Adobe Premiere Elements 2021 review

Adobe Premiere Elements 2021 turns rambling raw footage into slick videos with its hand-holding non-linear editing app

Adobe Premiere Elements 2021
(Image: © George Cairns/Digital Camera World)

Digital Camera World Verdict

Adobe Premiere Elements 2021 provides all the video organizing, fixing and editing tools that the average film-maker will require, plus it gives you in-app guidance on how to develop a wider range post-production editing skills. Thanks to the Elements Organizer, Premiere Elements 2021 works in tandem with Photoshop Elements 2021 so that you can organize your clips and stills from under one roof.

Pros

  • +

    Provides guided edits

  • +

    Combines multiple effect layers

  • +

    Allows selective adjustments

  • +

    Integrates with the Elements Organizer

Cons

  • -

    Hit and miss auto tracking

  • -

    Glitchy import bin

  • -

    Sluggish response when dragging effects

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As a cut-down version of Adobe’s Premiere Pro, Adobe Premiere Elements 2021 is an entry-level non-linear editing app that’s designed to help video-makers trim, fix and share their video footage as polished programs, complete with titles and transitions. 

We throw the term non-linear around assuming everyone is familiar with it, so a quick history lesson is in order to explain the jargon.  In the early analogue days of video editing you required a video tape player and a recorder to edit footage into a tightly edited program. Due to the linear nature of the tape-to-tape workflow you had to start editing from scratch if you needed to change running order of the shots. 

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George Cairns

George has been freelancing as a photo fixing and creative tutorial writer since 2002, working for award winning titles such as Digital Camera, PhotoPlus, N-Photo and Practical Photoshop. He's expert in communicating the ins and outs of Photoshop and Lightroom, as well as producing video production tutorials on Final Cut Pro and iMovie for magazines such as iCreate and Mac Format. He also produces regular and exclusive Photoshop CC tutorials for his YouTube channel.