How to Edit Video in Photoshop

Photoshop can do a surprising amount of real video editing, using the exact same interface and adjustment layers already familiar from editing still photos. This tutorial, the first in a four-part series on video in Photoshop, covers two ways to import footage, how the Timeline and Layers panel work together, cutting and reordering clips, and using keyframes to animate a fade with a color fill layer.

Why Edit Video in Photoshop Instead of a Dedicated Video Editor

Dedicated programs like Adobe Premiere, After Effects, and Final Cut Pro are built specifically for video, but Photoshop offers a real alternative for anyone already comfortable with its photo-editing tools.

1. Recognize When a Dedicated Video Editor Isn’t Practical

   Consider using Photoshop for video when a dedicated video editor isn’t available, or when its interface feels unfamiliar.

2. Use Familiar Photoshop Tools on Video

   Apply already-familiar tools like Curves and Levels adjustment layers to video footage the same way they’d be applied to a still photo, for tasks like color grading, titles, and transitions.

Why Photoshop Video Editing Appeals to Photo Editors

Learning an entirely new video editing program’s interface takes real time, especially for someone who already knows Photoshop well. Editing video inside Photoshop instead means reusing tools like adjustment layers that are already second nature, getting to a polished final result without needing to learn a completely different piece of software first.

Importing Video With Load Files Into Stack

Load Files Into Stack, the same command used for combining still images, brings a whole folder of video clips into one document at once.

3. Open Load Files Into Stack

   Go to File > Scripts > Load Files Into Stack.

4. Browse to and Select the Video Clips

   Choose Use Files, click Browse, and shift-click all the video clips to bring into the project. The original sample clips used throughout this series are in the Download Assets card on this page.

5. Load the Clips as Stacked Layers

   Click Open and then OK to bring every selected clip in as its own layer, stacked one on top of another in the same document.

Building a Linear Video Group From the Loaded Clips

Converting stacked layers into a single video group is what turns them from clips sitting on top of each other into a continuous, linear sequence.

6. Show the Timeline Panel

   Go to Window > Timeline to display the Timeline panel, the main area for editing video in Photoshop.

7. Select All the Loaded Clip Layers

   Shift-click every clip layer in the Layers panel to select them all together.

8. Create a New Video Group From the Clips

   Click the film strip icon with a down arrow and choose New Video Group From Clips, which arranges the clips one after another as a continuous sequence instead of stacked on top of each other.

Importing and Adding Media One Clip at a Time

Opening a single video first and adding more clips as the project develops suits a workflow where every clip isn’t picked out in advance.

9. Open a Single Video File

   Press Cmd/Ctrl+O and open one video clip to start a project with a single-clip video group.

10. Add More Clips With Add Media

    Click the film strip icon and choose Add Media, then select additional video or photo files to add them into the same timeline as needed.

Understanding How the Timeline and Layers Panel Relate

Every clip’s position in the video group’s layer stack directly determines its order of playback in the timeline, and dragging a layer up or down changes that order immediately.

11. Use the Zoom Controls to Navigate the Timeline

    Use the timeline’s zoom controls to zoom in for detail or out for an overview while scrubbing through footage.

12. Reorder Clips by Dragging Layers

    Click and drag a clip’s layer above or below another layer in the Layers panel to change its position in the playback order.

13. Reorder Clips Directly in the Timeline

    Alternatively, click and drag a clip directly within the Timeline panel to reposition it.

Why Layer Order Determines Playback Order

In a still-image document, layer order only affects which layer visually covers another, but a video group’s layers instead represent sequence through time. The layer at the bottom of a video group plays first, and each layer above it plays afterward in order, which is why reordering the layers is the direct way to reorder what plays when.

Trimming and Cutting Clips in the Timeline

Scrubbing to a specific point and clicking the scissors icon splits a clip there, and dragging a clip’s edge trims or extends how much of the original footage remains visible.

14. Scrub to Find the Desired Moment

    Play or scrub through a clip to locate the specific moment that should be kept in the final video.

15. Cut the Footage at That Point

    Click the scissors icon in the timeline to split the footage at the current playhead position.

16. Delete Unwanted Footage

    Select any split-off section of footage that isn’t needed and press Delete to remove it entirely.

17. Drag a Clip’s Edge to Trim or Extend It

    Click and drag either end of a clip in the timeline to shorten or lengthen how much footage is included, watching the live preview while adjusting.

Why Cuts in Photoshop’s Timeline Aren’t Permanent

A clip trimmed down to a short highlight might later need more of its original footage restored, and re-shooting isn’t an option after the fact. Because trimming a clip’s edge in the timeline doesn’t permanently discard the trimmed footage, dragging that same edge back out later restores it, keeping every cut fully reversible.

Using Keyframes to Animate Opacity

Keyframes capture a layer’s exact settings, like opacity, at a specific point in time, and Photoshop automatically animates smoothly between whatever keyframes are set.

18. Expand the Video Layer’s Properties

    Expand a video group layer to reveal its Position, Opacity, and Style properties.

19. Add a Keyframe at 0% Opacity

    At the point where the clip should start invisible, click the stopwatch icon next to Opacity to add a keyframe, then set the opacity to 0%.

20. Add a Second Keyframe at 100% Opacity

    Move the playhead forward to where the clip should be fully visible and click the diamond next to Opacity to add a second keyframe. It starts at 0%, copied from the first one, so select it and raise the opacity to 100%.

21. Preview the Fade

    Press play to confirm the clip fades smoothly from invisible to fully visible between the two keyframes.

Combining a Color Fill Layer With a Keyframed Fade

Placing a solid color adjustment layer beneath a keyframed, fading video clip reveals that color first, giving the fade-in a clean, deliberate background to emerge from.

22. Add a Solid Color Adjustment Layer

    Create a new solid color adjustment layer the same way it would be created on a still photo, choosing a color such as white.

23. Position the Color Layer Below the Video Group

    Drag the color fill layer beneath the video group so it shows through wherever the video is still fading in.

24. Adjust the Keyframe Timing to Fine-Tune the Fade

    Move the opacity keyframes closer together for a quick fade or farther apart for a long, slow one, and trim the clip’s start to remove any extra time before the fade begins.

Why a Color Fill Layer Pairs Well With a Keyframed Fade

A clip that simply fades in from black offers only one possible look, regardless of the project’s actual style. Pairing the fade with a solid color adjustment layer underneath, in whatever color fits the project, gives the same keyframed opacity technique a customizable background to reveal, which also sets up the title sequence work covered later in this series.

Why This Approach Works

Grouping clips into a single video group, rather than leaving them as separate stacked layers, is what turns Photoshop’s Layers panel into a genuine linear timeline. Understanding that layer order directly controls playback order is the key that makes reordering, cutting, and rearranging clips intuitive rather than confusing. Using keyframes to animate opacity over a color fill layer demonstrates how Photoshop’s existing adjustment layer tools extend naturally into time-based video work, the same foundation the rest of this series on color grading, titles, and export builds on. Want to keep going with this series? Check out how to color grade video in Photoshop next.

Final Thoughts

This introduction covers the basics, two ways to import footage, how the timeline and layers interact, cutting and trimming, and keyframed opacity, everything needed to start editing video comfortably in Photoshop. The rest of this four-part series builds directly on these fundamentals, moving into color grading, titles and transitions, and finally exporting a finished video for the web.

Quick Reference: Keys, Menus and Settings

• Load clipsFile > Scripts > Load Files Into Stack > Use Files > Browse
• Show the timelineWindow > Timeline
• Play clips in orderShift-click the clip layers, film strip icon > New Video Group From Clips
• Open and addCmd/Ctrl + O to open one clip, then film strip icon > Add Media
• Play and cutSpace plays; the scissors icon splits at the playhead; Delete removes the piece
• Fade inStopwatch next to Opacity at 0%, then a second keyframe at 100%
• Background colorSolid Color fill layer (white) below the video group