How to Add a Fade Transition to a Video Clip in Adobe Photoshop

If I had to guess, I’d say that out of all the tasks those of us who want to complete in a video editor, adding a transition between clips would be the highest on the list. Think about it. Sure, you want to import the clip, edit it and then export it. But really, it’s the transitions that folks think of when they’re editing. I’ve worked on a lot of different video with a lot of different people and it’s always the same. They want to know all about the different transitions that are available. Even when I was back in college working in Microsoft Powerpoint. The transitions mattered.

In today’s post, I’m going to give you a really quick tutorial that will cover how to add a transition to a video in Adobe Photoshop. After you read through this post, you’ll wonder how you didn’t already know the steps. You’re going to love it.

Opening the Clips Into Photoshop

If you aren’t already sure how to open a video file into Adobe Photoshop, I encourage you to read through this post:

5 Ways to Open Video Files into Adobe Photoshop

For today’s post, I’m going to open both clips into their own files in Photoshop. Then, I’ll drag one of the clips over into the other tab and I’ll break them out of the video group they’re currently in. In the end, I’ll have two clips that are independent on the timeline. I’ll have no problem adding a fade transition now.

Accessing the Video Transition Panel

Okay, now that everything is set up correctly, I can make sure the clip I’ll be transitioning to (the bottom clip) is overlapping the one that’s being transitioned from (the top clip). Take a look at what I’m referring to here below.

To move a clip, all you need to do is to click on the blue somewhere. After that, just drag it back or forth and let go when you’re finished.

If there was no overlap, the fade I’m going to add would become transparent and then the video would abruptly jump to the second clip. Since both clips now overlap, the top clip can fade out and the bottom one will be there to be faded into.

To access the available transitions, I’ll go ahead and click the Transitions icon that sits towards the beginning of the timeline.

In the screenshot above, you can see how the transitions panel popped up.

Applying a Transition

Applying a transition to a clip is super simple. To do this, I’ll click on the transition I want to add, which, in this case, is the Fade transition. I’ll then drag it down to the clip that I’d like to add it to. Be careful with this step – you can’t just drag the transition down into the blue clip and let go. You have to drop it either at the beginning of the clip or at the end. In my case, I’ll be dropping it at the end, so when I drag the transition, I’ll bring it to the end and drop it after I see a black outline appear.

I had to stretch out the timeline a bit so you could clearly see the black outline. Since the transition was set to be only one second long, the black outline that displayed that length of time was very narrow.

Once I drop the transition on the clip, a small indicator will appear, telling me that I’ve completed the task.

Setting the Length of the Transition

There are a few different ways to change the length of time it takes for the transition to complete transitioning. The first method is to set the time before you drag and drop the transition on the clip. If you take a look at this next screenshot, you’ll see a small drop-down box inside of the transition panel. If I click that drop-down, you’ll see a slider that controls the length of the transition.

The next method for adjusting the length of the transition is to drag one side of the small indicator after it’s been dropped. This is just as simple as the first method, so it’s up to you. Just be aware that when you roll your mouse over the indicator, the pointer will change into something else, so you’ll know when to begin dragging.

Right-Click For More Options

If I right-click on the transition indicator, I’ll see a small panel appear. Inside this panel are the same controls as the initial panel included. The difference is that I can alter an already applied transition through this panel.

So, if I wanted to switch what type of transition I applied, I could do that right through this smaller panel and if I wanted to alter the length of time it takes for the transition to complete, I could do that as well.

Once the transition is applied and set, I can go about finishing up anything else I need to do.

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Applying a transition to a video clip in Adobe Photoshop is easy. I hope I thoroughly and clearly explained the process. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this post, please let me know in the comment section below. Thanks for reading!