Spice up your Social Media Inserts: Blurring, Resizing and Rounding Edges

Step 1: Screencap the social media post you want to include.

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Step 2: Round edges in Photoshop.

Step 2.1: Open up your screencap photo.

Step 2.2: Select the Rounded Rectangle Tool and choose Path.

Step 2.3: Drag the selection across edges of photo.

Step 2.4: Select “Mask” on the top right corner. Notice how the area beyond the selection becomes checkered (transparent) and a new vector mask appears for Layer 0.

Step 2.5: Export to PNG file.

*Make sure Format is PNG and the Transparency box is checked.

Step 2.6: Export All to your project folder.

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Step 3: Create New Project in Premiere Pro.

*Make sure the location of your project folder is where you want it to be, and that the locations of the scratch disks are the same as your project (Same as Project)!

Step 3.1: Import media.

Way #1: File > Import

Way #2: Go to your Project panel (Project: “your project name”) , right click and hit “Import”

Way #3: Go to Project Panel, double click within the panel.

Step 3.2: Import your screencapped photo and an image you would like to use as a background image. I chose the image in the tweet and downloaded it from Google.

Step 4: Drag your background image to the timeline.

Step 4.1: Go to the effects panel.

Step 4.2: Under “Video Effects” > “Blur and Sharpen” > Choose “Gaussian Blur”

Step 4.3: Drag the effect to your background image on the timeline.

Step 4.4: Under effect controls, notice that Gaussian Blur appears (only when your blue timeline cursor is on the clip of your background image).

Step 4.5: Adjust blurriness by hovering over the blue number and moving your mouse to the right and left. You could also double click the blue number and type in your desired value.

Step 4.6 (Optional): If you want the photo to slowly blur through time, put your blue time cursor to the place you want it to start blurring. For me it’s the beginning of the clip. Press the stopwatch icon next to Blurriness. It would automatically create a keyframe for you.

Step 4.7 (Optional): Then drag the blue time cursor or let the clip play to the end point of your blurring. Adjust the level of blurriness you want at the endpoint (step 3.7). By creating a new value of blurriness Premiere automatically helps you create a keyframe! (so you don’t have to do it on your own)

now let us see what that looks like!

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Step 5: Inserting the screencap photo.

Step 5.1: Go to “Project: (your project name)” at the bottom left corner (usually) and drag your screencap photo to the timeline ABOVE your background image.

Step 5.2: Since it’s too large. We have to resize it. Make sure the clip you selected is your screencap and not the background image, (selection makes the clip on timeline highlighted/white) and go to “effect controls” > “Scale” and resize it by pressing the number, moving it to the right or left. Or type in a specific value.

Step 5.3: Another way to resize it is to double click on the screencap image in the Program Window, blue borders would pop up around it, and you can resize using the anchor points around it.

SUCCESS! 🙂 this is our final product: