VFX plates. Dramatic pans and scans over archival content. Still images can be used in a myriad of ways in your video project.

Thankfully, Adobe Premiere Pro keeps the door wide open for aspiring filmmakers looking to incorporate photos, graphics, and more than into multimedia projects big and small.

What Types of Images Can You Import Into Premiere Pro?

A collection of images on a laptop screen --- Unsplash

While the ceiling is high, Premiere Pro does impose some limitations on which all the same images the program will accept. The image can be no wider or taller than 32,768 pixels, allowing for a frame size of up to 256 megapixels in total.

Naturally, you will desire to choose images that are at least equally large every bit the frame of the video that you will be adding them to. While a smaller prototype size may reduce the fourth dimension that it takes for Premiere to return your sequence, having pixels to spare may be ideal for y'all, depending on the project. Account for a still image twice as big as your project's aspect ratio if you plan on punching in at any bespeak in time.

The content of your still epitome may also pose some technical challenges to Premiere. Moiré patterns may announced when infinitesimal, tightly-clustered lines in the photo are continuously reinterpreted by Premiere as you scale out or zoom in.

An example of a Moiré pattern --- Pexels

Lines and stripes may confuse the programme as information technology tries to parse their boundaries between discrete and assorted values, resulting in unsightly artifacts. It'southward best to avoid things similar tightly-knit or banded designs when working with media of contrasting resolution, especially if y'all intend to scale it up or downward on-screen.

As far as acceptable file types get, y'all tin apply JPEGs, PNGs, GIFs, TIFFs, and DPXs. Premiere is likewise able to link projects to Photoshop and Illustrator files dynamically, giving you the ways to continuously adjust your image without disturbing it from its place in your Premiere timeline.

Importing Your Image: Best Practices

Once you lot've confirmed that your image of choice is in accordance with the same, there are a few all-time practices in Premiere Pro to be mindful of when importing still images.

Before pulling anything in, hop on over to your Preferences menu from the Edit dropdown. Navigate to your Timeline settings.

The Edit dropdown in Premiere Pro

Here, you lot will be able to specify the length of every still that you import into the program by adjusting the All the same Image Default Duration setting. Doing this preemptively volition relieve you a lot of headaches downward the line, especially if yous intend to eventually import an prototype sequence.

The Still Image Default Duration Option in Premiere Pro

If alpha transparency in Premiere Pro is what you're after, you tin can assign channel properties in Photoshop or Illustrator that will be attached to the image file brought into Premiere.

Continue in mind that JPEGs are non capable of carrying alpha transparency with them, no matter where the images are coming from. You lot should also make sure that any stills that you plan on using are video-friendly in terms of colour space, two common options beingness sRBG and NTSC RGB.

Also noteworthy: if your paradigm is saved every bit either a PSD or an AI file, all of your dissever layers will be preserved and can continuously be modified as y'all work—you will be asked whether or non you would like to merge them when yous bring them into Premiere Pro.

Containing your workflow to only the Adobe suite might be your best bet if you lot're using these images to animate a complicated sequence, or if your project features many graphic elements that yous plan on tweaking many times.

At present will too exist your moment to do your due diligence in terms of naming conventions and folder hierarchy, even if simply for the sake of completeness and professionalism. Getting used to working in this way volition make editing larger projects afterward on much easier.

How to Import Still Images Into Premiere Pro

Fix to begin? Burn down upward Premiere—it's showtime.

From i of your bins, either correct-click and select Import from the context menu, or hit Ctrl + I to call up the Import window. Select your still image of choice and click Open.

The Import menu in Premiere Pro

From the bin, you lot'll exist able to pull it right into your timeline. You lot tin use the Effect Controls panel to adjust the position, scale, rotation, and opacity of the epitome. Yous volition also be able to apply other effects to the epitome, much like you would any other asset.

The still image's effect controls in Premiere Pro

And that'southward it. How easy was that?

When to Use Still Images in Your Projection

Filming a movie

Getting the images ready is the annoying part. Now, all that'southward left is to decide what you're going to do with them.

We've got more a few jumping-off points for you to explore.

1. When Money Is Tight

Well-nigh of the states start out filmmaking at home on our ain. Sky replacement is one common crowd-pleaser—yous're able to transform your humble accommodations into a remote, exotic destination (spacesuit and helmet sold separately). There are many ways that you tin upgrade fifty-fifty the most modest project with still images in this manner.

2. When You Demand the Resolution

Still images brand fantabulous assets when working with composited VFX; they're make clean, crisp, and will more often than not pack a wallop in terms of resolution.

Call back most a video shot in 1080p and another shot in 4K; the latter allows you lot to scale the image upward, cropping you in without striking a wall. A nonetheless image of greater proportion volition only afford you so much more flexibility in post-production.

iii. When Y'all're Animating a Sequence

Animation comes in all sorts of flavors. Harness the persistence of vision and bring the inanimate objects around yous to life. Epitome sequences in Premiere Pro permit you to do then with ease.

iv. When Yous Want to Reinforce an Idea

Our human being Ken Burns is the one who started it all. His work in documentary filmmaking is what fabricated panning and scanning archival photos à la the History Channel one of the nigh infamous tropes to ever grace our television screens.

When y'all're short on textile and need to get your bespeak across, this technique works well to bridge whatsoever semantic gaps that you lot may take in your narrative.

5. When You've Got a Lot to Continue Track Of

Reference for color? Done. Documentation for continuity? Why wouldn't y'all want that in your back pocket subsequently your shoot? Salvage yourself the hassle of pulling out your pencil and notepad; snap a shot to pull into your system when all is said and washed.

The Possibilities at Paw Should Terrify and Excite Y'all

With a fleck of lateral thinking, your inventiveness will know no bounds. There are literally endless possibilities when it comes to incorporating images into your projects, which may seem overwhelming at get-go. All information technology takes is a bit of experimenting to figure out the all-time manner to include a still image in your projection.