Importing vector .ai file into Premiere Zooming pixelated and Blurry

[wwallace]

Hello,

I imported my illistrator file (.ai) which is vector image into premiere and I am trying to zoom into a particular area. When I zoom in the image it is not clear. I so not know what I need to do. I do not see a rasterize option and do not want to have to use premiere pro. Is there a simple fix to this?

[Ann Bens · Accepted solution]

Ai files get rasterized on import.

Make sure you have enough file resolution to zoom in.

[Graeme Bull]

If you have it, use after effects for just that part as there is the option to have it scale like a vector should. Outside of that, as Ann said, just make the file huge and scale down later.

[arkid]

Is there really no other format I can import (vector) that will stay as a vector and not rasterize ? 

[Averdahl]

Is there really no other format I can import (vector) that will stay as a vector and not rasterize ? 

By @arkid

No, not in Premiere Pro. Use After Effects as it is superiour compared to Premiere Pro when it comes to vector graphics from Illustrator.

[marioa14771647]

I have more luck importing ai files into photoshop as linked files and then importing the psd into Premiere Pro.

[aTomician]

Are we serious?  Just stumbled across this and it's blown my mind that we're in the year 2023 and a market leading NLE can not work with vector files!  If they have to be rasterised on import (why??) then at the very least we need some import options so we can specify the size it should be rasterised to!

Just tried to import SVG to premiere pro but that doesn't work because Premiere Pro doesn't support SVG (obviously).  So then I imported to Illustrator, dragged to CC libraries, dragged from libaries into my project and boom it's pixelated horribly...  and then I found this.

So...  I was going to beg for this to be considered as a feature, fixed as a bug, or anything to make it a tiny bit more intuitive.  But what's the point?  Adobe never listens to their users, so for me, it's just another nail in the Premiere Pro coffin where there's already more nails then wood.  I've been training on Davinci Resolve in the background for a while now, and (surprise surprise) Resolve can natively import SVG files.  Guess what editor I'm using for my next project?

[bluecat_video]

yeah - it takes half an hour to figure out how to make my perfect AI image perfect again (not pixellated) in premiere.

still workin' on it

[aTomician]

Absolutely, and by increasing the resolution you end up using more memory and cpu...  and then if you want to show the graphic at a larger size you have to re-import again at another higher resolution.  Pathetic.

Premiere Pro won't even import AI graphics correctly from CC libraries - the color get's distorted and converted (presumably during rasterisation)  Our company colors look fine in AI, drag to CC libraries, drag into PPro project, and they have visibly changed.  Sooo frustrating.

[richardw58268709]

I am here in 2025 and I am shocked that this is actually a thing. Adobe unfortunately spends practically all of its current development buget on shiny new AI features that are massively affecting creatives jobs, not useful things like this. How can scaleable vectors work in all their other software but not Premiere. For goodness sake. But like you I have long realised that Adobe never listens to their users, it is more interested in its shareholders.

[Ford5FB2]

I think it's worth pointing out that even though it's rasterized in Premiere, it's still dynamic. Here's what I mean:

1. Right-click on the .AI asset in your bin (or timeline).
2. Click "Edit Original" to open it in Illustrator.
3. Select and scale the design in Illustrator.
4. Ensure the artboard is larger than the design (I just set the artboard to 1920 x 1080 to match my Premiere Project size).
5. Save the illustrator file (Cmd/Ctrl+S).
6. Go back to Premiere and you should see it automatically update according to your resize and not be pixelated.

If you've already animated the design in Premiere, you can use the Transform effect to shrink it back down, but it should be clearer.