How do I make captions pop on short videos?
3 min read · Updated October 30, 2026
Big, high-contrast letters, two or three words at a time, with the spoken word highlighted. Keep them inside the safe area and away from the app's buttons. Zlayo's caption looks are built this way and fully editable.
Caption a clip →What works
- Heavy, open fonts at a size you can read at arm's length.
- A thin outline or soft shadow so letters never blacken out.
- The spoken word in a different colour.
What to avoid
- Long lines of small text.
- Captions where the platform's buttons sit.
- Several effects at once.
In Zlayo
Pick a caption look in Auto-Clip or the editor and change the font, colour, outline, shadow and glow. 'Save as my look' keeps your own.
Questions
Yes, they are timed to the words from the transcript.
Yes, every caption is a layer you can edit.
Related posts
How long should YouTube Shorts be?2 min readHow to make YouTube Shorts from long videos3 min readHow to clip Twitch streams for TikTok and Shorts3 min readHow to clip your YouTube videos into Shorts (by hand or with AI)7 min readWhat is clipping? Clipping videos explained for beginners6 min readHow to make money clipping videos (2026)7 min read
All 83 posts on the blog →