Photoshop CS6: The Missing Manual

Chapter 20. Photoshop and Video

Everybody’s shooting video these days, whether it’s with a video camera, a point-and-shoot camera, or a fancy digital SLR. Photoshop has been able to edit videos since CS3, though only in the more expensive Extended version. In CS6, Adobe moved the video-editing features into the more affordable standard version of Photoshop. This is great news, especially since you already know how to use Photoshop, so you don’t have to learn another program just to edit videos.

While you can create an extensive video project in Photoshop, other tools are much better suited for that, such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple’s Final Cut Pro, Sony’s Vegas Pro, and Avid’s Media Composer. Instead, you’ll want to use Photoshop for creating video projects that contain only a handful of clips, or for cleaning up clips for use in other programs.

Here’s what you can do with video in Photoshop CS6:

• Trim the beginnings and ends of clips.

• Create a sequence of clips, and add transitions between them.

• Use the program’s tools to clean up unwanted objects or blemishes, frame by frame.

• Adjust a clip’s colors, brightness, and sharpness.

• Use the program’s filters to give a clip an entirely new look.

• Add text, photos, and other graphics (like logos).

• Add and control audio tracks.

• Create menu screens for DVD and Blu-ray discs.

• Export the result as a ready-to-use video file, or in a format suitable for further editing in an advanced video-editing program.

Everything you know about working with images in ...