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Applying effects using Adjustment layers

Explore the benefits of using adjustment layers in Premiere Elements. You can apply effects or opacity changes to multiple clips simultaneously.

In Premiere Elements, you can use an adjustment layer to apply the same effect on multiple clips on the Timeline. Effects applied to an adjustment layer affect all layers below it in the layer stacking order.

You can use combinations of effects on a single adjustment layer. You can also use multiple adjustment layers to control more effects.

Create an adjustment layer in Advanced view

You can apply a combination of effects by applying different adjustment layers in Advanced view. To create an adjustment layer in Advanced view, follow these steps:

  1. Select the New Item   icon in the Project Assets panel and click on Adjustment Layer.

  2. Click Effects on action bar.

  3. Click to select an effect. There are various effects available to enhance your video clips. Click on the drop-down list to choose the available effects under various categories.

  4. You can further edit the effect setting from the Effects control panel.

  5. Select the entire Adjustment layer to edit it from the Adjustments panel:

    • Auto: Click Smart Fix to automatically fix your video footage. Smart Fix analyses and fixes your video footage to make it look better.
    • Color/Lighting/Other effects: You can adjust these attributes of the adjustment layer. For example, click on Color to adjust the Lightness, Saturation, and Vibrance. 

    Click More to adjust the sliders to increase or decrease the intensity of a particular effect attribute.

  6. Click on the Effect Controls to view the effects that have been applied. Click on an effect to view the effect's proportions you can edit.

    For example, click on the arrow icon beside Motion or click on Motion to expand the effect. You can move the sliders to adjust the scale, rotation, position, etc.

    Note:

    To remove a particular effect in an adjustment layer. Click Applied Effects and click on the trash icon to remove a particular effect.

Resize an adjustment layer

You can resize the duration of an adjustment layer. To resize an adjustment layer:

  1. Click the adjustment layer in the Advanced View Timeline display area

  2. Drag the anchor point in the center of the screen to reposition the adjustment layer, and then drag the edge of the clip to scale it down.

Using blending modes

You can select how Premiere Elements blends or superimposes a clip on a track in a Timeline with the clip or clips on track

  1. In a Timeline, place a clip on a track higher than a track where another clip is located. Premiere Elements superimposes, or blends, the clip in the higher track over the clip in the lower track.
  2. Select the clip in the higher track and select the Effect Controls panel.
  3. In the Effect Controls panel, click the arrow next to Opacity to view the available options to configure the opacity.
  4. Drag the Opacity value to the left to set the opacity to less than 100%.
  5. Click the arrow in the Blend Mode menu.
  6. Select a blend mode from the list of blend modes.
Blend Mode Adjustment Layer
Blend Mode

Blending mode descriptions

In the following descriptions, these terms are used:

  • The source color is the color of the layer to which the blend mode is applied.

  • The underlying color is the color of the composited layers below the source layer in the Timeline panel.

  • The result color is the output of the blending operation; the color of the composite.

Normal

The result color is the source color. This mode ignores the underlying color. Normal is the default mode.

Dissolve

The result color for each pixel is either the source color or the underlying color. The probability that the result color is the source color depends on the opacity of the source. If opacity of the source is 100%, then the result color is the source color. If opacity of the source is 0%, then the result color is the underlying color.

Multiply

For each color channel, multiplies source color channel value with underlying color channel value and divides by maximum value for 8-bpc, 16-bpc, or 32-bpc pixels, depending on the color depth of the project. The result color is never brighter than the original. If either input color is black, the result color is black. If either input color is white, the result color is the other input color. This blend mode simulates drawing with multiple marking pens on paper or placing multiple gels in front of a light. When blending with a color other than black or white, each layer or paint stroke with this blend mode results in a darker color.

Color Burn

The result color is a darkening of the source color to reflect the underlying layer color by increasing the contrast. Pure white in the original layer does not change the underlying color.

Linear Burn

The result color is a darkening of the source color to reflect the underlying color. Pure white produces no change.

Darker Color

Each result pixel is the color of darker of the source color value and the corresponding underlying color value. Darker Color is similar to Darken, but Darker Color does not operate on individual color channels.

Linear Dodge (Add)

Each result color channel value is the sum of the corresponding color channel values of the source color and underlying color. The result color is never darker than either input color.

Lighten

Each result color channel value is the higher (lighter) of the source color channel value and the corresponding underlying color channel value.

Screen

Multiplies the complements of the channel values, and then takes the complement of the result. The result color is never darker than either input color. Using the Screen mode is similar to projecting multiple photographic slides simultaneously onto a single screen.

Color Dodge

The result color is a lightening of the source color to reflect the underlying layer color by decreasing the contrast. If the source color is pure black, the result color is the underlying color.

Linear Dodge (Add)

The result color is a lightening of the source color to reflect the underlying color by increasing the brightness. If the source color is pure black, the result color is the underlying color.

Lighter Color

Each result pixel is the color of lighter of the source color value and the corresponding underlying color value. Lighter Color is similar to Lighten, but Lighter Color does not operate on individual color channels.

Overlay

Multiplies or screens the input color channel values, depending on whether or not the underlying color is lighter than 50% gray. The result preserves highlights and shadows in the underlying layer.

Soft Light

Darkens or lightens the color channel values of the underlying layer, depending on the source color. The result is similar to shining a diffused spotlight on the underlying layer. For each color channel value, if the source color is lighter than 50% gray, the result color is lighter than the underlying color, as if dodged. If the source color is darker than 50% gray, the result color is darker than the underlying color, as if burned. A layer with pure black or white becomes markedly darker or lighter, but does not become pure black or white.

Hard Light

Multiplies or screens the input color channel value, depending on the original source color. The result is similar to shining a harsh spotlight on the layer. For each color channel value, if the underlying color is lighter than 50% gray, the layer lightens as if it were screened. If the underlying color is darker than 50% gray, the layer darkens as if it were multiplied. This mode is useful for creating the appearance of shadows on a layer.

Linear Light

Burns or dodges the colors by decreasing or increasing the brightness, depending on the underlying color. If the underlying color is lighter than 50% gray, the layer is lightened because the brightness is increased. If the underlying color is darker than 50% gray, the layer is darkened because the brightness is decreased.

Vivid Light

Burns or dodges the colors by increasing or decreasing the contrast, depending on the underlying color. If the underlying color is lighter than 50% gray, the layer is lightened because the contrast is decreased. If the underlying color is darker than 50% gray, the layer is darkened because the contrast is increased.

Pin Light

Replaces the colors, depending on the underlying color. If the underlying color is lighter than 50% gray, pixels darker than the underlying color are replaced, and pixels lighter than the underlying color do not change. If the underlying color is darker than 50% gray, pixels lighter than the underlying color are replaced, and pixels darker than the underlying color do not change.

Hard Mix

Enhances the contrast of the underlying layer that is visible beneath a mask on the source layer. The mask size determines the contrasted area; the inverted source layer determines the center of the contrasted area.

Difference

For each color channel, subtracts the darker of the input values from the lighter. Painting with white inverts the backdrop color; painting with black produces no change.

Subtract

Subtracts the source file from the underlying color. If the source color is black, the result color is the underlying color. Result color values can be less than 0 in 32-bpc projects

Exclusion

Creates a result similar to but lower in contrast than the Difference mode. If the source color is white, the result color is the complement of the underlying color. If the source color is black, the result color is the underlying color.

Divide

Divides underlying color by source color. If the source color is white, the result color is the underlying color. Result color values can be greater than 1.0 in 32-bpc projects.

Saturation

Result color has luminosity and hue of the underlying color, and the saturation of the source color.

Hue

Result color has luminosity and saturation of the underlying color, and the hue of the source color.

Color

Result color has luminosity of the underlying color, and hue and saturation of the source color. This blend mode preserves the gray levels in the underlying color. This blend mode is useful for coloring grayscale images and for tinting color images.

Luminosity

Result color has hue and saturation of the underlying color, and luminosity of the source color. This mode is the opposite of the Color mode.

Note:

If you have two layers with an identical visual element that you want to align, place one layer on top of the other and set the blend mode of the top layer to Difference. Then, you can move one layer or the other until the pixels of the visual element that you want to line up are all black—meaning that the differences between the pixels are zero and therefore the elements are stacked exactly on top of one another.

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