Not Enough Memory

Issue: Not Enough Memory

When you work in an Adobe Premiere Elements 4 project that contains many still images, one or more of the following occurs:

• A memory error, such as "Out of memory" or "Adobe Premiere Elements is running very low on system memory," a freeze, or a crash when you edit the project.
Reason
The cause can be one or more of the following:
• The project contains several images whose dimensions greatly exceed the video frame size.
• The system is not optimized.
• Out of storage space

Solution

Perform one or more of the following solutions:

Solution 1: Reduce image dimensions and file sizes

Images from digital cameras, scanners, and other sources may have dimensions that are much larger than a Premiere Elements project's video frame. The height of a video frame is generally 480 or 576 pixels (standard definition) or 720 or 1080 pixels (high definition), but many image files have a height and width of thousands of pixels.

When the Default Scale To Frame Size option is selected in the preferences (Edit > Preferences > General), an image's actual pixel dimensions might not be apparent when you look at the image on the Timeline or Scene-line. By default, this option is selected.

To determine an image's actual dimensions:

1. In the Edit view of the Tasks panel, click Media and then click Project.
2. Right-click an image and select Properties.
3. Locate Image Size in the Properties window. Image Size is the image's dimensions in pixels.
To determine a project's frame size:
1. Select Edit > Project Settings > General.
2. Locate Frame Size in the Video section of the window.

If your project contains several images whose actual dimensions exceed the project's frame size, and if your project does not pan or zoom on still images, use image-editing software to re-size the images to fit within the video frame. (Optional: Sharpen an image after resizing it.) Save each re-sized image with a different file name, and save in JPEG or PNG format to limit the file size. Then use the smaller, re-sized image files, not the larger original files, in Premiere Elements.

You can use Adobe Photoshop CS3 or Photoshop Elements 6 to automatically re-size multiple images. For instructions, see Convert Files With The Image Processor in Photoshop CS3 Help or Process Multiple Files in Photoshop Elements Help.

Solution 2: Reduce the number of individual image files in the project

Instead of assembling all the images in one Premiere Elements project, divide the images among two or more smaller projects. When you have finished editing each of the smaller projects, combine them into one project for final output. For instructions, see "Combine projects (Premiere Elements 4)".

The optimal number of images to import into each smaller project will vary from system to system. If your system meets but does not exceed the Premiere Elements system requirements, start with 100 images. If you do not encounter error messages, freezes, or crashes, increase this amount.

If you are working with a slideshow from Photoshop Elements, another option is to import the slide show into Premiere Elements as a single Windows Media video file instead of as multiple image files. The advantage of this approach is that it creates a smaller, simpler Premiere Elements project; the disadvantage is that the transitions and image order are fixed in the Windows Media video file.

To output a Photoshop Elements slide show as a Windows Media video file:

1. Open the slide show in the Photoshop Elements Organizer.
2. In the Slide Show Editor, click Output.
3. Select Save As A File.
4. Select Movie File (.WMV).
5. Change Slide Size to DVD - NTSC (720x480) or DVD - PAL (720x576).
6. Click OK.
7. Type a file name, select a location, and click Save.

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