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Draw with the Pen tool in Premiere Pro

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    2. Essential Graphics panel (24.x and earlier) 
      1. Overview of the Essential Graphics panel
      2. Create a title
      3. Linked and Track Styles
      4. Working with style browser
      5. Create a shape
      6. Draw with the Pen tool
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Learn to create graphics using the Pen tool in Premiere Pro.

Just like Adobe Photoshop and After Effects, Premiere Pro has a robust set of drawing tools to enhance your project. With this tool, you can create straight or curved paths, mask objects, or color-correct sections of the frame.

Let’s explore the fundamentals of drawing with precision using the Pen tool.

Terms to remember

Vertex Point

Direction Lines

Bezier Curve 

Create straight lines

The simplest path that you can draw with the Pen tool is a straight line with two vertex points.

By continuing to click, create straight-line paths connected by vertex points. You can also use it to create different, unique shapes.

Use the Pen tool to create a star with straight-line paths connected to each other
Use the Pen tool to create a star with straight-line paths connected to each other

  1. Hold down the point where you want the straight path to begin and click where you want the path to end (do not drag).

  2. Continue clicking to set vertex points for additional straight paths.

  3. To draw angles, you can hold down Shift when:

    • Adding points to draw lines at perfect 0°, 45°, and 90° angles.
    • Dragging an existing point to move it around at 0°, 45°, and 90° angles.
    • Dragging bezier handles to constrain them to 0°, 45°, and 90° angles.
    • Shift + Opt/Alt when dragging a bezier handle to break the bezier into two curves while constraining the one you clicked on to 45° increments.
Note:

To increase the width of the stroke, select Stroke under Appearance in the Essential Graphics panel and increase the width.

Create curves

bezier lines

A. Two-directional Bezier handles to control the shape of the curve  B. Bezier mask points  

Create a curved path by dragging direction lines using the Pen tool. The length and direction of the direction lines determine the shape of the curve.

  1. Select the Pen tool and hold down the point where you want the curve to begin. A vertex appears, and the Pen tool pointer changes to an arrowhead.

  2. Drag to modify the length and direction of both the direction lines for a vertex and release the mouse button.

  3. Place the Pen tool where you want the curved path to end, and try one of the following:

  • To create a C-shaped curve, drag in the direction opposite from the direction that you dragged the previous direction line, and then release the mouse button.

A. Starting to drag
B. Dragging away from previous direction line, creating a C curve
C. Result after releasing mouse button

Drawing the second vertex in a curved path
Drawing the second vertex in a curved path

  • To create an S-shaped curve, drag in the same direction as the previous direction line, and then release the mouse button.

A. Starting to drag
B. Dragging in same direction as previous direction line, creating an S curve
C. Result after releasing mouse button

Drawing an S curve
Drawing an S curve

Create free form shapes for masking

The Pen tool can help in creating curves or other complex shapes for masking with ease. You can also create shapes using the shape tool. Once you've drawn a shape, you can apply effects to the area outside or inside the shape boundaries.

  1. Click to create a vertex point, and keep clicking to draw more points, until you're happy with the path and shape.

  2. Press Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) while clicking on a vertex point to change it to a Bezier point, allowing you to adjust line segments on both sides of the point.

  3. To apply any selected effect to a clip, drag the effect from the Effects panel to the clip in the Timeline panel. Learn more on how to apply effects to clips.

Related resources

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If you have a question about how to draw using the pen tool, reach out to us in our Premiere Pro community. We would love to help.

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