Video layers
Last updated
Pixelmator Pro User Guide
Last updated
In Pixelmator Pro, video layers work just like regular image layers. This lets you easily edit videos and create stunning video designs with all the tools you use to edit images. You can mask or crop videos, add effects, change colors, and more. Videos can be inserted into designs from the Photos library or Finder and you can edit them on their own, or create multi-layered compositions with multiple videos, images, shapes, or text.
Video layers have easy-to-use, on-canvas video controls you can use to quickly play or pause videos, select poster frames, mute or unmute audio, or access more advanced video controls.
You can open videos in popular image formats including MP4 and QuickTime Movie, or export videos by customizing settings like compression type (QuickTime Movie format only) frame rate, or size.
When you open a video as a new document or insert it as a layer, you can play, pause, mute the video, or loop its playback using handy on-canvas controls at the bottom of your screen.
💡 Tip: You can also press the Space key to start or stop playing all videos in a document.
To only play the video layers that are selected in the Layers sidebar, force-click the Play button and choose Play Selected or press Option ⌥ + Space on your keyboard.
To show or hide the on-canvas video controls:
Choose View > Video Playback from the View menu at the top of your screen.
Select one of the following:
Automatically show controls: Shows video controls when a video layer is selected.
Always show controls: Show video controls even when you're editing other types of layers.
Always hide controls: Turn off video controls completely.
To trim, scrub, or set a poster frame of a video, click More on the on-canvas controls to open more editing settings.
To trim a video, do any of the following:
Drag the left trimming handle to trim the beginning or the right handle to trim the end of a video.
Enter the video start frame in the field on the left side of the trimming bar, and the end frame on the right side of the trimming bar.
You can press Command on your keyboard while dragging the trimming handle to change the video start or end frame while maintaining the original length of the trimmed video.
To scrub the video, simply drag the pointer over the trimming bar, and to set a poster frame — double-click the trimming bar.
Keep the video controls visible at all times in documents containing video layers, or display them automatically only when a video layer is selected.
To show or hide video controls:
Choose View > Video Playback from the View menu at the top of your screen.
Select one of the following:
Automatically show controls: Shows video controls when a video layer is selected.
Always show controls: Show video controls even when you're editing other types of layers.
Always hide controls: Turn off video controls completely.
In documents featuring two or more video layers, additional video editing options become available, letting you combine videos together. For example, if you'd like one video to start playing after the other, you can delay the start of its playback.
To delay the start of a video:
Select the video layer you'd like to edit
Click More on the on-canvas controls, and expand the Advanced Settings.
Drag the Start Playback At slider to set when the video should start playing or enter a specific time in the dedicated field.
💡 Tip: To play one video right after the other, set the delay time to the exact duration of the video you'd like to play first.
In documents featuring two or more video layers, you can delay video playback to start playing videos one after the other. Once you do that, you can also change the start and end behavior of the videos using advanced video editing options.
To change video start or end behavior:
Select the video layer you'd like to edit.
Click More, then click Advanced Settings, and set the playback delay to the desired time.
In the Start Behavior pop-up menu, choose an option:
Hold Frame: Holds the first frame of the video until the start of the playback.
Hide Video: Keep the video layer hidden until the start of the playback.
In the End Behavior pop-up menu, choose an option:
Hold Frame: Hold the last frame of the video until all videos in a composition stop playing.
Hide Video: Keep the video hidden until all videos in a composition stop playing.
Loop Video: Keeps the video playing in the loop.
Bounce Video: Keeps the video playing back and forth.
