Elements 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. As you customize your workspace, Adobe changes. When you save the project, the recent layout changes are also saved. The next time you open that project,

Premiere Elements restores the saved layout that you had used.

Adobe

Display and hide docking headers

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

❖ Do one of the following:

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

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

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

Premiere Elements tracks the

Display and hide panels

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

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

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

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

Resize a panel

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

❖ To resize a panel, drag its border.

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

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

Open panel menus

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

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

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

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

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

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

Restore the default workspace

❖ Choose Window > Restore Workspace.

Examine or remove an alert

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

1 Do either of the following:

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

• 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.

Panel overviews

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

Tasks panel overview

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

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

Edit workspace displaying Effect Properties view

More Help topics

“Project view overview” on page 32

“Import from DVDs, camcorders, phones, and removable drives” on page 54

“View clips in Elements Organizer” on page 73

Organize workspace

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

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Organize workspace

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

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

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

Media Displays the thumbnails of all media files.

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

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

Project Displays the details of all media files.

More Help topics

“Media analysis” on page 77

Edit workspace

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

From the Edit workspace, you can access the following:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

second menu.

Show All is the default option.

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

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

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

Disc Menus workspace

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

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

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

Share workspace

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

Monitor panel overview

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

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

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Monitor panel

Timeline and Sceneline overview

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

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

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

Info panel overview

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

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

Getting started with your Adobe ID

Create an Adobe ID

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

1 Do one of the following:

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

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Adobe Premiere Elements workspace

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

More Help topics

“Backup and synchronize albums and files” on page 82

Sign in with your Adobe ID

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

2 Do either of the following:

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

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

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

Signing in with your Adobe ID

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View your videos on Photoshop.com

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

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

website at

The web browser must have cookies enabled.

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

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

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

www.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 in with your Adobe ID, and then click Tips and Tricks.

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

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

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

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Chapter 3: Projects

Creating a new project

Video tutorial

Projects

Adobe Premiere Elements creates a project file for every new project you start. All the media that you add to a project including videos, images, titles, themes, and so on are referenced by the project file.

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

More Help topics

“Workspace overview” on page 13

Premiere Elements can continue to locate them.

“Creating an InstantMovie project” on page 28

Review project presets and settings

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

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

2 Click Change Settings.

More Help topics

“About project settings and presets” on page 24

“Video tutorial” on page 22

Start a new project

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, select a different preset and click OK.

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

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

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

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Projects

More Help topics

“Projects and project files” on page 31

“Create or change project presets” on page 25

“About scratch disks” on page 40

Open a project

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

❖ Do one of the following:

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

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

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

and click Open.

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

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

Premiere Elements

More Help topics

“Open a project saved by Auto Save” on page 24

Saving and backing up projects

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 and continue working in the new copy, 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 Adobe Premiere Elements stores project-related files, such as captured video and audio, and video and audio previews, set up a scratch disk.

More Help topics

“Set up a scratch disk” on page 41

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Projects

Back up a project with Auto Save

To more easily 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 Adobe the state of your project at each interval.

Automatic saving serves as an alternative to the Undo command, depending on how much the project changes between each save. Because project files are quite small compared to source video files, archiving many versions of a project consumes relatively little disk space.

1 Choose Edit > Preferences > Auto Save / Adobe Premiere Elements 9 > Preferences > Auto Save.

2 Do any of the following, and then click OK:

• Select Automatically Save Projects, and type the number of minutes after which Adobe Premiere Elements will save

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, Adobe

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

Premiere Elements to save a backup copy every 15 minutes, producing a series of files that represent

Premiere Elements saves five versions of each project you open.

Open a project saved by Auto Save

1 Do either of the following:

• Start Adobe Premiere Elements, and click Open Project in the Welcome Screen.

• 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 may be turned off.)

Note: The first time you start Adobe Premiere Elements after a crash, it returns a prompt asking if you want to open the last version of your project saved by Auto Save.

More Help topics

“Open a project” on page 23

Project settings and presets

Video tutorial

About project settings and presets

Project settings determine the video and audio format of a project, such as whether your footage is DV, HDV, AVCHD, or from a hard disk or flash memory camcorder, or whether it is standard or widescreen video. It also specifies the frame rate, aspect ratio, audio sample rate, upper or lower field first, and bit depth for your project.

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