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How to crop a video in Adobe Premiere Pro

If you’re editing a video in Premiere Pro, you’ll likely need to use the crop tool at some point during the process. We’ve put together this guide to teach you how to do it.

The crop tool allows you to reframe a clip to cut photobombers and distractions out of the background or close in on your subject to turn your viewers’ attention to that section of the shot. You can also crop your videos partway to fit two or more clips into the frame at once.

Keep reading to learn how to use the crop tool in Adobe Premiere Pro.

What you’ll need: 

  • Premiere Pro
  • A Creative Cloud account

The Short Version 

  1. Open your video in Premiere Pro
  2. Select the clip you want to crop
  3. Click Video Effects
  4. Select Transform
  5. Double-click Crop
  6. Open the Effect Controls panel
  7. Click Crop
  8. Drag the corners or edges of the crop handles in to crop the video
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How to crop a video in Adobe Premiere Pro

  1. Step
    1

    Open your video in Premiere Pro

    How to crop a video in Premiere ProThis can be a new or existing project.

  2. Step
    2

    Select the clip you want to crop

    You should do this in the Timeline panel. How to crop a video in Premiere Pro

  3. Step
    3

    Click Video Effects

    You can find this option in the Effects panel. How to crop a video in Premiere Pro

  4. Step
    4

    Select Transform

    How to crop a video in Premiere ProAlternatively, you can simply search for Crop in the search bar.

  5. Step
    5

    Double-click Crop

    How to crop a video in Premiere ProThis will apply the effect to your clip.

  6. Step
    6

    Open the Effect Controls panel

    You can find this on the left side of the screen. How to crop a video in Premiere Pro

  7. Step
    7

    Click Crop

    This will bring up the crop handles on your clip. How to crop a video in Premiere Pro

  8. Step
    8

    Drag the corners or edges of the crop handles in to crop the video

    Hold the shift button to keep the same aspect ratio. You can also edit the numbers in the Effect Controls for a more precise crop. How to crop a video in Premiere Pro

Troubleshooting

How to fit your cropped video to the screen

You can use the crop tool to keep your video in one segment of the frame or click Zoom in the Effect Controls panel to fit the cropped image to the edges of the frame.

How to adjust the aspect ratio of your video

If you’re looking to change the aspect ratio for sharing on social media, you’ll want to use the Auto Reframe tool. Auto Reframe trims the aspect ratio while ensuring your subject remains centered in the frame.

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