Adjust project settings and presets

Learn to adjust project settings and understand presets in Premiere Elements.

Project settings determine the properties of your video and audio project assets. For example, they determine their format (AVCHD), source (hard disk or Flash memory camcorder), and aspect ratio (standard or widescreen video). Project settings also specify the frame rate, audio sample rate, upper or lower field first, and bit depth for your project.

When you start a new project, Adobe Premiere Elements applies a project preset to it. A project preset is a collection of preconfigured project settings. You can use the default project preset of the television standard for the Adobe Premiere Elements version installed on your computer.

NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) is the television standard for the Americas, the Caribbean, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan region.

PAL (Phase Alternating Line) is the standard format for Europe, Russia, Africa, Middle East, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific, China, and other parts of Asia.

Because you can’t change the project preset after starting a project in Premiere Elements 2024 and previous versions, verify the format of your source footage before selecting a project preset. 

Dynamic sequence preset

When you add a movie clip to the Advanced view timeline, Adobe Premiere Elements automatically changes your project settings in the background to match the clip properties. They include dimension, fps, pixel aspect ratio, and field order.

Select presets and change settings

Adobe Premiere Elements includes default project presets for media from common sources like cameras, DVDs, and mobile phones, among others.

You can select from a list of available presets. However, you cannot create custom presets. The presets for any project can only be selected when creating the project. You cannot change the preset for a project after it has been created.

The Project Presets are listed in the New Project dialog box. To view the list of all presets and their settings, select More and select View All Presets.

Select a project preset

By default, Adobe Premiere Elements uses an AVCHD preset for the television standard you specify when you install the program. Select a new preset to create projects in a different format, television standard, or frame aspect ratio.

Change settings for an existing project

After you create a project, you can only make minor display-related changes to the project settings.

Check your project settings

In Adobe Premiere Elements, project settings define a project's basic configuration, affecting how video and audio are processed and displayed. These settings ensure that your workflow is efficient and that your final output meets the desired specifications. You can change the Project Settings by selecting Edit > Project Settings > General or Scratch Disks. 

General

Video Rendering and Playback

Renderer: Determines how Premiere Pro renders previews and processes effects.

• Mercury Playback Engine GPU Acceleration (CUDA/OpenCL/Metal): Utilizes the GPU for faster rendering and real-time playback. The specific option available depends on your hardware and operating system.
• Mercury Playback Engine Software Only: Uses the CPU for rendering, which is slower but can be necessary if GPU acceleration is not supported or is causing issues.

Scratch Disks

Captured Video: Location where captured video files are stored.

Captured Audio: Location where captured audio files are stored.

Video Previews: Location where video preview files are stored.

Audio Previews: Location where audio preview files are stored.

Project Auto Save: Location for autosave files, providing backup copies of your project.

Media Cache: Location for media cache files, which improves performance by storing frequently accessed media data.

Motion Graphics Template Media: Location for media associated with Motion Graphics templates.