Skip to content
Cutroom

Feature

A picture in your video works best on the exact word where you name it

When you add images to a video of you talking, each one should show up while you talk about it. You can line that up by hand, or let Cutroom's Magic Editor place every picture for you.

In short

  • To add a picture to a video, place it on top of your clip in any editor (CapCut calls this an overlay). Then make it show only while you talk about it.
  • Cutroom's Magic Editor places your pictures for you. Your screenshots, product photos and logo land on the words where you talk about them.
  • You can move a picture later by asking Jacob in a chat, like “show the jar photo when I say cedar”, and you get a new version.

A candle maker's 45-second product clip, before and after Cutroom's Magic Editor

In this example the maker adds two photos and a logo. Jacob shows each photo on the word that names it and ends on the logo.

Drawing of an example clip, not a customer video

Before · the clip as filmed

A 45-second phone video of a candle maker holding one of her jars

“Um, this one smells like uh, fresh cedar, and every jar is … (pause) poured by hand.”

struck through = what Jacob cuts

After · Jacob's first edit, Skit style

CEDAR

“This one smells like fresh cedar, and every jar is poured by hand.”

  • On “cedar”: her photo of the cedar jar, on a card over her face
  • On “poured”: her photo of the wax being poured
  • On “hand”: her logo as the video ends
  • Under the whole video: calm music under her voice

Then you ask Jacob

  1. “Put a flash right before the ending”v2the same edit with a quick white flash just before the logo comes up
  2. “Make the key words stand out more”v3the same edit, with “cedar” and “hand” set bigger in her accent colour

How do you add images to a video?

Every video editor does it the same way. You place the picture on top of your clip. Then you set when it starts and stops, so it shows while you talk about it.

You also choose how big it is. Full screen hides you, so it suits a screenshot people need to read. A small box over the video keeps your face in view, which suits a product photo.

  • In the CapCut app, you tap Overlay, pick the picture and tap Add overlay. Then you pinch and drag it into place.
  • In iMovie on an iPhone, you tap Add Media and pick a photo. Then you tap More and choose Cutaway for full screen, or Picture in Picture for a small box.
  • On a Windows 11 PC, open Clipchamp from the Start menu. Drag the picture onto the timeline above your video, then drag its corners to resize it.
  • In Canva, you add the picture to your video and drag the handles at its edges to set when it shows.
  • Keep each picture up about as long as you talk about it. A screenshot with words on it needs a bit longer, so people can read it.
  • In a vertical video, keep a small picture in the top half, so your face and the captions stay visible.

How Cutroom's Magic Editor adds your images

In Cutroom's Magic Editor, you upload your clip and add your pictures in the Your files step. You press "Make my video" once, and Jacob, its AI editor, makes the whole edit. Jacob puts each kind of picture in its own place.

The style you pick decides how your pictures look, for example in floating windows or on a card next to your face.

  • Your screenshots show up while you talk about them.
  • Your product photos appear on the word where you name the product.
  • Your logo comes up at the very end.
  • If you forgot a picture, tap + File in the chat and tell Jacob where it goes, like “put it on the word cedar”.

How Cutroom's Magic Editor edits a video like this

Jacob is the AI editor inside Cutroom's Magic Editor: it edits your video for you, then changes it when you ask in a chat.

BEFORE · YOUR TAKESoum,I open thedashboard… (pause)Make my videoJacob edits itAFTER · JACOB'S FIRST EDITdashboard.pngDASHBOARDSo I open the dashboard.cut outyour fileon the word
A drawing of an example clip, not a customer video. What it shows is what the Magic Editor does: cuts the ums and pauses, puts your own screenshot on the word you say, sets key words big and adds music.

The 4 styles, as example edits

Steps

Three steps, four angles

Skit

Hook, hard stop, demo card

Verdict

The tester's verdict

Poster

Typography does the talking

Hover or tap an example to play it, without sound. These are example edits of each style; the presenters in them are generated with AI.

  1. Your take: one video of you talking, up to 3 minutes
  2. Your style: one of 4: Steps, Skit, Verdict or Poster
  3. Your files: screenshots, a screen recording or a logo, if you have them
  4. Your goal: what the video is for, in a few words, if you like
  5. Jacob makes it: normally 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email
  6. Your edit: ask Jacob for changes in a chat, then export

Then you ask Jacob, for example

  • “Make this about 10 seconds shorter”
  • “Put a clip on the strongest sentence”
  • “Change the music to something calmer”

Each change is a new version, and going back is free. First cut 250 credits, each change 40, questions free, export 30 credits per started minute.

Get your pictures ready before you upload

Pictures can be PNG, JPEG or WebP up to 25 MB; recordings can be MP4, MOV or WebM up to 200 MB. You can add up to 20 files to one video.

HEIC, GIF, SVG and PDF files are refused, so save them as PNG or JPEG first.

  • iPhone photos are often HEIC files. To take JPEG photos instead, go to Settings, then Camera, then Formats, and pick Most Compatible.
  • A logo saved as SVG needs to be exported as a PNG first.
  • Crop each screenshot to the part you talk about, so it's readable on a phone.
  • Blur emails, names and prices you don't want shown before you upload.

What Cutroom's Magic Editor doesn't do with pictures

Cutroom's Magic Editor builds a video around a clip of you talking. It is not a slideshow maker, and it doesn't draw pictures for you.

  • It needs a clip of you talking, up to 3 minutes. Photos alone don't make a video.
  • It doesn't generate images or AI clips. Your pictures are your own files, and extra clips come from your library or stock.
  • If you add no pictures, Jacob can still add short video clips over your voice. Jacob looks for b-roll in your own clip library first, then on the stock sites Pexels and Pixabay, and puts each clip on the words it belongs to.
  • A stock clip can't show your own product, so upload a photo of anything you name.
  • The finished video is one vertical MP4, 1080 by 1920.

Questions people ask

How do I add a picture to a video?
Place it on top of your clip in your editor. In the CapCut app you tap Overlay and Add overlay. In iMovie on an iPhone you tap Add Media, pick the photo, then tap More and Picture in Picture. Then make it start and stop on the words where you talk about it.
Can AI add images to my video for me?
Yes. In Cutroom's Magic Editor you upload your clip and your pictures, and Jacob puts each one on the words where you talk about it. It normally takes 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email when your first cut is ready.
Why won't my image upload?
It's probably the wrong file type or too big. Save it as a PNG or JPEG under 25 MB and try again.
Can I move an image to a different word later?
Yes. Tell Jacob in the chat, like “put the logo on the last line”, and it makes a new version. A change costs 40 credits, and tapping words to put a file on them yourself is free.

Upload your clip with your photos, and Jacob puts each one on the word that names it. Your first video is free.

Try for freeYour first video is free, no card, and you have 7 days to make it. It carries a Cutroom mark; Lite at $19.99/month removes it