Guide
You add text to a video with the editor's text tool, or let Cutroom's Magic Editor write it from what you say
Updated
Text on a short video is usually three things: captions of your words, a few key words made bigger, and a call to action at the end. Add them by hand in your app's editor, or let Cutroom's Magic Editor add them.
In short
- To add text to a video, open the editor's text tool, type your words, place them on screen and set when they show.
- Instagram and YouTube Shorts both have a text tool in their own editors, with colour, style and alignment.
- Cutroom's Magic Editor adds captions, key words and a call to action from what you say, and you change them by asking in a chat.
A home baker's bread knife review, before and after Cutroom's Magic Editor
One press makes the first edit. Each chat message makes a new version, and the earlier ones stay.
Drawing of an example clip, not a customer video
Before · the clip as filmed
A 5-second phone video of a home baker showing a bread knife in the kitchen
“So, um, this knife cuts a crusty loaf , uh, without squashing it.”
struck through = what Jacob cuts
After · Jacob's first edit, Verdict style
“This knife cuts a crusty loaf without squashing it.”
- On “crusty”: the word crusty set big in your accent colour while you stay full screen
- On “knife”: captions of every word, in the picture under you
- On “squashing”: the typed call to action Link in bio, then a follow card
Then you ask Jacob
- “Make the key words stand out more”v2a second version with bigger, brighter key words
- “Change the call to action to Try it free”v3the same edit, ending on the typed words Try it free
How do you add text to a video?
Almost every video editor works the same way. You tap the text tool, type your words, drag them where you want them and choose when they appear and disappear.
On a video of you talking, most of the text should be your own words. These are the three kinds worth adding.
- Captions write out what you say, so people can follow with the sound off.
- Key words are one or two words set bigger or in another colour, so the main point stands out.
- A call to action is a short line at the end that tells people what to do next, like "Link in bio".
- Keep text away from the bottom and the right edge, where the app's buttons and your post caption sit.
Adding text on Instagram, YouTube or a computer
Instagram and YouTube let you type text over your video before you post it. Typing every caption by hand is slow, so use it for a key word or a call to action.
- On Instagram, pick or record your clip, then tap the text icon and type.
- Pick a colour and a font, then tap Done and drag the text where you want it. Instagram can also read your text out loud.
- On YouTube Shorts, tap Edit to open the timeline and add your text. You can change its colour, style and position, and set how long it shows.
- On a computer, Clipchamp, Microsoft's free video editor, runs in your browser or as a Windows app. Its free version exports HD videos without a watermark.
- In Clipchamp, open the Text tab, drag a title onto the timeline above your video, and type your words in the property panel. There you can also change the font, colour and size.
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.
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.
- Your take: one video of you talking, up to 3 minutes
- Your style: one of 4: Steps, Skit, Verdict or Poster
- Your files: screenshots, a screen recording or a logo, if you have them
- Your goal: what the video is for, in a few words, if you like
- Jacob makes it: normally 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email
- 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.
Captions, key words and a call to action with Cutroom's Magic Editor
Cutroom's Magic Editor writes the text from what you say. You film one clip of you talking and press "Make my video". It normally takes 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email when your first cut is ready.
Jacob, its AI editor, makes the whole edit. It puts captions into the picture, timed to your voice, and makes the key words stand out. At the end it adds a call to action of up to 48 characters.
- You can also change what a caption says, or how the caption words look, by asking Jacob in the chat.
- If a caption word is wrong, you tap it and type the right one, and that costs nothing.
- A chat message that changes the video costs 40 credits. Every change Jacob makes is a new version. The earlier versions stay, and going back to one is free.
- Cutroom transcribes your take in the language you speak and keeps the captions in that language.
What text the Magic Editor won't add
Cutroom's Magic Editor builds its text from your words, so a few things are better done in another editor.
- The text Jacob adds comes from your own words, plus the call to action at the end. For a separate headline at the top, add it in another editor after you export.
- You can't pick a font. Each style comes with its own fonts.
- It doesn't export a captions file (SRT), and it doesn't translate your captions.
- It exports a vertical MP4, 1080 by 1920, 30 frames a second, with the sound levelled, and you post it yourself.
Questions people ask
- How do I add text to a video on my phone?
- Use the text tool in the app you post with. On Instagram you tap the text icon after picking your clip; in YouTube's Shorts editor you add text on the timeline.
- How do I add captions without typing them?
- Use a tool that writes them from your voice. Cutroom's Magic Editor puts captions into the picture, timed to what you say, and Instagram and YouTube can make closed captions that viewers switch on.
- What text should go on a short video?
- Captions of what you say, one or two key words that stand out, and a short call to action at the end. More than that gets hard to read.
- Can I choose my own font in Cutroom?
- No. Each of the four styles comes with its own fonts. You can change how the key words look and the accent colour by asking Jacob.
Film one clip of you talking, and get it back with the text already on.