Adding lots of images at once to a timeline in Premiere Pro

How to Add Lots of Images to a Premiere Pro Timeline in the Right Order

When you are building a big image slideshow, start by creating a sequence that matches the project settings you are working with. In the Project panel, click New Item, choose Sequence, and select an appropriate preset.

For example, a DSLR 1080p sequence at 25 frames per second is a perfectly sensible starting point for a travel slideshow. Give the sequence a useful name that makes it easy to find later.

If you are exploring several creative directions for a client, name those versions clearly as you work. I tend to use names such as:

• Option A, V1 for a first version of one creative direction

• Option A, V2 for the next iteration of that direction

• Option B for a genuinely different idea

The exact naming convention is not the important bit. The important bit is knowing whether you are making a minor revision or heading off in a completely different direction.

Import all your images at once

Bring the images into Premiere Pro before worrying about the timeline. Go to File > Import, find the folder containing the images, select the lot, and import them.

If the images are already inside the Project panel, you can select them there and drag any one of the selected thumbnails onto the timeline. Premiere Pro will place every selected image in sequence, one after another. That is the quick bit.

For a large slideshow, it is worth preparing the image dimensions first. Images that are roughly the size and aspect ratio of the sequence will fit far more cleanly, without requiring you to scale each image individually.

A quick way to prepare a large batch of images is Photoshop's batch processing feature. You can batch export images at a chosen size, which saves a huge amount of repetitive resizing before editing begins.

Why images do not always land alphabetically

This is the bit that catches people out. Images sometimes appear alphabetically on the timeline, but that is not a guarantee. Premiere Pro uses the ordering currently applied in the Project panel, and that can be based on more than just the file name.

Your project items may be arranged by properties such as frame rate rather than an A to Z name order. If you drag a big collection in without checking, a slideshow can arrive in an order that seems completely random.

Before selecting anything, look at the column headings in the Project panel. If you need a precise alphabetical or alphanumerical order, click Name.

Check the sort direction too

Clicking the Name heading changes the sort direction. The small chevron next to the heading tells you whether the files are sorted ascending or descending.

For a typical slideshow that should run from A to Z, make sure the list begins with the first file and ends with the last file. Do not assume that clicking the column once has given you the direction you wanted.

This little check matters especially when image filenames contain numbers. A consistent naming and sorting approach gives you a much better chance of getting the sequence you expected.

The first item you click affects the timeline order

There is another Premiere Pro quirk to be aware of. The first item selected can become the first item placed on the timeline, even if it is not the first item in the displayed alphabetical list.

Say your list is sorted from Aaron through to Tyler. If you click Tyler first, then hold Shift and click Aaron, Premiere Pro can place Tyler first and then continue through the remaining images in alphabetical order. That produces an odd result: one image has jumped to the front while the rest continue normally.

To get a clean A to Z sequence, use this method:

1. Sort the Project panel by Name in the direction you need.

2. Click the first image in the list.

3. Hold Shift.

4. Click the final image in the list.

5. Drag the selected group onto the timeline.

That first click is important. Start at the beginning, then Shift-click the end. You will avoid the annoying situation where one image appears in a strange place for no obvious reason.

Create a custom image order with Command or Control

Alphabetical order is useful, but sometimes it is absolutely not the story you want to tell. Maybe you want a mountain image, then a lake, then a city shot, then back to another landscape. In that case, select images individually in the exact order you want them to appear.

Open the bin containing your images and switch to thumbnail view if that makes it easier to identify the shots. You can make the thumbnails smaller or larger depending on whether you need to see more files at once or inspect individual images more closely.

Then hold:

• Command on a Mac

• Control on a PC

Click each image in the order you want it to appear. If you click Aaron, then Kevin, then Martin, and finally Jasper, that is the order Premiere Pro will use when you drag the selection to the timeline.

Make the timeline easier to inspect

When you drop a lot of still images onto the timeline, make the video track taller by dragging its top edge. This lets you see clip thumbnails more clearly, which is useful for checking whether the first and last images are where they should be.

Hovering over a clip can also reveal its filename. That gives you a quick way to confirm the order without needing to open every image.

For a large slideshow, this visual check is worth doing immediately after the drag. It is much easier to undo and fix a bad selection order now than to discover it after you have added music, transitions, animation, and titles.

A simple checklist before dragging a large set of images

• Make sure the images have been imported and are roughly sized for your sequence.

• Check which column is sorting the Project panel.

• Click Name if you need alphabetical ordering.

• Confirm the sort direction with the chevron.

• For an alphabetical sequence, click the first file first, then Shift-click the final file.

• For a custom sequence, use Command on Mac or Control on PC and click images in the desired order.

• Increase the timeline track height and inspect the resulting thumbnails.

Bulk-adding images is incredibly quick in Premiere Pro. Just remember that the sort order and selection order are doing more work than they first appear to be. Get those right, and a huge slideshow lands in the timeline exactly where you want it.

FAQs

Why are my images in the wrong order in Premiere Pro?

Premiere Pro uses the current Project panel sort order and can also treat the first item you select as the first clip. Check that the panel is sorted by Name in the correct direction, then select from the first image to the last.

How do I select all images between two files in Premiere Pro?

Click the first image, hold Shift, and click the final image. This selects every item between those two files in the Project panel.

How do I arrange images in a custom order on a Premiere Pro timeline?

Hold Command on Mac or Control on PC, then click individual images in the order you want them placed. Drag the selected files onto the timeline and Premiere Pro follows that selection order.