Premiere Pro for beginners: your first project

Step 1

Check your computer and start the trial

Adobe offers a 7-day free trial: billing starts on day 8, and after that you still have 14 days to cancel for a full refund. Check your hardware first. For Windows, Adobe lists these minimum requirements for Premiere 27.0:

• •an Intel 6th Gen or AMD Ryzen 1000 Series or newer CPU with AVX2 support;
• •Windows 11 version 24H2;
• •8 GB of RAM (16 GB for HD, 32 GB or more for 4K);
• •a GPU with at least 4 GB of memory, 8 GB of free disk space and a 1920 x 1080 display.

💡 For macOS requirements, see the macOS tab on the same Adobe page. If your computer can't keep up, there's a free Premiere mobile app for your phone.

Step 2

Create a project and import files

On the home screen choose New Project (Ctrl + Alt + N on Windows, Opt + Cmd + N on macOS). Enter a project name and a save location. Import mode opens next: select clips and they collect in the Selection Tray at the bottom of the window. What to turn on in the import settings:

• •Create new sequence: Premiere creates a sequence with the resolution and frame rate of the first file you selected;
• •Automatic transcription: a transcript is generated right away, handy for captions later;
• •then click Create.

💡 To add files later, use File > Import (Ctrl + I, Cmd + I on macOS) or just drag them into the Project panel.

Step 3

Cutting on the timeline

Pick the Razor tool in the Tools panel and click a clip where you want the cut. Shift-click cuts clips on all tracks at once; Alt-click (Option-click on macOS) cuts only the video or only the audio of a linked clip. After cutting, go back to the Selection tool: it's the default tool, and if Premiere behaves oddly, check that it's selected. Shortcuts that make editing faster:

• •I and O: mark the start and end of a section;
• •Ctrl + K (Cmd + K): cut the clip at the playhead;
• •Shift + Delete on Windows: delete a section and close the gap;
• •Ctrl + Z (Cmd + Z): undo, use it without shame.

Step 4

Rhythm, text and sound

Once the rough cut is done, go through the clip again: remove pauses, even out the pace and add text with the Text tool in the Tools panel. The Ripple Edit tool trims the start or end of a clip and closes the gap right away, so your cuts don't drift apart. What to check:

• •every shot stays exactly as long as the idea needs, no longer;
• •the voice level is even across the clip and the music doesn't drown it;
• •text is readable on a small screen and doesn't cover what matters in the frame.

💡 If you turned on automatic transcription, proofread it: speech recognition slips on names, titles and terms.

Step 5

Export and your first mini project

Select the sequence in the Timeline panel and choose File > Export > Media (Ctrl + M on Windows, Cmd + M on macOS). On the left, pick where the video goes: YouTube, Vimeo or a file on your drive (Media File). Adobe recommends H.264 for most online videos, and the Match Source – Adaptive High Bitrate preset picks up the sequence's frame size and frame rate for you. Click Export, or Send to Media Encoder if you want to keep working while the file renders. Final exercise: a one-minute clip about your project with titles and music, taken all the way to a file.

💡 Share it in the community and ask for feedback on something specific: rhythm, the first 5 seconds or the moment it gets boring.