Sometimes a clip needs a few words on top of it: a caption, a name, a date, a call to action. You do not need an editing suite for that. You need a place to type, a way to say where the words go, and a file that comes out the other end.
This page lets you put text on a video without sending the video anywhere. The words are drawn onto the picture on your own computer. You choose the position, size, colour and outline, and you can show the text for the whole clip or only for a part of it.
This is not a full video text editor: each run adds one block of text in one font. The guide below covers the rest.
How to add text to a video, step by step
Here is the order that works best when you add words to a video.
- Drop a video onto the page, or press the button to choose one. You can add more files if you want the same text on several videos.
- Click the Text field and type your words. The field takes up to 80 characters, and the preview on the stage shows them straight away.
- Pick a look from Quick styles, or set the Position, Size and Colour yourself.
- Outline starts switched on, which keeps light text readable on a light or busy picture. Choose an Outline colour, or turn it off.
- Under Show it, keep The whole time, or pick Only for a part and set From and Until.
- Press Add text. When it finishes, save the result, or download several results together as a zip.
The Add text button stays greyed out until you have typed something. That is on purpose: it stops you from burning an empty line into a file.
Controls for text on video: position, size, colour
Every control has one job. Together they cover what most people need from a text overlay on a clip.
| Control | What it does | Range or choices |
|---|---|---|
| Text | The words to draw on the picture | Up to 80 characters |
| Quick styles | Sets position and size in one click | Caption, Title, Centre, Lower third |
| Position | Where the text sits on the frame | A grid of nine places, from top left to bottom right |
| Size | How tall the letters are | 3% to 16% of the video height |
| Colour | The fill colour of the letters | Four swatches: white, ink, yellow and red |
| Outline | A border around each letter | On or off, in black, white, yellow or red |
| Show it | Whether the text is up the whole time | The whole time, or Only for a part |
Quick styles for a caption, a title or a lower third
Quick styles save time. Caption puts the words near the bottom at a modest size. Title puts them at the top and makes them larger. Centre places a big line in the middle of the frame. Lower third tucks the words into the bottom left corner at a smaller size, the way a name tag appears in a news clip.
A style only sets the position and the size. You can still change the colour, the outline and the timing afterwards. If you want a title with its own page, see add a title to a video.
Size is measured against the picture
Size is a share of the video height, not a number of points. A setting of 8% sets the type at about one twelfth of the frame height, whatever the resolution. That keeps the look the same on a small clip and a large one, and it is why the preview matches the result.
Colour and outline for readable text
White text with a black outline is the safest pair, because it reads on dark and light scenes alike. Yellow stands out well on dark footage. If your picture is mostly one colour, pick the swatch that differs most from it, and use the outline to add a clean edge.
Show your text only for a part of the video
Text that sits on screen for ten minutes soon becomes wallpaper. Often you want a name for three seconds, or a price while a product is shown. Choose Only for a part under Show it, and two time fields appear: From and Until.
You can type the times, step them frame by frame, or set them from the playhead. A range also appears on the timeline, and the preview dims the text when the playhead is outside it, so you can see exactly when the words will be up.
If you add several videos at once, each one keeps its own length. When a shorter clip ends before your Until time, the text simply ends with the clip.
Ideas for timed text
- A speaker or place name for the first few seconds of a scene.
- A date or location tag at the start of travel footage.
- A short call to action over the closing seconds of a promo.
- A label for one step in a how-to clip.
Add text to a video without uploading it
This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your video is not uploaded, and the server does no video work. The text is drawn onto the frames on your own device, using the Inter Bold font that loads with the page. Because nothing leaves your machine, it is a sensible choice for private clips and for footage you are not ready to share.
It is a way to add text to a video online free of charge, with no account and no watermark on the result. Video tools are not counted in the free daily limit, which applies to document conversions only. Read the privacy page for the full picture.
Most videos have no size limit. Some files, such as certain AVI or WMV, take longer and can be up to 2 GB. The tool works in current Chrome, Edge and Firefox.
The result is an MP4 file, saved with the name of your original plus _text. If you added several videos, you can save each one, or download them all as a zip.
Tips for text on video that people can read
- Keep it short. The field stops at 80 characters, and short lines are easier to take in while a picture moves.
- Let long text wrap. There is no manual line break: a line that reaches the edge of the frame wraps on its own, at a space between words.
- Skip curly braces and backslashes. The Text field drops them as you type or paste, because they would be read as commands. Words between braces stay.
- Leave a margin. The tool keeps the text a little way in from the edges, so it does not touch the border of the frame.
- Use one font size per clip. If you need two different pieces of text, run the clip through the tool twice, or use a subtitle file for many lines.
Need a logo instead of words? Use watermark video. Need to shorten the clip first? Trim the video before you add the text, so the timing fits the final length.
Put your words on the video now
To add text to video, you need only the clip and the words. Choose a quick style, adjust the position, size, colour and outline, decide whether the text shows the whole time or only for a part, and press Add text. Your video is never uploaded, and the result carries no watermark.
Drop your clip into the tool above and try it. If you also want a logo in the corner, the watermark tool works the same way, and the video tools hub lists the rest.
