Adobe Premiere (originally released in 1991 and called Adobe Premiere Pro between August 2003 and January 2026) is a video editing application developed by Adobe and distributed as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite. It is used for producing video content across various industries.
History Adobe Premiere and Premiere Pro
The original version of Adobe Premiere was one of the first computer-based non-linear video editing systems. It was released on Apple Mac in 1991 and for Microsoft Windows in September 1993. The final version based on this codebase, 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."SuperMac War Story 10: The Video Spigot" by Steve Blank. May 11, 2009.
Premiere was the second QuickTime-based video editor on the market."VideoSpigot Review" by Jon Pugh, TidBITS. April 20, 1992. 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.
In August 2003, Adobe released a substantial rewrite, and called it Adobe Premiere Pro. Subsequent versions until 2026 were branded as Adobe Premiere Pro.
On January 20, 2026, along with the version 26.0 launch, Adobe rebranded Adobe Premiere Pro back to the prior name 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.
On September 22, 2026, Adobe Premiere became available on Android.
Features Adobe Premiere supports high-resolution video editing up to 10,240 × 8,192 pixels
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 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.
Usage in feature films Adobe Premiere has been used in feature film production and is commonly used among video editors in online spaces. It is especially known for its integration with its companion application Adobe After Effects, which allowed it to become a prominent tool in the video editing space. The software is also widely recognized for its customizability, allowing for personalized organization of its modular panel design, each one serving a different purpose. Notable films edited using the software include:
Film Monsters (2010) Gone Girl (2014) Deadpool (2016) Hail, Caesar! (2016) A Ghost Story (2017) The Florida Project (2017) Only the Brave (2017) Searching (2018) The Old Man & the Gun (2018) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) Mank (2020) The Green Knight (2021) Red Rocket (2021) The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) Devotion (2022) Missing (2023) Somebody I Used to Know (2023) The Killer (2023) Frida (2024) Dìdi (2024) Thelma (2024) The Substance (2024) Anora (2024) Plainclothes (2025) House of Dynamite (2025) Train Dreams (2025) Obsession (2025) Mercy (2026) Union County (2026)
Television Mindhunter (2017-2019) Ramy (2019-2022) Wu-Tang: An American Saga (2019-2023) The Bear (2022-2026) Penelope (2024)
Release history Adobe Premiere (original) + Version Release date Platform Significant changes Adobe Premiere 1.0 December 1991Sullivan, Eamonn (January 27, 1992). "Adobe multimedia tool makes nimble partner for QuickTime". PC Week. Vol. 9 no. 4. p. 34. Mac First release of Premiere QuickTime multimedia and VideoSpigot format support PICT image support Supported up to 160 x 120 pixels movie creation for NTSC and 192 x 144 pixels for PAL Supported 8-bit audio Supported output to videotapeThompson, Tom (June 1992). "Two tools of the QuickTime trade". Byte. Vol. 17 no. 6. p. 336. Adobe Premiere 2.0 September 1992Chadbourne, Teri (September 18, 1992). "Adobe Premiere Version 2.0 Now Available" (Press release). New York via Business Wire. Mac QuickTime video and audio capture support Title creation Title, Sequence, and Construction windows Slow/fast motion support 5 audio and 41 movie/still-image filters 49 special effects 16-bit, 44 kHz audio support Filmstrip file format introduced Numbered PICT sequence support EDL (Edit decision list) support Adobe Illustrator text import SMPTE timecode supportGreen, Doug; Green, Denise (November 16, 1992). "Premiere holds its place as the best multimedia editor". InfoWorld. Vol. 14 no. 46. pp. 142(2). Adobe Premiere 3.0 August 1993Pane, Patricia J. (August 2, 1993). "Adobe Premiere 3.0 for the Macintosh now available" (Press release). New York via Business Wire. Mac 99 stereo audio tracks 97 video tracks Video waveform monitor Sub-pixel motion and field rendering Batch digitizing Full framerate preview from disk Enhanced title window Adobe Premiere 1.0 September 1993Peck, LaVon (September 10, 1993). "Adobe Premiere 1.0 for Windows now available" (Press release). New York via Business Wire. Windows First release of Premiere for Windows 24-bit AVI and QuickTime video format support Autodesk Animator file support AVI, AIFF, and WAV audio format support Still image support (Photoshop, BMP, DIB, PCX, PICT, PCX, and TIFF formats) Two video tracks, three audio tracks, and one transition and superimpose track No EDL, titling, and motion and device control available in the current Mac (v3.0) releaseRosenbaum, Daniel J. (January 1994). "Premiere 1.0 for Windows: digital video production on the PC". Computer Shopper. Vol. 14 no. 1. pp. 869(2).Safi, Quabidur R. (October 11, 1993). "Premiere 1.0 for Windows". PC Week. Vol. 10 no. 40. pp. 92(1).Taft, Darryl K.; Georgianis, Maria V. (August 16, 1993). "Adobe builds presence across multiple platforms". Computer Reseller News. No. 540. pp. 16(1). Adobe Premiere 1.1 February 1994Schaefer, Sonya (February 7, 1994). "Adobe Systems ships Adobe Premiere 1.1 for Windows" (Press release). New York via Business Wire. Windows AdobeCap video capture module Expanded graphics and audio file support TARGA and ADPCM file support Image sequence import supportFischer, Andy (April 1995). "Adobe Premiere version 4.0". Computer Life. Vol. 2 no. 4. pp. 118(1).Brakey, Rob; Jordan, Lawrence (December 1994). "Adobe Premiere 4.0". Macworld. Vol. 11 no. 12. San Francisco. pp. 54(2). Archived from the original on July 15, 2009. Retrieved April 13, 2017.Adobe Premiere 4.0July 1994Mac Support for 97 superimposition tracks plus two A/B tracks Trim window Dynamic previewing Custom filter and transition creation Time variable filters Batch capture Time-lapse capture NTSC 29.97 frame rate supportAdobe Premiere 4.0December 1994Windows Adobe directly moved the Windows platform release of Premiere from v1.1 to v4.0 Matches capabilities of Premiere 4.0 for MacintoshAdobe Premiere 4.2October 1995Mac CD-ROM Movie Maker Plug-in Data rate analysis tool Power Macintosh-native Sound Manager 3.1Adobe Premiere 4.2April 1996Windows 32-bit architecture Long File Names support Background compiling Batch movie maker 4K output support Right-mouse button support Uninstaller utilityAdobe Premiere 4.2 for Silicon GraphicsJuly 1997UNIX/SGI SGI O2 platform exclusive release IRIX 6.3 integration OpenGL accelerated versions of transition and special effects plug-ins Platform-specific plug-ins by Silicon Graphics for combining 3D and video contentAdobe Premiere 5.0May 1998Windows and Mac Source/Program editing Title window editor Keyframeable audio and video filters Collapsible tracks Up to three hour project length supportAdobe Premiere 5.1October 1998Windows and Mac QuickTime 3.0 support DPS (Data Processing System) Perception support Preview to RAM "Smart" Preview file Timeline export Multi-threaded, dual processor supportAdobe Premiere 6.0January 2001Windows and Mac Support for web video and DV formats OHCI (IEEE 1394 (FireWire)) support Title editor Storyboard Audio mixer Timeline video track keyframesAdobe Premiere 6.5August 2002Windows and Mac Real-time preview Adobe Title Designer Exporting to DVD as MPEG-2
Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe Premiere Version Release dateIconPlatform Significant changesPremiere Pro 1.0 (Premiere Pro CS, Adobe Premiere 7.0) August 21, 2003Windows Full rewrite of code Deep nest of timelines New Color Correctors Sample-level audio editing Audio effects on tracks 5.1 Audio VST Audio Initial Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) support Editable keyboard shortcuts Adobe Media Encoder Premiere Pro 1.5 / CS1 April 2004Windows Support for all Standard HD resolutions Support for Panasonic 24p advanced Support for Bezier Keyframes Added four filters: Auto Levels, Auto Color, Auto Contrast, and Shadows and Highlights Added 2 audio filters: DeHummer and DeEsser Added custom presets Added Snap on Sample feature Tighter integration with other Adobe products Premiere Pro 2.0 / CS2 January 17, 2006Windows Added support for HDV, HD, and Flash Video Added Clip Notes, using PDF to review and approve video content