How to use Vimeo to edit videos for your business

Here’s how to use the Vimeo online editor to help you perfect your videos.

You create videos for your organization and need a way to edit them. A variety of different editors are available, both paid and free, but one option worth considering is Vimeo. With the Vimeo cloud-based editor, you can enhance your videos and then download them or publish them online.

Vimeo offers a free plan that lets you store and publish videos with very limited editing capabilities. For that reason, you’d likely want to sign up for one of the paid plans, all of which offer a free trial so you can try before you buy. Once you have an account, simply upload your video to the Vimeo website to edit it directly in your browser. Here’s how it works.

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First, head to the Vimeo website. Click the Join For Free button and create a username and password. After joining, you’re taken to the Video Manager page. Here you can view existing videos that people have shared if you’d like to get some inspiration (Figure A).

Figure A

To view the different paid plans, click the Upgrade button. The next screen displays the four core paid subscriptions: Plus, Pro, Business and Premium, along with the annual and month costs for each. Find the plan most suitable for your business and click the link for Start Free Trial (Figure B).

Figure B

Return to the Video Manager page. If you have an existing video that you want to edit, click the button for New Video and select Upload.

At the next screen, drag and drop the video clips you want to edit or click the Choose File button and select them from your computer (Figure C).

Figure C

Return to the Video Manager page where you should see the clip or clips you uploaded. Click the clip you wish to edit and then click the Edit & Trim icon.

You’re given a choice of two different tools. Choose the Trimmer if you simply need to trim your video at the beginning and/or ending. Choose Video Editor if you need to perform more extensive editing.

Let’s try the Trimmer first, so click the Trim button (Figure D).

Figure D

You can now play the video to determine where you wish to trim it. Move the left slider to the area where you want to clip to start and the right slider to the spot where you want it to end. Then click Save (Figure E).

Figure E

You’re brought back to the previous screen where you can play your revised video. To use the full video editor instead, click the Edit & Trim icon and click the Edit button for Video Editor.

At the video editor, click the Timeline button. You can now play the video as well as move the left and right sliders to trim the video. If you wish to split the video into two or more clips, move the needle and click Split (Figure F).

Figure F

To add one or more clips to this video, click the plus icon at the left of the timeline and select Media Scene. Select My Media and then choose a clip that you’ve already uploaded or click the Upload button to grab one from your computer. Select additional clips if desired and then click the Add button (Figure G).

Figure G

You can now move the clips around in the order you wish by dragging and dropping them. Click the Timeline button if you need to make any further cuts or trims.

Beyond simply editing your video, you can add other elements to spruce it up. On the left pane, click the Text button and type a title or other text that you wish to add to a clip. You can position the text, change the color, adjust the alignment, add a drop shadow and set a duration to determine how long the text should appear (Figure H).

Figure H

Next, click the Sticker button to add a sticker to the video. Click the Styles button to apply a filter to the video. Click the Music button if you wish to add music to the video. You can choose from any of Vimeo’s licensed songs or upload your own music (Figure I).

Figure I

When done, click the Preview button to see your video with the changes you made and the elements you added. If you’re happy with the results, click Save.

You can now decide what to do with your finished video. Click the ellipsis icon in the upper right. Select Publish to Social if you wish to publish it to Facebook, YouTube or another service. Select Download to download the video to your computer in MP4 format. Select Make a Copy if you want to create a duplicate of the video (Figure J).

Figure J