01
How short is short enough?
Short enough that the eye takes it in without scanning. On a vertical frame that is a handful of words, not a sentence. Revealing one word at a time changes the calculation further, because the viewer is never asked to read ahead of the speech, and the line stays unfinished in a way that holds attention rather than testing it.
02
Breaking lines in natural places
Where a line breaks matters as much as how long it is. Keep phrases together: a name with its title, a number with its unit, a verb with its object. A break in the middle of a phrase forces the reader to hold half a thought while waiting for the rest.
Break after punctuation when possible. A comma or full stop at the end of a line gives the eye a natural pause before the next one appears.
03
Adjusting for fast and slow speakers
Fast speakers produce more words per second than viewers can comfortably read. Shorter lines that change quickly keep up with the voice, while longer lines fall behind. For slow, deliberate speakers, slightly longer lines can feel calmer and less jumpy.
Adjust per speaker if your clips feature several different people. One setting rarely suits everyone.
04
Line length and emphasis
Short lines make emphasis easier. When only a few words are on screen, highlighting one of them stands out clearly. In a long line, emphasis gets lost among the other words.
Use emphasis on the words a listener would hear stressed, so reading and listening reinforce each other.
05
Testing readability quickly
Watch the clip on a phone with the sound off and try to follow the whole point from the words alone. If you find yourself rereading lines or missing words, shorten the lines or slow the pace.
Ask someone unfamiliar with the clip to watch it silently and tell you what it was about. Their summary shows whether the words carried the meaning.
06
Words that need special care
Long words, compound terms and names often force awkward breaks. A single long word can fill most of a short line on its own, which is fine, but avoid pairing it with several other words that push the line past a comfortable width. Let the long word stand alone and put the rest on the next line.
Numbers read faster as digits than as words, so 25 takes less room and less reading time than twenty-five. Abbreviations that everyone knows work the same way, but spell out any that your audience might not recognise, because a short line is no use if the viewer has to stop and decode it.
07
Read at a glance, not scanned
- Keep lines narrow. A vertical frame is not a subtitle bar on a television.
- Let words arrive with the speech. Rather than showing the whole line before it is spoken.
- Check it at phone size. What reads on a laptop preview can be unreadable in a hand.
Produce one clip and watch it at phone size.
Questions people ask
- Can I change the text size?
- Yes, size and position are both adjustable before the clip is made.
- How many appearance effects are there?
- Twenty-one, across nine subtitle styles.
- What if the speaker talks quickly?
- Each word appears as it is said, so speed itself is not the problem.
- Can I keep the same setup across clips?
- On a paid plan the line length and size carry across a whole run.
- Do longer words break the line?
- The layout adjusts to the frame it renders into.
- Does the right line length change with the shape?
- Slightly. A square frame gives more room across than a tall one, so a line that sits comfortably in 1:1 can feel cramped at 9:16.