Getting Started
Adobe® Premiere® Elements 12 delivers video editing tools that balance power and versatility with ease of use. Adobe Premiere Elements 12 is ideal for home users, hobbyists, business users, and professional videographers—anyone who wants to produce high-quality movies and DVDs.
If you’ve used earlier versions of Adobe Premiere Elements, you’ll find that this Classroom in a Book covers the updated interface that Adobe Systems introduced in this version, plus new advanced skills and features. If you’re new to Adobe Premiere Elements, you’ll learn the fundamental concepts and techniques that will help you master this application.
About Classroom in a Book
Adobe Premiere Elements 12 Classroom in a Book is part of the official training series for Adobe graphics and publishing software developed by Adobe product experts. Most lessons in this book include self-paced projects that give you hands-on experience using Adobe Premiere Elements 12. You will almost certainly get the most benefit from working on the lessons in the order in which they occur in the book.
As an overview, in the first two lessons, you’ll learn your way around Adobe Premiere Elements and the Adobe Organizer, how to set up a project in Adobe Premiere Elements, and how to customize critical preferences.
In Lesson 3, you’ll learn how to capture and otherwise import video into Adobe Premiere Elements. Starting with Lesson 4, you’ll open provided projects or create your own from provided contents, and learn how to convert your raw, captured clips into a polished movie.
Note that the project files were created separately for Mac and Windows computers, and were created using prerelease software and content. For this reason, there may be some minor differences between the figures in the book and what you might see onscreen when you’re using Adobe Premiere Elements. Throughout the book, we’ve tried to identify the places you’re most likely to see this, but apologize in advance for any differences or inconvenience.
Prerequisites
Before you begin working on the lessons in this book, make sure that you and your computer are ready.
Requirements for your computer
You’ll need a maximum of about 4.3 gigabytes (GB) of free space on your hard drive for the lesson files and the work files you’ll create. For some lessons, you’ll need to have 2GB of RAM installed on your computer. Note that the lessons assume that you have installed all templates and associated content available with the DVD version of Adobe Premiere Elements 12 or via download. If the lesson calls for a template or other content that’s not installed on your computer, Adobe Premiere Elements should download it automatically. If this doesn’t occur, you should be able to simply choose another template and continue with the lesson.
Required skills
The lessons in Adobe Premiere Elements 12 Classroom in a Book assume that you have a working knowledge of your computer and its operating system. This book does not teach the most basic and generic computer skills. If you can answer yes to the following questions, you’re probably well qualified to start working on the projects in these lessons:
• Do you know how to use the Microsoft Windows Start button and the Windows task bar? On the Mac, do you know how to run applications from the Dock or in the Applications folder? In both operating systems, can you open menus and submenus, and choose items from those menus?
• Do you know how to use My Computer, Windows Explorer, Finder, and/or a browser—such as Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Safari—to find items stored in folders on your computer, or to browse the Internet?
• Are you comfortable using the mouse to move the pointer, select items, drag, and deselect? Have you used context menus (which open when you right-click items in Windows or Mac OS, or Control-click items on the Mac if you’re working with a single-button mouse)?
• When you have two or more open applications, do you know how to switch from one to another? Do you know how to switch to the Windows or Macintosh desktop?
• Do you know how to open, close, and minimize individual windows? Can you move them to different locations on your screen? Can you resize a window by dragging?
• Can you scroll (vertically and horizontally) within a window to see contents that may not be visible in the displayed area?
• Are you familiar with the menus across the top of an application and how to use those menus?
• Have you used dialog boxes (special windows in the interface that display information), such as the Print dialog box? Do you know how to click arrow icons to open a menu within a dialog box?
• Can you open, save, and close a file? Are you familiar with word processing tasks such as typing, selecting words, backspacing, deleting, copying, pasting, and changing text?
• Do you know how to open and find information in Microsoft Windows or Apple Macintosh Help?
If there are gaps in your mastery of these skills, see the documentation for your operating system. Or, ask a computer-savvy friend or instructor for help.
Installing Adobe Premiere Elements 12
Before you begin using Adobe Premiere Elements 12 Classroom in a Book, make sure that your system is set up correctly and that you’ve installed the required software and hardware. You must purchase the Adobe Premiere Elements 12 software separately. For system requirements and complete instructions on installing the software, visit www.adobe.com/support.
Accessing the Classroom in a Book files
In order to work through the projects in this book, you will need to download the lesson files from peachpit.com. You can download the files for individual lessons, or download them all in a single file.
Your Account page on peachpit.com is where you’ll find any updates to the chapters or to the lesson files. Look on the Lesson & Update Files tab to access the most current content. To access the Classroom in a Book files, do the following:
1. Go to www.peachpit.com/redeem, and enter the code found at the back of your book.
2. If you do not have a Peachpit.com account, create one when you’re prompted to do so.
3. Click the Lesson & Update Files tab on your Account page. This tab lists downloadable files.
4. Click the lesson file links to download them to your computer.
5. Create a new folder on your hard disk, and name it Lessons. Then, drag the lesson files you downloaded into the Lessons folder on your hard disk.
Additional resources
Adobe Premiere Elements 12 Classroom in a Book is not meant to replace documentation that comes with the program or to be a comprehensive reference for every feature. Only the commands and options used in the lessons are explained in this book. For comprehensive information about program features and tutorials, please refer to these resources:
Adobe Premiere Elements 12 Help and Support: Point your browser to helpx.adobe.com/premiere-elements.html, where you can find and browse Help and Support content on adobe.com.
Adobe Forums: forums.adobe.com lets you tap into peer-to-peer discussions and questions and answers on Adobe products. forums.adobe.com/community/premiere_elements takes you to the forum for Adobe Premiere Elements.
Adobe TV: tv.adobe.com is an online video resource for expert instruction and inspiration about Adobe products, including a How To channel to get you started with your product.
Resources for educators: www.adobe.com/education.edu.html offers a treasure trove of information for instructors who teach classes on Adobe software. Find solutions for education at all levels, including free curricula that use an integrated approach to teaching Adobe software and can be used to prepare for the Adobe Certified Associate exams.
Adobe Premiere Elements 12 product home page: www.adobe.com/products/premiere-elements.html
Free trial versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 and Adobe Premiere Elements 12: The trial version of the software is fully functional and offers every feature of the product for you to test-drive. To download your free trial version, browse to www.adobe.com/downloads.html.