For an overview of the Premiere Pro interface, see this introduction to panels and workspaces from Peachpit Press.
For an overview of the Premiere Pro interface, see this video from Learn By Video and Video2Brain by Maxim Jago.
Workspace selections and customizations made in a project are saved in the project file. By default, Premiere Pro opens projects in the current workspace. However, you can instead open a project in the workspace last used with it. This option is particularly helpful if you often rearrange the workspace for each project.
If you import a project and the workspace is empty, close the project. Deselect Import Workspace From Projects. Import the project again, and select an existing workspace for the project.
Adobe video and audio applications provide a consistent, customizable workspace. Although each application has its own set of panels (such as Project, Metadata, and Timeline), you move and group panels in the same way across products.
The main window of a program is the application window. Panels are organized in this window in an arrangement called a workspace. The default workspace contains groups of panels as well as panels that stand alone.
You customize a workspace by arranging panels in the layout that best suits your working style. As you rearrange panels, the other panels resize automatically to fit the window. You can create and save several custom workspaces for different tasks—for example, one for editing and one for previewing.
You can use floating windows to create a workspace more like workspaces in previous versions of Adobe applications, or to place panels on multiple monitors.
In these two tutorials Andrew Devis from Creative Cow shows how to use different workspaces, and how to customize your workspace.
Example workspace
A. Application window B. Grouped panels C. Individual panel
Each Adobe video and audio application includes several predefined workspaces that optimize the layout of panels for specific tasks. When you choose one of these workspaces, or any custom workspaces you’ve saved, the current workspace is redrawn accordingly.
You can dock panels together, move them into or out of groups, and undock them so they float above the application window. As you drag a panel, drop zones—areas onto which you can move the panel—become highlighted. The drop zone you choose determines where the panel is inserted, and whether it docks or groups with other panels.
Docking zones exist along the edges of a panel, group, or window. Docking a panel places it adjacent to the existing group, resizing all groups to accommodate the new panel.
Dragging panel (A) onto docking zone (B) to dock it (C)
Grouping zones exist in the middle of a panel or group, and along the tab area of panels. Dropping a panel on a grouping zone stacks it with other panels.
Dragging panel (A) onto grouping zone (B) to group it with existing panels (C)
When you undock a panel in a floating window, you can add panels to the window and modify it similarly to the application window. You can use floating windows to use a secondary monitor, or to create workspaces like the workspaces in earlier versions of Adobe applications.
Select the panel you want to undock (if it’s not visible, choose it from the Window menu), and then do one of the following:
Choose Undock Panel or Undock Frame from the panel menu. Undock Frame undocks the panel group.
Hold down Ctrl (Windows®) or Command (Mac OS®), and drag the panel or group from its current location. When you release the mouse button, the panel or group appears in a new floating window.
Drag the panel or group outside the application window. (If the application window is maximized, drag the panel to the Windows taskbar.)
When you position the pointer over dividers between panel groups, resize icons appear. When you drag these icons, all groups that share the divider are resized. For example, suppose your workspace contains three panel groups stacked vertically. If you drag the divider between the bottom two groups, they are resized, but the topmost group doesn’t change.
To quickly maximize a panel beneath the pointer, press the accent key. (Do not press Shift.) Press the accent key again to return the panel to its original size.
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When you close a panel group in the application window, the other groups resize to use the newly available space. When you close a floating window, the panels within it close, too.
- To open a panel, choose it from the Window menu.
- To close a panel or window, press Control-W (Windows)
or Command-W (Mac OS), or click its Close button
. - To see all the panel tabs in a narrow panel group, drag the horizontal scroll bar.
- To bring a panel to the front of a group of panels, do
one of the following:
Click the tab of the panel you want in front.
Hover the cursor above the tab area, and turn the mouse scroll wheel. Scrolling brings each panel to the front, one after another.
Drag tabs horizontally to change their order.
- To reveal panels hidden in a narrow panel group, drag the scroll bar above the panel group.
Drag horizontal scroll bar to see all panels in narrow group
To increase the available screen space, use multiple monitors. When you work with multiple monitors, the application window appears on one monitor, and you place floating windows on the second monitor. Monitor configurations are stored in the workspace.
As you customize a workspace, the application tracks your changes, storing the most recent layout. To store a specific layout more permanently, save a custom workspace. Saved custom workspaces appear in the Workspace menu, where you can return to and reset them.
Note:
(After Effects, Premiere Pro, Encore) If a project saved with a custom workspace is opened on another system, the application looks for a workspace with a matching name. If it can’t find a match (or the monitor configuration doesn’t match), it uses the current local workspace.
You can lower the brightness, as when working in a darkened editing suite or when making color corrections. Changing the brightness affects panels, windows, and dialog boxes but does not affect scroll bars, title bars, and menus that aren’t inside panels. In addition, the change doesn’t affect the application background on Windows.
In Premiere Pro CS6, there is a new workspace called, "2-up". 2-up refers to the large Source Monitor and Program Monitor found at the top of the interface. This arrangement allows you to focus more on the images, and less on the user interface.
In Premiere Pro CS6, the new default editing workspace does not display the Preview Area in the Project panel, as it had in past versions of Premiere Pro. You can view the Preview Area by choosing the panel menu > Preview Area in the Project panel.
You can use the other workspaces, including returning to the standard editing workspace found in Premiere Pro CS5.5 and earlier. To use the standard editing workspace from Premiere Pro CS5.5, and earlier, choose Window > Workspace > Editing (CS5.5).
In the 2-up interface, the Project panel covers up the Media Browser, so it is not apparent that you can drag items from the Media Browser into the Project panel. To drag media from the Media Browser to the Project panel, do the following:
- Select the items you wish to import in the Media Browser.
- Drag the items to the Project tab.
Media is then imported into the Project panel.
You can also import items from the Media Browser by selecting media and then choosing File > Import From Media Browser. You can also choose Import from the context menu.
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