Adobe Premiere Tools Panel (Toolbox)

The toolbox contains common tools used for editing clips in the timeline. Click on any of the buttons (or use the keyboard shortcuts) to select each tool. The default tool is the selection tool.

When you select a tool the mouse pointer will usually change to a new icon to represent the tool when held over the timeline panel. In some cases you can change the behaviour of a tool by holding down a modifier key such as the Shift key.

The tools are described below with links to more information.

Button

KeyboardShortcut

Description

V Selection toolThe default tool, used to select clips in the timeline.

M Track Select toolSelect all clips on a track from a given point, or select multiple tracks.

B Ripple Edit toolAdjust an edit point and move other clips in the timeline to compensate.

N Rolling Edit toolAdjust an edit point between two clips without affecting the rest of the timeline.

X Rate Stretch toolChange the duration of a clip while simultaneously changing the speed to compensate.

C Razor toolCut a clip (or multiple clips) into two clips.

Y Slip toolMove a clip's in and out points by the same amount simultaneously, so the rest of the timeline is not affected.

U Slide toolMove a clip back and forth in the timeline, while simultaneously adjusting adjacent clips to compensate.

P Pen toolCreate control (anchor) points.

H Hand toolDrag the timeline view left and right.

Z Zoom tool

Selection tool (arrow) - commonly used to select, drag, trim objects (use Shift-click to select several).

Track select tool - to select the whole track at once Ripple edit tool - applied on the edge between two clips. Changes the duration of the

clip on the left of the edge. Shortening a clip by ripple editing shifts all clips after the cut back in time; conversely, extending a clip shifts the clips that follow the cut forward in time. When you're making a ripple edit, empty space on one side of the cut is treated as a clip and shifts in time just as a clip would be. Pressing Alt when you begin to perform a ripple edit ignores the link between video and audio.

Rolling edit tool - applied on the edge between two clips. Moves the edit point between clips (extending one at the expense of another). If you move right 15 frames - then it increases the duration of the left clip by 15 frames - and cuts 15 frames more from the right clip. preserving other clips' positions in time and maintaining the total duration of the sequence. Press Alt to make a split edit (to do Video separately from audio - also known as an L-cut or J-cut).

Rate stretch tool - to extend your clip (soo it plays "slow motion") - or do the opposite.

Razor tool - to cut the clip in timeline (both video and audio) into two separate clips Slide tool - to shift a clip in time while trimming adjacent clips to compensate for the

move. As you drag a clip left or right with the slide tool, the Out point of the preceding clip and the In point of the following clip are trimmed by the number of frames you move the clip. The clip's In and Out points (and hence, its duration) remain unchanged.

Slip tool - to shift a clip's In and Out points forward or backward by the same number of frames in a single action. By dragging with the slip tool, you can change a clip's starting and ending frames without changing its duration or affecting adjacent clips.

Pen tool - use to adjust volume, transparency, etc. right in the timeline. Hand tool - to move the whole timeline in the window left/right Zoom tool - to zoom. I usually simply put the time cursor where I want to expand

(zoom in) - and then press "+/=" key on the keyboard. Or press "-" to zoom out.