Photoshop Elements 8 for Windows: The Missing Manual

Capturing Video Frames

Elements lets you snag a single frame from a video and use it the way you would any still photo. This feature works only on movies that are already on your computer (rather than one that's streaming to your PC from the Web).

Elements can read many popular video file formats, including .avi, .wmv, and .mpeg. But you do need to have a program on your computer (besides Elements) that's capable of viewing the video file to use this feature of Elements.

Note

Elements' video-capture tool isn't really designed for use with long movies. You'll get the best results with clips that aren't more than a minute or two long.

To import a video frame, in the Editor, go to File → Import → Frame From Video, and then in the Frame From Video dialog box:

1. Find the video that contains the frame you want to copy.

   Click the Browse button and navigate to the movie you want. After you choose the movie, the first frame appears in the dialog box's preview window.

2. Navigate to the frame you want.

   Either click the Play button (the single triangle), or use the slider below the window to move through the movie until you see what you want.

3. Copy the frame you want by clicking the Grab Frame button.

   You can capture as many frames as you want. Each frame shows up in the Elements Editor as a separate file.

4. When you have everything you need, click Done.

While grabbing video frames is fun, it does have certain limitations. Most important, your video appears at a fairly low resolution, so don't expect to get a ...