Opening a project

You can open only one project at a time. Premiere recognizes Premiere project files created using versions 4.2 or later on Windows or Mac OS. See Using a Premiere project on another platform.

To open an existing Premiere project:

Choose File > Open. Locate and select the file, and then click Open.

Premiere doesn't copy the original source file into the project--it stores only a reference to the source file based on its filename and location at the time you imported it. If you move, rename, or delete a source file after you import it, Premiere will be unable to find it the next time you open the project. In this case, Premiere displays the Locate File dialog box, listing the missing file. You can resolve this situation using the options explained below.

OK (Windows) or Open (Mac OS) Replaces the missing file if you first use this dialog box to locate and select the original file or its replacement, and then click this button.

Offline Replaces the missing file with an offline file, a blank placeholder that preserves all references to the missing file throughout the project until you replace the offline file with the original file.

All Offline Replaces all missing files with offline files, without asking you for confirmation.

Skip Removes all references to the missing file throughout the project. All instances of the clip will disappear from the Project and Timeline windows.

Skip All Removes all references to all missing files throughout the project, without asking you for confirmation. See Skip.

Important: Select Skip or Skip All only when you are certain that you want to rework all the instances where the file is used in the project. If you want to keep the file in the project but can't locate it at the moment, use Offline instead.

Skip Preview Files Skips preview files if they cannot be found by their original path and file name. Preview files that can be found by their original path and file name are loaded automatically.

When you want to replace an offline file after the project is open, you don't have to close the project and then open it again. Instead, use the Replace Files command. For more information, see Using offline files.

Note: Because a clip is only a reference to its source file, do not delete source files while you are using them as clips in a Premiere project. After you deliver the final movie, you can delete source files if you do not plan to edit the project or use the source files again.

Working with Projects > Opening a project