Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe Premiere (formerly Adobe Premiere Pro) is a video editing application developed by Adobe and is distributed as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite. It is primarily used for producing high-quality videos across various industries.

History

Adobe Premiere

In 1991, the first version of Adobe Premiere (original) was developed by Adobe Inc. Premiere was one of the first computer-based non-linear editing systems, with the first version being released on Apple Mac in 1991 and for Microsoft Windows in September 1993. The final version, version 6.5, was released in August 2002 for both Windows and Mac.

The software originated at SuperMac Technology under the name Reel Time, a QuickTime-based video editor developed for the company’s Video Spigot capture card. In August 1991, Adobe Systems acquired the project and rebranded it as Adobe Premiere.

Premiere was the second QuickTime-based video editor on the market. Its ability to import new video formats could be enhanced by updating to a newer, compatible version of QuickTime. However, it could only process videos and images at a maximum width of 1,024 pixels.

On January 20, 2026, along with the version 26.0 launch, Adobe rebranded Adobe Premiere Pro as Adobe Premiere, dropping the "Pro" suffix after 23 years of use. This is the first time that Adobe Premiere has used the name without the suffix since its rebranding in 2003. The application continued to serve as Adobe's primary non-linear video editing system, and is still available to Creative Cloud users.

Features

Adobe Premiere supports high-resolution video editing up to 10,240 × 8,192 pixels and 32-bit color depth in both RGB and YUV color spaces. Key audio features include sample-level editing, support for VST plugins, and 5.1 surround sound mixing. The software is compatible with a wide range of video and audio formats and codecs on both macOS and Windows. Using the Cineform Neo codec, it supports 3D editing.

Workflow integration

Adobe Premiere supports program files from Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe After Effects. Adobe Premiere projects can also be imported into After Effects, and clips copied between the two applications retain most of their attributes.

Projects from Premiere Rush are compatible with Adobe Premiere, allowing for advanced editing features and use of professional-grade tools.

Adobe Story, On Location and Prelude

The Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe Premiere workflow integrates metadata across all stages of video production. Adobe Story provides script integration functionality within the Adobe Premiere workflow, and Adobe OnLocation embeds metadata directly into the footage. Within Adobe Premiere, speech recognition technology analyzes audio and aligns it with the corresponding script dialogue using embedded metadata.

Adobe Premiere family

The Adobe Premiere family is a group of applications and services made by Adobe Inc. for the use of professional non-linear video editing. Supported features in these applications include metadata and ingest logging, media output encoding, and more.

Current applications

• Dynamic Link is a workflow that integrates After Effects with Premiere Pro and Adobe Premiere 26.0 and the discontinued Encore. Files can be transferred between the two without re-rendering.
• Elements Organizer is a digital asset management application that accompanies Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements, providing a central interface for managing photos and video projects.
• Adobe Media Encoder is a rendering tool used to process and export video projects. Users can tailor renders to specific platforms, enhance accessibility for broader audiences, and reduce file size.
• Premiere Elements is a scaled-down version of Premiere Pro tailored to novice editors and consumers. Its entry screen offers clip organization, editing, and auto-movie generation options. Premiere Pro project files are incompatible with those from Premiere Elements. Unlike many of its competitors, Premiere Elements can handle unlimited video and audio tracks, with multiple key-frame effects applied to each clip, as well as picture-in-picture and chroma key capabilities. It is available for Windows and macOS.
• Premiere Pro is a timeline-based video editing software application developed by Adobe Inc. and published as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud licensing program. First launched in 2003, Adobe Premiere Pro is a successor of Adobe Premiere.
• Premiere Rush is a discontinued, simplified, cross-platform video editing software application that integrates with Premiere Pro. First released in 2018, it is published by Adobe alongside Premiere Pro as part of Adobe Creative Cloud, replacing Premiere Clip for editing on mobile devices. As the name implies, Premiere Rush is aimed at short turnaround times in lieu of advanced editing tools. It was removed from Adobe Creative Cloud and app stores on September 30, 2025, and it is being replaced by a simplified version of Adobe Premiere 26.0.

Release history

Adobe Premiere (original)

Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe Premiere

See also

• Adobe Premiere Elements
• After Effects
• Adobe Premiere Express
• Adobe Creative Suite
• Creative Cloud controversy
• List of video editing software
• Comparison of video editing software

External links