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Change the appearance of text and shapes

  1. Adobe Premiere Elements User Guide
  2. Introduction to Adobe Premiere Elements
    1. What's new in Premiere Elements
    2. System requirements | Adobe Premiere Elements
    3. Workspace basics
    4. Guided mode
    5. Use pan and zoom to create video-like effect
    6. GPU accelerated rendering
  3. Workspace and workflow
    1. Get to know the Home screen
    2. View and share auto-created collages, slideshows, and more
    3. Workspace basics
    4. Source Monitor and Program Monitor
    5. Preferences
    6. Tools
    7. Keyboard shortcuts
    8. Audio View
    9. Undoing changes
    10. Customizing shortcuts
    11. Working with scratch disks
  4. Working with projects
    1. Creating a project
    2. Adjust project settings and presets
    3. Save and back up projects
    4. Previewing movies
    5. Creating video collage
    6. Creating Highlight Reel
    7. Create a video story
    8. Creating Instant Movies
    9. Viewing clip properties
    10. Viewing a project's files
    11. Archiving projects
    12. GPU accelerated rendering
  5. Importing and adding media
    1. Add media
    2. Guidelines for adding files
    3. Set duration for imported still images
    4. 5.1 audio import
    5. Working with offline files
    6. Sharing files between Adobe Premiere Elements and Adobe Photoshop Elements
    7. Creating specialty clips
    8. Work with aspect ratios and field options
  6. Arranging clips
    1. Arrange clips in the Expert view timeline
    2. Group, link, and disable clips
    3. Arranging clips in the Quick view timeline
    4. Working with clip and timeline markers
    5. Sequence settings
  7. Editing clips
    1. Reduce noise
    2. Select object
    3. Candid Moments
    4. Color Match
    5. Smart Trim
    6. Change clip speed and duration
    7. Split clips
    8. Freeze and hold frames
    9. Adjusting Brightness, Contrast, and Color - Guided Edit
    10. Stabilize video footage with Shake Stabilizer
    11. Replace footage
    12. Working with source clips
    13. Trimming Unwanted Frames - Guided Edit
    14. Trim clips
    15. Editing frames with Auto Smart Tone
    16. Artistic effects
  8. Color Correction and Grading
    1. Color Correction and Grading (LUTs)
    2. Color Correction Panel
    3. Color Correction Settings
  9. Applying transitions
    1. Applying transitions to clips
    2. Transition basics
    3. Adjusting transitions
    4. Adding Transitions between video clips - Guided Edit
    5. Create special transitions
    6. Create a Luma Fade Transition effect - Guided Edit
  10. Special effects basics
    1. Effects reference
    2. Applying and removing effects
    3. Create a black and white video with a color pop - Guided Edit
    4. Time remapping - Guided edit
    5. Effects basics
    6. Working with effect presets
    7. Finding and organizing effects
    8. Editing frames with Auto Smart Tone
    9. Fill Frame - Guided edit
    10. Create a time-lapse - Guided edit
    11. Best practices to create a time-lapse video
  11. Applying special effects
    1. Use pan and zoom to create video-like effect
    2. Transparency and superimposing
    3. Reposition, scale, or rotate clips with the Motion effect
    4. Apply an Effects Mask to your video
    5. Adjust temperature and tint
    6. Create a Glass Pane effect - Guided Edit
    7. Create a picture-in-picture overlay
    8. Applying effects using Adjustment layers
    9. Adding Title to your movie
    10. Removing haze
    11. Creating a Picture in Picture - Guided Edit
    12. Create a Vignetting effect
    13. Add a Split Tone Effect
    14. Add FilmLooks effects
    15. Add an HSL Tuner effect
    16. Fill Frame - Guided edit
    17. Create a time-lapse - Guided edit
    18. Animated Sky - Guided edit
    19. Select object
    20. Animated Mattes - Guided Edit
    21. Double exposure- Guided Edit
  12. Special audio effects
    1. Mix audio and adjust volume with Adobe Premiere Elements
    2. Audio effects
    3. Adding sound effects to a video
    4. Adding music to video clips
    5. Create narrations
    6. Using soundtracks
    7. Music Remix
    8. Adding Narration to your movie - Guided Edit
    9. Adding Scores to your movie - Guided edit
  13. Movie titles
    1. Creating titles
    2. Adding shapes and images to titles
    3. Adding color and shadows to titles
    4. Apply Gradients
    5. Create Titles and MOGRTs
    6. Add responsive design
    7. Editing and formatting text
    8. Align and transform objects
    9. Motion Titles
    10. Appearance of text and shapes
    11. Exporting and importing titles
    12. Arranging objects in titles
    13. Designing titles for TV
    14. Applying styles to text and graphics
    15. Adding a video in the title
  14. Disc menus
    1. Creating disc menus
    2. Working with menu markers
    3. Types of discs and menu options
    4. Previewing menus
  15. Sharing and exporting your movies
    1. Export and share your videos
    2. Export settings
    3. Sharing for PC playback
    4. Compression and data-rate basics
    5. Common settings for sharing

The Titles and Shapes panel in Premiere Elements has a powerful workflow that allows you to change the appearance of text and shapes using fills, strokes, backgrounds, shadows, and masks.

Add fill

You can fill your text or shape with any desired color.

  1. Use the Rectangle, Ellipse, and Polygon options to create shapes.
  2. In the Edit tab of the Titles and Shapes panel, select Fill under Appearance.

  3. Choose the color from the Color Picker panel.

  4. Select OK.

Edit the appearance of your title or graphic
Edit the appearance of your title or graphic

You can also choose to

  • Specify the HSB, RGB, or hexadecimal values if you know the exact color values.
  • Adjust the color using the color field and slider. The numeric HSBA, RGB, and hexadecimal values are adjusted accordingly.
  • Use the Eyedropper tool to select a color from the screen.
  • Select Linear Gradient or Radial Gradient from the top of the Color Picker panel and apply gradient fills to the object. Learn more about how to apply gradients.

Add strokes

You can add Outer, Inner, or Center strokes to text and shapes in the Titles and Shapes 
panel, or can add multiple strokes to build a unique look.

  1. Select a layer in the Titles and Shapes panel.

  2. Set the color. Then choose if you want to use an Outer, Inner, or Center stroke.

    Outer Stroke

    An Outer stroke begins at the shape's edge and goes outward as the width is increased. The stroke is drawn behind the fill.

    Inner Stroke

    The Inner stroke starts at the shape's edge and goes inward as its width is expanded. It draws the stroke over the fill.

    Center Stroke

    With Center stroke, the stroke is over the fill for shapes, but under the fill for text.

  3. Select the + icon in the Appearance section if you want to create multiple strokes. Then, set the color and width properties of each stroke.

    Creating cool titles using multiple strokes
    Creating titles using multiple strokes

Add shadows

You can add shadows to text or a shape, or add multiple shadows to create numerous interesting effects. For example, create a second, narrower shadow on top of a wide shadow to give the text or shape more depth.
 

  1. Select your text or shape layer in the Titles and Shapes panel.

  2. Select the Shadow checkbox.

  3. Adjust the opacity, angle, distance, size, and blur of the shadow.

  4. Select your shadow type from the Color Picker panel. You can choose Solid, Linear, Gradient, or Radial Gradient.

  5. Add multiple shadows by clicking the + icon in the Appearance section.

    Add shadows
    Add shadows

Note:

Shadows are a per-layer setting. It's not possible to add a shadow to individual characters of a text layer.

Add text backgrounds

Add a background to any text to enhance your design. You can add rounded edges to the background of your text or change the fill color, opacity, and size. Your preferences can also be saved for future edits.

  1. Select a text layer in the Titles and Shapes panel.

  2. Select the Background checkbox in the Appearance section.

  3. Change the fill color, Opacity, Size, and Corner Radius as needed.

    Add text background
    Add text background

Create a background with rounded corners

  1. Select a text layer in the Titles and Shapes panel.

  2. Select the Background checkbox in the Appearance section.

  3. Use the Corner Radius slider or hot text to round the corners as needed.

Note:

The slider has a corner radius range of 0-100. The hot text ranges from 0-500 for fully rounded ends on large text layers.

Create mask layers

Use masks to create dynamic transitions, reveals, and wipe animations in Premiere Elements titles by converting text and shapes to mask layers. Masks hide portions of a layer and reveal other portions of the layers below the graphic in the Titles and Shapes panel layer stack.

  1. Select a text or graphics layer in the Edit tab of the Titles and Shapes panel.

  2. Select the Mask with Text or Mask with Shape checkbox in the Appearance section of the Titles and Shapes panel. 

    Premiere Elements creates a mask of that layer and transparently renders everything outside the layer, revealing the layers below it. 

    If you have created layer groups, when you select a layer to mask, the mask is applied only to the other layers in that group. It does not extend to layers outside the group.

    Mask with Text
    Mask with Text

    Mask with Shape
    Mask with Shape

    Example of the type of effect you can create using masked layers
    Example of the type of effect you can create using masked layers

  3. If you would like to ensure that any strokes or shadows in the layer are excluded from the mask, select Mask Only Fill.

  4. If you want everything outside the layer to be visible and everything inside the layer to be transparent, select Invert.

Masking Tutorial: Create reveal animations using masking techniques

Use the example below to learn how to create cool reveal animations using a shape layer and a text layer. 

  1. Create a shape layer and a text layer.

  2. To convert the shape layer to a mask, select the shape and click Mask with Shape

    Mask text with shape
    Mask text with shape

  3. In the Effect Controls panel, animate the position of the text. 

  4. To position the text outside the masking shape layer for frame 0, click the Keyframe tool  in the Effect Controls panel.

  5. Move the playhead in the Effect Controls panel to the right and change the Position value of the text until it is revealed in the shape mask. 

  6. Move the playhead back to frame 0 and press Play. Check and tweak the animation if necessary.


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