Adobe Premiere Elements and Adobe Premiere Pro are two of the most popular video editing platforms available today. But what exactly sets them apart? This in-depth feature comparison examines pricing, features, performance, and ease-of-use to help you determine which editor is the right fit.
Overview & Key Differences at a Glance
Adobe Premiere Elements is designed as an affordable and user-friendly video editor for hobbyists, students, and home users. It focuses on automated tools and guided edits to simplify the video editing process.
Adobe Premiere Pro offers advanced professional-grade tools used widely across the film and television industry. It has a steeper learning curve but enables precise customization and seamless integration with other Adobe Creative Cloud apps.
| Aspect | Premiere Elements | Premiere Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | One-time fee: $99.99 | Subscription: $20.99/month |
| Best For | Beginners, hobbyists | Professional editors, teams |
| Key Features | Guided edits, automated features | Advanced customization, collaboration |
Now let’s take a deeper look at how Elements and Pro compare across pricing, features, system requirements, and other key factors.
Pricing & Payment Options
Premiere Elements costs a one-time fee of $99.99 for a perpetual license. This allows you to use the software for life without any ongoing payments. Some retailers like Amazon occasionally offer Elements at discounted pricing.
Premiere Pro requires a monthly or annual Creative Cloud subscription starting at $20.99/month. This grants access to Premiere Pro, integrated Adobe apps, and 100GB of cloud storage. Discounted annual contracts are available for longer commitments. Additional Cloud storage can be purchased separately.
Budget-conscious users or those new to editing often prefer Elements’ lower price without recurring charges. Professionals value Premiere Pro’s robust toolset and integration with critical Adobe apps like After Effects and Audition, making the subscription worthwhile.
Key Features: Guided Edits vs Customization
Premiere Elements aims to simplify video editing for novices through guided edits, a series of fun templates to create effects automatically. Examples span overlays, animations, tilt-shift, spotlights, and more. The software walks you through each step so even beginners can stylize videos without technical expertise.
Premiere Pro offers far more advanced and customizable tools catering to seasoned professionals. While the workflow is more complex and challenging to master, editors gain precision control over their projects. Key examples include:
- Flexible Custom Workspaces: Tailor your project view and tool layouts for different tasks and workflows
- 3-Way Color Grading: Professional-grade color correction tools with shadow, midtone, and highlight control
- Lumetri Scopes: Analyze your color and luminance levels with integrated vector scopes
- Essential Graphics: Easily create custom motion graphics, titles, intros, and more
Advanced users need Premiere Pro’s robust toolset to create television, film, and professional video content up to industry standards. The added complexity empowers precision crafting but isn’t necessary for more casual users.
Performance & Speed
Premiere Elements leverages your system’s CPU for the bulk of video rendering and export processes. Having a strong multi-core processor is critical for smooth playback and avoiding crashes.
Premiere Pro taps into GPU acceleration for vastly improved rendering speeds, allowing full-resolution playback on higher resolution footage. Supported graphics cards include:
Tests demonstrate 3-5x faster export times on Premiere Pro over Elements by capitalizing on GPU horsepower. This speed advantage grows substantially when working with 4K, RAW, or HDR content.
On laptops, PCs, or lower-spec systems without a powerful discrete GPU, the difference in real-world render times may be less drastic. But unlocking your GPU’s potential, where available, is hugely beneficial for pro editors under tight deadlines.
Ease of Use: Guided vs Custom Workflows
Premiere Elements uses a straightforward, clutter-free interface tailored for beginner editors. Guided edits, step-by-step tutorials, and automated features help build confidence for users comfortable with basic computer applications but lacking video editing experience.
Premiere Pro has a more complex and customizable interface better suited for intermediate to advanced users. It provides extensive manual control over workflows, tools, and project settings that power users require when crafting professional video productions or films.
The learning curve is undoubtedly steeper for Premiere Pro. Simple tasks often require more steps compared to Elements’ guided experience. Novices can feel overwhelmed by the expansive toolset and myriad ways to tackle projects based on their unique creative or technical needs.
Dedicated users find Premiere Pro’s interface flexibility empowers their creative visions. But less experienced editors should consider building confidence in Elements first before migrating to Pro.
Audio Editing Capabilities
While Premiere Elements covers basic audio editing like soundtrack creation, sound effect application, and volume adjustments, Premiere Pro offers deeper professional tools in the FX workspace for sophisticated audio production and mixing capabilities.
Examples include comprehensive equalization control, reverb effects, de-essing, compression, noise gates and other critical audio tools for broadcast ready sound quality. Teams frequently use Adobe Audition alongside Premiere Pro to handle advanced audio editing, multitrack mixing, ADR, and sound design conveniently within Creative Cloud. Audition integration is not available in Elements.
For home movies or YouTube channels, Elements provides ample audio controls. But professional television, film, or commercial editing requires Premiere Pro and often Audition’s specialized toolset.
Effects & Transitions
Premiere Elements comes with a limited built-in library of transitions and effects for creative enhancements. Toolkit categories include:
- Transitions like Cross Dissolves, Iris Shapes
- Filters providing Color Correction, Tint, Bas Relief
- Elements’ effects satisfy basic enhancement needs but quickly feel repetitive and dull for advanced editing purposes over many projects. Effects are also less customizable than Pro.
Conversely, Premiere Pro touts an expansive, industry-leading toolbox with hundreds of professional-grade transitions, effects, and presets. Video pros rely on these diverse assets across films, broadcasts, and online content. Drag-and-drop simplicity makes graphic creation and stylization efficient. Most effects also offer deep customization controls over aspects like textures, lighting, distortions, and more for dynamic results.
While Elements covers fundamentals, Pro’s effects diversity, quality, and modification capabilities vastly outclass its simplified sibling.
Support & Learning:
Getting started guides and various video tutorials make Elements highly accessible for beginners. Its simple interface means editors can begin creating with minimal hand-holding after the basics.
For stuck users, contextual support links within the app connect to relevant help articles. Adobe also staffs community forums where members share wisdom. Searching discussions often uncovers fixes to common problems.
Premiere Pro has a steep learning curve given its expansive feature set. Adobe offers paid online training courses to help users rapidly gain skills within a structured curriculum. Expert-led video lessons provide each step for core workflows from project setup through export.
Quick how-to searches on YouTube uncover endless free tutorials created by seasoned editors keen to teach others. Adobe also hosts active user forums for crowdsourced wisdom as you hone your craft.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Premiere Elements enough for YouTube videos?
Yes! Elements provides the transitions, effects, and audio polish needed for quality online videos viewed by millions across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram Reels and other platforms.
Can you use plugins and templates in Elements like Premiere Pro?
No. Advanced plug-ins and project templates that enrich workflows in Pro are not supported by Elements’ simplified, enclosed interface.
Which has better color correction tools?
Premiere Pro easily wins with deep primary and secondary color grading control suitable for HDR editing in professional cinema pipelines.
Can Elements utilize GPU acceleration like Premiere Pro?
No, only Premiere Pro currently leverages GPU power for drastically faster rendering and playback during editing.
Does Elements integrate with Photoshop or other Adobe apps?
No. Full integration with After Effects, Audition, Photoshop and the Creative Cloud ecosystem is exclusive to Premiere Pro.
Summary
While Premiere Elements delivers an accessible entry point for novices, its capabilities feel limiting for growth after the basics. Premiere Pro remains the industry-standard for pros, justifying its higher cost long-term for clients requiring quality and customization.
Hopefully this full feature breakdown helps steer your decision between Elements vs Pro! Let me know if you have any other questions.