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Watch the tutorial
Step 1: Open the Essential Graphics panel
Open the Essential Graphics panel. If you do not see it, go to Window > Essential Graphics and tick it. You will use the Edit tab of this panel for all the styling.
Step 2: Select your first caption and enable the background
In the timeline, select your first caption clip. In Essential Graphics, under the Edit tab, click your text layer. Then scroll all the way down to Appearance and tick the checkbox next to Background.
Step 3: Shape the box
Drag the middle slider (Size) to the right until the box sits comfortably around the text. You can also smooth the corners with the Corner Radius slider to get the rounded look, and raise or lower the Opacity if you like. Next, click the Background color swatch and pick a color you like. A soft beige works well.
It is also important to turn off the Shadow of the text. Otherwise the box will not look clean.
Step 4: Make the text slightly darker than the box
Change the Fill color of the text to a color a little darker than your box. That way the text blends into the box while staying readable.
Step 5: Keyframe the Source Text
Go to Effect Controls and expand the text layer. Click the stopwatch next to Source Text to start keyframing the text. This lets you change the style of single words over time.
Step 6: Color each word as it is spoken
Play the video and pause it as soon as you hear the first word. Double-click the text in the Program monitor, select the first word and set its Fill color to black. Click OK. Play again, listen for the second word, pause, select it and set it to black too. Repeat this for the rest of the video. Each change adds a Source Text keyframe, so the highlight moves from word to word as the speaker talks.
Smoother with EaseFlow: if you add a pop-in animation to your caption box, select the keyframes and apply a real easing curve in one click instead of dragging Bezier handles. See EaseFlow
Tips
- Style one caption first. Once it looks right, copy it for the other captions so you do not repeat the box setup.
- Keep the contrast. The highlighted word should clearly stand out from the others.
- Short lines read best. Vertical videos work best with only a few words on screen at once.
FAQ
Where is the background option for text in Premiere Pro?
Select the text layer in Essential Graphics and scroll to Appearance. Tick Background to turn it on.
How do I highlight one word at a time?
Keyframe Source Text and change the fill color of the spoken word at each point in time.
Why does the box look messy?
Make sure the text Shadow is turned off.
Want a clean text look with less setup? Try our ultimate text preset pack.
