How to use Proxies in Premiere Pro: An Illustrated Guide

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Published: March 14, 2019 | Last Updated: December 16, 2025

Proxies (or proxy files) are lower-resolution substitutes for your original high-resolution files. Proxy files make it possible to edit high-resolution video files on older and slower computers, which don’t have the processing power to handle, e.g., 4K or 6K footage with many effects.

In this guide, you’ll learn all about creating proxies while ingesting vs creating them later, the differences and pros and cons of proxies vs. transcoding files, and more.

How to Create Proxy Files in Premiere Pro

There are two ways to create proxies in Premiere Pro: when you import your files and when you’ve already imported your footage.

The easiest way is to create the proxy files as you import your files. However, if you forget to do so during import or want to create proxies for some of your footage, you can do it later.

Creating proxies during file import (ingest)

Here are the steps to set up proxies during file import.

• Press ‘New Project’ when you first open Premiere Pro
• In the ‘Project Settings’ window, choose ‘Ingest Settings.’
• Put a tick in ‘Ingest’ and choose ‘Create Proxies.’
  • If you want, you can choose also to make a copy of the original files (e.g., to a new directory)

• Choose the destination where you want your proxy files to be saved.

• Choose a proxy preset you want your files. Higher-resolution proxies require more processing power. So choose a setting your computer can handle.
  • The proxies’ aspect ratio should fit the original footage’s dimensions. Luckily, Premiere Pro has already suggested a few presets for you. Under the summary, you can see which frame sizes the proxy preset is compatible with.

• What kind of proxy codec you should choose depends on your source material:
  • ProRes source files = Use ProRes Proxies
  • Heavily compressed formats such as XAVC or H.264 = Use CineForm or H.264 proxies

• Import your files. It doesn’t matter how you do this. Whether you drag and drop the files into the Project Panel, press Ctrl+i, go to ‘File’, then navigate to Import, or use the Media Browser, your proxy files will always be created.

Voilà! Adobe Media Encoder will now open and automatically create the proxies for you in the background. In the meantime, you can start creating your timeline sequence, etc.

Creating Proxies from the Media Browser

If you’ve already created your new project but haven’t imported your media yet, you can still create proxies on import:

• Go to the ‘Media Browser’
• Tick the ‘Ingest’ button
• Click on the ‘Wrench’ tool.

• The same ‘Projects Settings’ panel will open when you create a new project.
• To choose the right proxy settings for your project, follow the steps mentioned above in the last section of this article and press ‘Ok.’
• Navigate to the folder on your computer with the original footage you want to import.
• Select the footage, right-click on it, and choose ‘import.’ The footage will be imported, and proxies will be created.

Creating proxies from the Project Panel

If you have already imported all your files and begun working on your project only to discover that your computer is struggling, then you can still create your proxies from the ‘Project Panel’:

• In the ‘Project Panel,’ select the files you want to create proxies for and right-click (Mac: Control-click) on them.
• Navigate to Proxy > Create Proxies.

Now, a dialogue box appears where you can choose your preferred proxy settings:

• Choose the settings you prefer and press ok.

Proxies will now be created from the original footage you’ve imported into your project.

How to edit with proxies in Premiere Pro

After you have created a new sequence in your timeline, you can press the “Toggle Proxies” button. The blue button means Premiere Pro is working with the proxy version of the files.

Editing with proxies means you’re doing offline editing. But you can easily switch back and forth by clicking the ‘Toggle Proxies’ button. That way, you can quickly see how your effects will look on your original footage.

If you have applied many effects and your computer is still struggling to play back the proxies smoothly, you can lower the playback resolution.

Changing the playback resolution to 1/2., 1/4, 1/8, or 1/16th of the original resolution can save you a lot of frustration.

How do you create your own preset for proxies in Premiere Pro (advanced)?

Sometimes, the presets for proxies don’t match the aspect ratio of your footage. In that case, you can create your proxy file presets.

Here’s how:

• Open Adobe Media Encoder
• In the ‘Preset Browser’ click on the ‘+’ and choose ‘Create Encoding Preset’

• A dialogue box for your preset settings opens up.
• Give your Encoding Preset a name.
• Choose the settings for your Encoding Preset, which we will later use to create the Ingest Preset for your custom proxies.
  • Note: Here, I’ve created a preset for vertical video based on the source footage (for when I’ve shot vertical footage for a client’s social media).
• When you’re done, press ‘OK.’

• Again, in the ‘Preset Browser,’ click on the ‘+’ and choose ‘Create Ingest Preset.’

• A dialogue box now opens up.
• First, give your Ingest Preset a name.
• Then, under the ‘Transfer’ tick…
  • ‘Copy files to Destination’ and choose a destination path for your proxy files (this can always be changed later)
  • ‘Transcode files to Destination.’ For your proxy files, choose the same destination path and your Encoding Preset.
  • Click OK

• Back in the Preset Browser, right-click on your Ingest Preset and choose ‘Export Preset.’
• Choose a folder on your computer and save the preset file
  • The proxy preset file will have the format .epr

• Open up Premiere Pro
• In the ‘Project Settings’ panel, click ‘Add Ingest Preset…’

• Navigate to your created proxy preset file on your computer and open it
• Click ‘OK’. Now, Premiere Pro creates proxies that match the aspect ratio of your original footage when you import your media files.

Proxies vs transcoding your original footage files

If your original files from your camera are in a heavily compressed codec such as h.264, you might consider transcoding your files with an intermediate codec instead.

Tip: If you have a good graphics card, you can transcode your files into Cineform, which is GPU-accelerated.

The difference between creating proxies and transcoding your files is that proxies are used for offline editing.

Proxy files have a low resolution and bitrate. Because of this, you have to reconnect the proxies with the original footage for online editing and grading.

When you transcode your original files using an intermediate codec, you transform (transcode) your footage into an edit-friendly, high-quality codec. You can use the transcoded files throughout the process, from editing to grading and export.

Working with transcoded files is online editing because when you work with your footage in Premiere Pro, you’re directly editing the transcoded files and don’t relink to your original camera footage at the end for export.

Color-grading proxy files is never a good idea because they are low-quality. However, you can easily color-grade transcoded files because they are high-quality.

On the other hand, when working with proxies, you can quickly toggle back to the original files with the click of a button. Since you’re mostly working with a single frame at a time when you color grade, it is possible if your computer can handle high-resolution footage and the color grading plugins.

Ultimately, it comes down to your preferred workflow and what your computer can handle.

Why you should use proxies

Proxies substitute your original files during editing and playback inside Premiere Pro.

So instead of struggling with a 4K resolution of, e.g., 3,840×2160 pixels, your computer now only processes a proxy file of, e.g., 960×540 pixels. The lower-resolution files make editing and playback much smoother.

When you’re ready to export your final video, Premiere Pro will reuse the original high-resolution, high-quality files. That way, you can still make a beautiful 4K video for social media or YouTube.

I hope you’ve found this guide helpful. If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know in the comments below.