Caption best practices for short videos
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Good captions go unnoticed: they read effortlessly and move with the voice. These are the rules we followed when designing CueSprint's styles, and you can apply them with any tool.
Add captions now1. Few words at a time
On phone screens, blocks of 2 to 4 words can be read at a glance. Long sentences make people read instead of watching. Always break at the end of a sentence and at natural pauses in the voice; CueSprint does this automatically.
2. Relative size, not pixels
Think of size as a percentage of the video's height. Between 4% and 7% of the height works for most vertical videos; horizontal videos can go a little smaller. If the text runs to more than two lines, reduce the size or the words per group.
3. Contrast on any background
White text with a thick black outline reads on both light and dark backgrounds. If your video's background changes a lot, use a style with a coloured box (like Pill) or a soft shadow (like Clean).
4. Highlight, but don't overdo it
Highlighting the spoken word helps viewers follow the rhythm. One accent colour is enough; changing the colour of every word or adding too many animations distracts from the message.
5. Respect the safe zones
Every social app draws buttons and text over your video. Keep captions away from the bottom edge and the right side on vertical videos. We cover this in detail in safe zones by platform.
6. Always proofread
Automatic transcription is very good but not perfect: names, brands, numbers and technical terms can come out wrong. Spend a minute reading the word list before exporting.