Purple image frame with corner resize handles
Get images the right size, every time
  1. Set defaultsScaling and duration preferences
  2. Import imagesNew images follow your settings
  3. Adjust per clipFit, fill, or reposition

Premiere places each image at its native size. A 4032-pixel phone photo overflows a 1080p frame; a 500-pixel logo sits in the middle as a small box. Here is how to fix that per clip, automatically on import, and how to control image duration.

Set to Frame Size or Scale to Frame Size?

Both commands appear when you right-click a clip on the timeline:

Command What it does Best for
Set to Frame Size Changes the clip's Scale value to fit the frame. Keeps the full-resolution image. Almost everything, especially images you might zoom or animate
Scale to Frame Size Resamples the image to the sequence resolution. Scale stays at 100. Very large images that slow playback, when you will not zoom in

Use Set to Frame Size by default. If you use Scale to Frame Size and later push Scale above 100, Premiere enlarges the reduced copy and the image turns soft.

Fit One or Many Images

  1. Select one or more image clips on the timeline.
  2. Right-click a selected clip.
  3. Choose Set to Frame Size.

If the image's shape differs from the sequence, such as a vertical photo in a 16:9 sequence, you get empty space on two sides. That space is transparent, so lower tracks show through.

Fill the Frame Without Stretching

Fitting shows the whole image. Filling covers the frame and crops the overflow:

  1. Select the clip and open Effect Controls.
  2. Under Motion, increase Scale until no empty edges remain in the Program Monitor.
  3. Adjust Position to choose which part stays in view.

Keep Uniform Scale checked. Unchecking it stretches faces, text, and logos.

To fill many images that share the same dimensions, finish one clip, copy it, select the others, and use Edit > Paste Attributes to apply its Motion settings.

Make Every New Image Fit Automatically

  1. Open Preferences > Media (Premiere Pro > Settings on Mac in recent versions, Edit > Preferences on Windows).
  2. Set Default Media Scaling to Set to Frame Size.
  3. Click OK.

This applies only to media imported after the change; fit existing images with the right-click command. Older versions show a Scale to frame size checkbox here instead. That option resamples images, so use the per-clip Set to Frame Size command if your version only has the checkbox.

Change How Long Images Last

To set the default for future imports:

  1. Open Preferences > Timeline.
  2. Set Still Image Default Duration in seconds or frames.
  3. Click OK.

For images already in your project or on the timeline:

  1. Select the image clips.
  2. Right-click and choose Speed/Duration (Cmd+R on Mac, Ctrl+R on Windows).
  3. Enter the new Duration.
  4. On the timeline, check Ripple Edit, Shifting Trailing Clips if later clips should move to close or open the gap.

For slideshows, set the duration in the Project panel before placing images; each image you drag in then arrives at that length.

Keep Large Images Manageable

Very large files can slow playback and exports. Aim for roughly two times the frame size you will show them at: for a 1080p sequence with gentle zooms, about 3840 pixels wide is plenty. Premiere cannot import images over 256 megapixels or wider or taller than 32,768 pixels; see Adobe's still-image import guide.

Images pasted with Clipboard It are saved as real files and imported into your chosen bin, so these scaling and duration preferences apply to them too. See how to paste images into Premiere Pro.

Quick Reference

  • Fit, keeping full resolution: right-click > Set to Frame Size
  • Fill the frame: fit, then raise Scale in Effect Controls
  • Fit future imports: Preferences > Media > Default Media Scaling
  • Default image length: Preferences > Timeline > Still Image Default Duration
  • Change existing image length: right-click > Speed/Duration