Premiere Elements 4: How to add/edit text ?

[ryan_khoo]

I am trying to use Premiere Elements 4 and I put a still picture into the timeline.

I wanted to add some text onto the picture. So, I did the following:

1) first click to select the still picture

2) then I clcik on the small "T" icon below the monitor panel (I assume "T" stands for Text)

3) I find that after step 2, there is the word "Add Text" in white colour which I cannot delete. I cannot even select the text "Add Text" so that means I cannot delete it.

Thanks for helping

[Chuck Engels]

Have you tried adding a title another way, rather than using the 'T' icon.

Follow the steps in the Rolling Titles tutorial and let us know if you can create a rolling title.
http://muvipix.com/products.php?page=4& ... bcat_id=10

It may be a bug in using the 'T' to create the title. When you add text the program is simply creating a title with a transparent background.
So try adding a title with text and a transparent background some other way, as in the rolling title above.

You can also try clicking on the Titles button and selecting one of the templates, see if you can edit the text there.
Let us know what happens after trying out some of the other methods for creating text titles

[ryan_khoo]

Have you tried adding a title another way, rather than using the 'T' icon.

Follow the steps in the Rolling Titles tutorial and let us know if you can create a rolling title.
http://muvipix.com/products.php?page=4& ... bcat_id=10

I can create a rolling text bcos it is a preset program. My problem is when I want to add text on a still picture (ie jpeg picture)

It may be a bug in using the 'T' to create the title.

Oic, so this "T" is a bug. Thanks for the info.

When you add text the program is simply creating a title with a transparent background.
So try adding a title with text and a transparent background some other way, as in the rolling title above.

Sorry I am a bit slow, I don't quite get what you are trying to teach me. Can you please elaborate how to "add a title with text and a transparent background" ?

You can also try clicking on the Titles button and selecting one of the templates, see if you can edit the text there.
Let us know what happens after trying out some of the other methods for creating text titles

I can edit when I click the Titles button but doing so will only gimme templates and frames. I just want to add text on a still picture.

Thanks a million Chuck for your respond. Cheers

[Chuck Engels]

You will need to work in the Timeline Mode rather than Sceneline Mode to make this easy.

When you click the 'T' Premiere Elements creates a title graphic and adds it to the track above your image.
This is no different than clicking the Title button and modifying a template or using the main menu to create a new one.

While in Timeline mode place the CTI at the beginning of the image you want to add text to, then go to the main menu and select;
Title/New Title/Default Still
You can then change the default text, style, or whatever you want.

Please check out the other free tutorials on titles and Premiere Elements 4, they will help you to make a lot more sense out of the whole process.
http://muvipix.com/products.php?page=3& ... bcat_id=10
Free tutorials are on page 3 and 4, they are for versions 2, 3 and 4 but all are very similar, especially when it comes to the Timeline and titles.

[JohnnyO]

I find that after step 2, there is the word "Add Text" in white colour which I cannot delete. I cannot even select the text "Add Text" so that means I cannot delete it.

You should be able to place the cursor in the title,right before the A in Add, hold the left mouse button, and drag to the end of the "Add Text Text". This will select the text.

Then just enter your new text. You can even select the text and change the font or style.

I use titles extensively using th T at the bottom of the monitor window. I have never had an issue. I don't believe there is a bug. I place titles over photos as well as video

Please see my short article about using titles with animation in PE4. Once you get this worked out, you will have a great time creating titles in PE4.


http://muvipix.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=2016

[ryan_khoo]

Thanks Johnny and Chuck for the input.

Cheers

[Chuck Engels]

Anytime
If you have any other questions just fire away.
I think that after you take a look at the tutorials you will have a good idea of what to do.

[ryan_khoo]

Anytime
If you have any other questions just fire away.
I think that after you take a look at the tutorials you will have a good idea of what to do.

Thanks Chuck.

I am now trying to do a bluescreen effect. But the files I downloaded from denotationfilms have black as the background colour. I tried to use the chroma key effects and change the colour to black (because I wanted to change the black background to transparent background). But instead, the colour of the fire becomes funny while the background remains black.

Any way to solve this problem ?

Thankls

[Chuck Engels]

Are you sure the background is black? Place the clip on a track above something else and see what happens.
The clips with transparent backgrounds all look black if they are the only clip on the timeline, black is the default background color.

We have some explosions in the Products/complimentary section, don't know if the backgrounds are transparent or not.
Dont know if you can key out black, never tried, but I would think you should be able to. Not sure why you would be having problems with it though.

Can you explain your process a little more after you check to be sure the background isn't really transparent

[Steve Grisetti]

Did you use the eyedropper in the Chroma Key effect property to select the background color?

That should make everything that is that color transparent. Then you can adjust the settings to widen or trim the color range.

[ryan_khoo]

Thanks Steve & Chuck,

The chorma key in Adobe Elements is really excellent, so simple & effective when there are experts like you to guide me. (But I am having problem doing the same in Vegas Pro 8 where it only transparent half, ie one side of the video).

But I am now having problem enlarging, zooming and reducing the size of the video. Vegas Pro8 can do this easily and I am now wondering how to do this in Elements 4 ? Any ideas ?

P/S: I also understand now why you said that it is easier to edit in timeline with regards to my earlier questions on editing Text. Earlier on, I cannot select the text because that text was on another track.

[Chuck Engels]

Ryan, you need to open the clip properties, then scaling gets real easy.
Right click on the clip and select 'Properties'
There you will see a Motion property and once opened you will see Position and Scale.

We have lots of tutorials and articles that cover keyframing scale and motion
Or Pan and Zoom as it is sometimes called, or the Ken Burns effect by some people.

[ryan_khoo]

Ryan, you need to open the clip properties, then scaling gets real easy.
Right click on the clip and select 'Properties'
There you will see a Motion property and once opened you will see Position and Scale.

We have lots of tutorials and articles that cover keyframing scale and motion
Or Pan and Zoom as it is sometimes called, or the Ken Burns effect by some people.

Thanks Chuck for your prompt response, really appreciate it. You guys in this forum are really helpful.

Is there a way to preview the files that we gonna import into the project. I ask because whenever I tried to import pictures in, all the files are named like img1, img2, img3 ...or vid1, vid2, vid3 ... Would be great if I can view them (like auto preview in Vegas Pro) prior to importing them.

For yr info, before this, I was doing editing on Moview Maker 6. Now, I am now trying to learn Elements 4 & Vegas Pro. Do you think it is a big step to jump from Elements 4 to Adobe Pro CS3 ?

Thanks again

[RJ Johnston]

Is there a way to preview the files that we gonna import into the project. I ask because whenever I tried to import pictures in, all the files are named like img1, img2, img3 ...or vid1, vid2, vid3 ... Would be great if I can view them (like auto preview in Vegas Pro) prior to importing them.

The File Open dialog boxes where you select the files you want to import are standard Microsoft windows where you can click on the "View" icon and select "Thumbnails."

[ryan_khoo]

Is there a way to preview the files that we gonna import into the project. I ask because whenever I tried to import pictures in, all the files are named like img1, img2, img3 ...or vid1, vid2, vid3 ... Would be great if I can view them (like auto preview in Vegas Pro) prior to importing them.

The File Open dialog boxes where you select the files you want to import are standard Microsoft windows where you can click on the "View" icon and select "Thumbnails."

Thanks RJ, I faced with another problem this time.

(1) I import in a video file, I split and cut them into smaller segmants. Then I need to copy one of the segmant. I tried "copy" and "paste" method, I select the segmant click "copy", then when I click "paste" nothing seemed to happen. What step did I missed out ?

(2) I am using 3 video tracks, how do I view each track individually on the sceneline ? [I mean I just want to view say video track 2 (yes just video track 2) on the scenline]

Thanks very much