Hold down the point where you want the straight path to begin and click where you want the path to end (do not drag).
- Adobe Premiere Pro User Guide
- Beta releases
- Getting started
- Hardware and operating system requirements
- Creating projects
- Workspaces and workflows
- Frame.io
- Import media
- Importing
- Importing from Avid or Final Cut
- File formats
- Working with timecode
- Editing
- Edit video
- Sequences
- Create and change sequences
- Set In and Out points in the Source Monitor
- Add clips to sequences
- Rearrange and move clips
- Find, select, and group clips in a sequence
- Remove clips from a sequence
- Change sequence settings
- Edit from sequences loaded into the Source Monitor
- Simplify sequences
- Rendering and previewing sequences
- Working with markers
- Add markers to clips
- Create markers in Effect Controls panel
- Set default marker colors
- Find, move, and delete markers
- Show or hide markers by color
- View marker comments
- Copy and paste sequence markers
- Sharing markers with After Effects
- Source patching and track targeting
- Scene edit detection
- Cut and trim clips
- Video
- Audio
- Overview of audio in Premiere Pro
- Edit audio clips in the Source Monitor
- Audio Track Mixer
- Adjusting volume levels
- Edit, repair, and improve audio using Essential Sound panel
- Enhance Speech
- Enhance Speech FAQs
- Audio Category Tagging
- Automatically duck audio
- Remix audio
- Monitor clip volume and pan using Audio Clip Mixer
- Audio balancing and panning
- Advanced Audio - Submixes, downmixing, and routing
- Audio effects and transitions
- Working with audio transitions
- Apply effects to audio
- Measure audio using the Loudness Radar effect
- Recording audio mixes
- Editing audio in the timeline
- Audio channel mapping in Premiere Pro
- Use Adobe Stock audio in Premiere Pro
- Overview of audio in Premiere Pro
- Text-Based Editing
- Advanced editing
- Best Practices
- Video Effects and Transitions
- Overview of video effects and transitions
- Effects
- Transitions
- Titles, Graphics, and Captions
- Overview of the Essential Graphics panel
- Graphics and Titles
- Graphics
- Create a shape
- Draw with the Pen tool
- Align and distribute objects
- Change the appearance of text and shapes
- Apply gradients
- Add Responsive Design features to your graphics
- Install and use Motion Graphics templates
- Replace images or videos in Motion Graphics templates
- Use data-driven Motion Graphics templates
- Captions
- Best Practices: Faster graphics workflows
- Retiring the Legacy Titler FAQs
- Upgrade Legacy titles to Source Graphics
- Fonts and emojis
- Animation and Keyframing
- Compositing
- Color Correction and Grading
- Overview: Color workflows in Premiere Pro
- Color Settings
- Auto Color
- Get creative with color using Lumetri looks
- Adjust color using RGB and Hue Saturation Curves
- Correct and match colors between shots
- Using HSL Secondary controls in the Lumetri Color panel
- Create vignettes
- Looks and LUTs
- Lumetri scopes
- Display Color Management
- Timeline tone mapping
- HDR for broadcasters
- Enable DirectX HDR support
- Exporting media
- Collaborative editing
- Collaboration in Premiere Pro
- Get started with collaborative video editing
- Create Team Projects
- Add and manage media in Team Projects
- Invite and manage collaborators
- Share and manage changes with collaborators
- View auto saves and versions of Team Projects
- Manage Team Projects
- Linked Team Projects
- Frequently asked questions
- Long form and Episodic workflows
- Working with other Adobe applications
- Organizing and Managing Assets
- Improving Performance and Troubleshooting
- Set preferences
- Reset and restore preferences
- Recovery Mode
- Working with Proxies
- Check if your system is compatible with Premiere Pro
- Premiere Pro for Apple silicon
- Eliminate flicker
- Interlacing and field order
- Smart rendering
- Control surface support
- Best Practices: Working with native formats
- Knowledge Base
- Known issues
- Fixed issues
- Fix Premiere Pro crash issues
- Unable to migrate settings after updating Premiere Pro
- Green and pink video in Premiere Pro or Premiere Rush
- How do I manage the Media Cache in Premiere Pro?
- Fix errors when rendering or exporting
- Troubleshoot issues related to playback and performance in Premiere Pro
- Extensions and plugins
- Video and audio streaming
- Monitoring Assets and Offline Media
Learn to create graphics using the Pen tool in Premiere Pro.
Just like Adobe Photoshop and After Effects, Premiere Pro has a robust set of drawing tools to enhance your project. With this tool, you can create straight or curved paths, mask objects, or color-correct sections of the frame.
Let’s explore the fundamentals of drawing with precision using the Pen tool.
Terms to remember
Vertex Point
Direction Lines
Bezier Curve
Create straight lines
The simplest path that you can draw with the Pen tool is a straight line with two vertex points.
By continuing to click, create straight-line paths connected by vertex points. You can also use it to create different, unique shapes.
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Continue clicking to set vertex points for additional straight paths.
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To draw angles, you can hold down Shift when:
- Adding points to draw lines at perfect 0°, 45°, and 90° angles.
- Dragging an existing point to move it around at 0°, 45°, and 90° angles.
- Dragging bezier handles to constrain them to 0°, 45°, and 90° angles.
- Shift + Opt/Alt when dragging a bezier handle to break the bezier into two curves while constraining the one you clicked on to 45° increments.
To increase the width of the stroke, select Stroke under Appearance in the Essential Graphics panel and increase the width.
Create curves
A. Two-directional Bezier handles to control the shape of the curve B. Bezier mask points
Create a curved path by dragging direction lines using the Pen tool. The length and direction of the direction lines determine the shape of the curve.
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Select the Pen tool and hold down the point where you want the curve to begin. A vertex appears, and the Pen tool pointer changes to an arrowhead.
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Drag to modify the length and direction of both the direction lines for a vertex and release the mouse button.
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Place the Pen tool where you want the curved path to end, and try one of the following:
- To create a C-shaped curve, drag in the direction opposite from the direction that you dragged the previous direction line, and then release the mouse button.
A. Starting to drag
B. Dragging away from previous direction line, creating a C curve
C. Result after releasing mouse button
- To create an S-shaped curve, drag in the same direction as the previous direction line, and then release the mouse button.
A. Starting to drag
B. Dragging in same direction as previous direction line, creating an S curve
C. Result after releasing mouse button
Create free form shapes for masking
The Pen tool can help in creating curves or other complex shapes for masking with ease. You can also create shapes using the shape tool. Once you've drawn a shape, you can apply effects to the area outside or inside the shape boundaries.
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Click to create a vertex point, and keep clicking to draw more points, until you're happy with the path and shape.
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Press Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) while clicking on a vertex point to change it to a Bezier point, allowing you to adjust line segments on both sides of the point.
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To apply any selected effect to a clip, drag the effect from the Effects panel to the clip in the Timeline panel. Learn more on how to apply effects to clips.
Related resources
TALK TO US
If you have a question about how to draw using the pen tool, reach out to us in our Premiere Pro community. We would love to help.