Video Editing Tools Guide

Article 2 min
Review the time saving editing tools for Adobe Premiere Pro using this quick reference guide.

Adobe Premiere Pro editing tools help you edit clips within the timeline. Learning the ins and outs of these editing tools can help make video editing faster and more efficient, which makes communication with your audience more timely.

Use the following chart to help you learn and apply keyboard shortcuts to the video editing tools.

Table of video editing tool names, icons and use available in Adobe Premier Pro
Tool Name (Shortcut) Icon Use
Selection (V) icon of selection tool in Adobe Premiere Pro
  • Select clips in a timeline.
  • Select multiple individual clips by holding [Shift] while clicking each clip.
  • Click and drag a rectangle around all desired clips to select multiple adjacent clips
Trim (V) icon of trim tool in Adobe Premiere Pro
  • Activate Trim tool by placing selection tool pointer at the beginning or end of a clip.
  • Click and hold the left mouse button while dragging left or right to trim a clip.
  • Hold [Alt] while using the TRIM tool to unlink video and audio tracks of a clip temporarily. This enables the editor to trim only the video or only the audio of a clip as desired. Tracks relink after releasing [Alt].
Track Select (A) icon of track tool in Adobe Premiere Pro Select all clips on track from a given point on a particular track in the timeline.
Track Select Backward (Shift + A) icon of track select backwards tool in Adobe Premiere Pro Same as the Track Select tool, but selections occur in the opposite direction.
Ripple Edit (B) icon of ripple edit tool in Adobe Premiere Pro Adjust an edit point while moving other clips in the timeline to compensate.
Rolling Edit (N) icon of rolling edit tool in Adobe Premiere Pro Adjust an edit point between two clips while retaining the overall length of the project.
Rate Stretch (R) icon of rate stretch tool in Adobe Premiere Pro Stretch or compress the duration of a clip while simultaneously changing the speed to compensate.
Razor (C) icon of razor tool in Adobe Premiere Pro Cut a clip into two or more clips.
Slip (Y) icon of slip tool in Adobe Premiere Pro Move a clip’s in and out points by the same amount simultaneously, so the rest of the timeline is not affected.
Slide (U) icon of slide tool in Adobe Premiere Pro Move a clip back and forth in the timeline, keeping the in and out points the same, while simultaneously adjusting adjacent clips to compensate.
Pen (P) icon of pen tool in Adobe Premiere Pro Create control (anchor) points.
Hand (H) icon of hand tool in Adobe Premiere Pro Drag the timeline view left or right.
Type (T) icon of type tool in Adobe Premiere Pro Use to create text and essential graphics in the program monitor for inclusion in timeline.

Adobe product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Adobe Inc.

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