The short version
- Use one or two fonts per video: a bold display font for titles and a clean font for everything else.
- Make text big enough for a phone and give it contrast — an outline, shadow or background box.
- Leave text on screen long enough to read twice.
- Keep it short: a few words, not sentences.
- Be consistent with style, size and position.
Types of on-screen text
| Type | What it does | Tips |
|---|---|---|
| Hook / title | States what the video is about in the first seconds. | Large, bold, top or centre of frame; three to seven words. |
| Lower third | Names a person, place or topic, traditionally in the lower third of the frame. | Name in bold, role or detail below in a smaller size. |
| Labels and steps | "Step 2", "Before", "After", prices, measurements. | Same style and position every time, so viewers know where to look. |
| Captions | Show what's being said. | See our captions guide for reading-speed rules. |
| Call to action | Tells viewers the next step. | One clear action, on the last few seconds. |
Choosing fonts
Fonts have personality. A tall, condensed, heavy font feels bold and energetic; a serif feels classic and refined; a handwritten script feels personal and playful. A good rule is one display font for titles plus one simple font for everything else.
- Bold sans-serif (like Inter at a heavy weight): clear, modern, works for almost everything.
- Condensed display (like Bebas Neue): punchy titles, sport, gaming, promos.
- Serif (like Playfair Display): elegant — weddings, food, fashion, storytelling.
- Script (like Pacifico): friendly and casual. Use for short words only; long script text is hard to read.
- Marker / handwritten (like Permanent Marker): playful, DIY, school projects.
Readability
- Size for phones. Most viewers watch on a small screen. If text looks slightly too big on your computer, it's probably right on a phone.
- Contrast is everything. Video backgrounds change constantly. An outline, a soft shadow or a solid box behind the text keeps it readable over bright and dark scenes alike.
- Short lines. Break long phrases onto two lines, and keep lines to a handful of words.
- Colour with care. White or yellow with a dark outline is the most reliable. Brand colours work best as a background box behind white or black text.
Test readability by viewing your video at phone size and looking away for a second. If you can't read the text at a glance when you look back, make it bigger or add contrast.
Placement
- Don't cover the subject. Place text beside faces and products, not over them.
- Mind the platform interface. On TikTok, Reels and Shorts, the bottom and right edges are covered by app buttons and captions. See our vertical video guide for safe zones.
- Use a grid. Aligning text consistently — for example, always left-aligned at the same margin — looks deliberate and professional.
- Leave breathing room around the edges of the frame.
Timing and animation
Viewers need time to notice text, read it and look back at the action. A simple rule: leave text on screen long enough to read it twice at a relaxed pace. Short titles need around two seconds; longer text needs more.
Animation draws attention — useful for hooks and calls to action, distracting when overused.
- Pop, Fade or Slide up entrances feel clean and modern.
- Typewriter and Letters suit titles and reveals.
- Loops like Pulse or Wave work for a single key word or a call to action — sparingly.
- Keep entrances short (around half a second) so the text is readable quickly.
Step by step: add text in VDOAPP
- Place the playhead where the text should appear in the free online editor.
- Open the Text tab and press + Add text. Type your words; press Enter for a second line.
- Style it. Choose a font (Inter, Bebas Neue, Pacifico, Playfair or Marker), a style (Outline, Shadow, Box or Neon), a size and a colour.
- Position it by dragging the text on the preview.
- Time it with Show from and Until. Texts appear as bars on the timeline, so you can see how they overlap.
- Animate it with In, Loop and Out effects, and press ▶ Preview to check. Use Use on all texts for consistent animation.
Add text to your video now — free and in your browser.
Ready to make text the star? Try kinetic typography, or make a seamless loop.
Common mistakes
- Too many fonts — three or more styles in one video looks messy.
- Too small — fine on a laptop, unreadable on a phone.
- No contrast — white text over a bright sky disappears.
- Too much text — if it takes longer to read than the shot lasts, cut words.
- Gone too soon — text that vanishes before viewers finish reading is frustrating.