You can import individual still images into Adobe Premiere Pro or import a numbered sequence of still images as a sequence. You can import still images from Adobe applications such as Photoshop and Illustrator, or you can import Adobe Stock Photos from Adobe Bridge. For information about the still-image formats that Adobe Premiere Pro imports, see File formats supported for import.

Before you import a still image into Adobe Premiere Pro, prepare it as completely as possible to reduce rendering time. It’s usually easier and faster to prepare a file in its original application. Consider doing the following:

• Make sure that the file format is supported by the operating system you plan to use.

• Set the pixel dimensions to the resolution you will use in Adobe Premiere Pro. If you plan to scale the image over time, set image dimensions that provide enough detail at the largest size the image has in the project.

• For best results, create files with a frame size at least as large as the frame size of the project so that you don’t have to scale up the image in Adobe Premiere Pro. Scaling an image larger than its original size can cause loss of sharpness. If you plan to scale up an image, prepare it at a larger frame size than the project’s. For example, if you plan to scale up an image 200%, prepare the image at double the project frame size before you import it.

• Crop the parts of the image that you don’t want to be visible in Adobe Premiere Pro.

• If you want to designate areas as transparent, create an alpha channel or use the transparency tools in applications such as Photoshop or Illustrator.

• If final output will be shown on standard television screens, avoid using thin horizontal lines (such as 1-pixel lines) for images or text. These may flicker as a result of interlacing. If you must use thin lines, add a slight blur so that the lines appear in both video fields. See About interlaced and noninterlaced video.

• Save the file using the correct naming convention. For example, if you plan to import the file into Adobe Premiere Pro on Windows, use a three-character filename extension.

• When you prepare still images in applications that support color management, such as Photoshop, colors may appear more consistent between the application and Adobe Premiere Pro if you prepare images in a video‑friendly color space, such as sRGB or NTSC RGB.

You can import files from Adobe Photoshop 3.0 or later. Adobe Premiere Pro supports 16‑bit per channel as well as 8‑bit per channel Photoshop files. You can control how layered Photoshop files are imported. Empty (transparent) areas of nonflattened Photoshop files are transparent when imported into Adobe Premiere Pro, because the transparency is stored as an alpha channel. This lets you import Photoshop graphics and superimpose them over clips in other tracks with no extra effort.

You can import an Adobe Illustrator still‑image file directly into an Adobe Premiere Pro project. Adobe Premiere Pro converts path‑based Illustrator art into the pixel‑based image format used by Adobe Premiere Pro, a process known as rasterization. Adobe Premiere Pro automatically anti‑aliases, or smooths, edges of the Illustrator art. Adobe Premiere Pro also converts all empty areas into an alpha channel, so that empty areas become transparent.

If you want to define the dimensions of the Illustrator art when it is rasterized, use Illustrator to set crop marks in the Illustrator file. For information about setting crop marks, see Illustrator Help.

When you import a layered file saved in Photoshop or Illustrator file formats, you can choose how to import the layers in the Import Layered File dialog box:

• Merge the layers, combining all layers into a flattened clip.

• Import only one of the layers from the file.

• Convert the layers into a sequence of frames.

  Adobe Premiere Pro imports attributes that were applied in the original file, including position, opacity, visibility, transparency (alpha channel), layer masks, adjustment layers, common layer effects, layer clipping paths, vector masks, and clipping groups. A white background in Photoshop exports as opaque white, whereas a checkerboard background indicates areas that translate into alpha channel transparency when the Photoshop file is exported to a format that supports alpha channels.

  Converting layers into a sequence makes it easy to set up graphics using layers in Photoshop or Illustrator. When Adobe Premiere Pro converts layers to a sequence, the sequence is imported into the Project panel as a bin; each layer in the file becomes an individual clip in the bin. Each clip’s name consists of the layer name followed by the name of the file that contained it. In addition, Adobe Premiere Pro automatically creates a sequence in which each layer is inserted in order at the default still‑image duration. You can use this sequence as a clip in other sequences.

  Note: Some Photoshop layer attributes aren’t supported, such as special blending modes and the Knockout option. For best results, use basic transparency and opacity in Photoshop.