Add Text to Video

Add text to any video the easy way with Descript. Just upload your video or record your webcam, get an automatic transcript, and highlight the moments where you want to add text or animated captions in your choice of colors, fonts, backgrounds, animations, and styles.

Video subtitles vs. Video captions

Subtitles are captions that provide a translation if the program is to be made accessible to deaf or hearing-impaired audiences, or available in other languages and countries. While the use cases may differ, for creators’ purposes, video captions and subtitles are the same thing.

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How to add text to video

Step 1

Upload your video

Drop your video file into a Descript project to upload and transcribe it. You can use this transcript to edit your video, generate captions, and highlight the moments where you want to add text overlays or create title scenes.

Step 2

Add and edit text

Navigate to the text tool and click on the area of the video where you want the text to appear. Type your desired text into the textbox that appears on screen. You can adjust the font, size, color, and positioning of the text to match the style and tone of your video. Use the text settings to fine-tune the appearance.

Step 3

Review and export

Make any final adjustments to the text or video as needed. When satisfied, export your video by choosing the appropriate file format and resolution. You can then download the finished video to your device or share it directly from Descript to your desired platform.

Video subtitles vs. Video captions

Subtitles are captions that provide a translation if the program is to be made accessible to deaf or hearing-impaired audiences, or available in other languages and countries. While the use cases may differ, for creators’ purposes, video captions and subtitles are the same thing.

Download the app →


How to add captions/subtitles to a video using Descript

You can add captions with pretty much any video editing tool. We’re going to tell you how to do it in Descript because a) we think it’s the best, and b) this is our website.

With Descript’s automatic transcription and Fancy Captions you can add open captions to your videos in seconds.

Before you apply Fancy Captions decide if you want to add captions to your entire video, or only a portion. Either way, it’s easy.

Add captions to your entire video

  • If you want to add text to the entire video, select all the transcript just like you would in a doc — using the keyboard shortcut Command + A for MacOS and Ctrl + A for Windows or simply click on “Edit — Select All.”
  • Return to the toolbar, click the (+) button, and type Fancy Captions in the dialogue box. You can also use Command + K to use the Conductor, then type Fancy Captions. Then click on it.
  • Once you select it, Fancy Captions will automatically apply transcription to your video.

You will notice a Fancy Captions icon — a T in a purple box — at the beginning of your transcription. This indicates where your caption begins, which you will see as a separate track on your timeline. You can drag and drop that icon anywhere in the script, wherever you want captions to start.

If you click on the icon, or on the purple captions track in the timeline, you can you then click on the Clip Inspector (in the top right of the app) to change any of your captions’ properties, including the font, size, or color. You can also add animations and shadows.

Add captions to a portion of your video

What if you only want to add captions or subtitles to particular sections of your video project? You can insert them by highlighting just the part you want to caption, then following the second and third steps above. Once you’ve added them, you can expand or shrink the section with subtitles using your Fancy Captions track (the purple line). Just use your mouse:

  • To move your captions click the Fancy Captions track and drag it left or right.
  • To extend your caption track simply click the end or beginning of the Fancy Captions track and drag it left or right.

Create social media clips with captions

You can also repurpose short clips of your video to for social-media promotion — complete with animated captions. It couldn’t be much simpler:

  • Select the portion of your video you want to use for a clip.
  • Right click and select Click to Composition → New. That will create a new Composition consisting of just the content you selected.
  • Click on the new Composition, highlight all of the text and follow the second and third steps in the Add captions section above.

Here again, you can change the color, size, or font of your captions, add animations, or throw in some scroll-stopping animations like waveforms or progress bars.

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Add Text to Video

Add Text to Video

Add text to any video the easy way with Descript. Just upload your video or record your webcam, get an automatic transcript, and highlight the moments where you want to add text or animated captions in your choice of colors, fonts, backgrounds, animations, and styles.

Get started →
How to add text to video
  • 3
    Create a new project
    Drag your file into the box above, or click Select file and import it from your computer or wherever it lives.
Step 1
Upload your video

Drop your video file into a Descript project to upload and transcribe it. You can use this transcript to edit your video, generate captions, and highlight the moments where you want to add text overlays or create title scenes.

Step 2
Add and edit text

Navigate to the text tool and click on the area of the video where you want the text to appear. Type your desired text into the textbox that appears on screen. You can adjust the font, size, color, and positioning of the text to match the style and tone of your video. Use the text settings to fine-tune the appearance.

Step 3
Review and export

Make any final adjustments to the text or video as needed. When satisfied, export your video by choosing the appropriate file format and resolution. You can then download the finished video to your device or share it directly from Descript to your desired platform.

Adding text is a snap with text-based video editing
Just highlight the transcript to add text to your video

Descript intelligently syncs your transcript with the corresponding audio and video, making it easy to find the perfect moments to enhance with text, or add title cards in between scenes.

Tons of text formats at your fingertips

Capture more eyeballs with a wide range of text elements you can add to your videos. Like engaging title cards, animated captions that keep viewers hooked, custom watermarks for branding, lower-thirds overlays, rolling credits, and much more.

Style your text and save it as a template

Make your text pop with Descript's collection of scroll-stopping text effects and templates. With just a few clicks, you can apply dynamic animations, stylish fonts, and bold colors to grab your audience's attention. Create your own templates to save your font styles or use one of our many templates for title cards, captions, rolling credits, and more.

Questions? We have answers
How do I add text in a video?

To add text to your video in Descript:

1. Select the clip or highlight the portion of the transcript where you want the text to appear

2. Click the Text button in the toolbar

3. Type your desired text in the panel on the right

4. Use the options to customize the font, color, size, position and timing

Can I upload my own fonts?

Yes, you can! Descript offers a wide selection of popular fonts to choose from on all plans. With a Creator plan starting at just $24/month, you can upload your own custom fonts and start creating branded templates.

How do I add text narration to a video?

Descript makes it easy to add narration with text-to-speech. Just paste in or type out your script, assign an AI voice to it with '@', and begin the voice generation process. You can then adjust the timing, volume and other settings just like a regular audio clip.

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Descript is the only tool you need to write, record, transcribe, edit, collaborate, and share your videos and podcasts.
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Descript is the only tool you need to write, record, transcribe, edit, collaborate, and share your videos and podcasts.
Add more than just text to videos
Descript is an AI-powered audio and video editing tool that lets you edit podcasts and videos like a doc.
  • AI voices
    Choose from a variety of natural-sounding AI voices to narrate your text and bring your videos to life.
  • Captions & subtitles
    Automatically generate captions and subtitles for your videos, making them more accessible and engaging for viewers.
  • Stock media library
    Access an extensive library of stock media, including images and videos, to enhance your projects without leaving the editor.
  • Templates
    Save time and maintain consistency across your videos by creating custom templates with your preferred text styles and layouts.