How to Edit Subtitles

This is an article on editing subtitles using the VEED editor

Sarah avatar
Written by Sarah
Updated over a week ago

This feature is available for all plans.


In this article, we will show you different ways on how you can edit the subtitles as well as the different styles you can apply to it. You can click the Subtitles tab to see each subtitle track, select, and edit them.


The following are the contents of this article. Click on each to go through them.

Adjust the timing

  1. Use the stopwatches. The In stopwatch is the start time while the Out stopwatch is the end time. These represent the time in and out of the subtitle lines. Click the number beside the stopwatch to rewrite the timing.

    If you click on the In stopwatch, the start time for that subtitle will be set on where the blue arrow or the timeline cursor is. The same thing applies to the Out stopwatch.

    You can click and drag the timeline cursor on what time you want it to start/end, then click on the In/Out stopwatch to set it accordingly.

  2. Click and hold while dragging the edges of each subtitle on the timeline to adjust the start/end time of it.

Make sure the timings of each subtitle will not overlap with each other as this will cause some problems with the subtitle file. If the start and end time of the subtitle are the same, it will not be seen on the video.


Some points below to avoid any issues with the subtitles relating to their timing:

  • Start and end times should not overlap

  • Start and end times should not be the same

  • Subtitle lines should not be empty

  • There should be no empty line at the start and end of the subtitles

Subtitle Delay

  • Use the Shift feature. Click Options > Shift all > then enter the seconds to delay or move forward the subtitles then click on the Shift button to apply.

Add Subtitle Line

  • To add another line, hover your mouse in between two lines and click Add Line button.

  • You can also click and drag the timeline cursor and click the Add Subtitle button on the timeline. If you click the Add Subtitle while the timeline cursor is on a subtitle, the subtitle will be split with the new added subtitle line.

Merge Lines

  • To merge two subtitle lines, hover your mouse in between two lines and click Merge button.

  • You can also merge the lines by holding the left click on your mouse while selecting the lines then click on Merge. You can only merge lines that are one after another.

Using Shortcut keys

  • You can use the Backspace key to merge the lines or click on Enter key to enter or move the word/phrase to the next line.

  • Click on Shift + Enter keys to enter words/phrases within the subtitle row.

  • You can use the Up and Down arrow keys to move around the lines you want to edit.

Delete a Subtitle

  • To delete a subtitle, click on the trash icon or right-click on the subtitle and click on Delete. You can also click the subtitle box on the timeline, then click the Delete key or Backspace (on Mac).

Split a Subtitle

  • To split a subtitle, put the blue arrow on where you want to split the subtitle and click the Split button on the timeline or right-click on the subtitle and click on Split. You can also hover on the line and click the Auto Split button to automatically split the subtitle line.

The auto split button will only show for subtitle lines that are too long or exceeding the recommended character count per line.

Resize the Subtitle

  • Click the subtitle, then click and drag the the white dots on the edges to resize. You can click drag your subtitle anywhere you want to place them on the video. You can also resize the subtitles on the Styles tab.

Subtitle Styles

Below is an image that shows the different styles you can edit for your subtitles. You can click on any of them to change it. Once you made a change, it will apply to all the subtitles.

  1. Font Style. Click and scroll down to choose your preferred font style. If you added a font asset, it will also show on the dropdown.

  2. Font Size. You can choose the font size from 18px to 160x (you can edit it lower than 18px).

  3. Text Color. Choose the color of the text of your subtitles from the Color Picker or Palettes. You can also put a HEX and HSL color codes. You can change the percentage for the opacity of the color.

  4. Effect Color. Same with color of text but this applies on the color of the background of your selected Effect.

  5. Animation. Click to open the Animation tab and choose an animation effect for the subtitles. The boxes above is a preview of the effects. You can also hover on each animation to see a preview of it.

  6. Effect. Click to open the Effect tab, then choose the effect. This is for the background effect of the texts. You can also edit the text and effect color.

  7. Bold/Italic. Select if you want your subtitles to show as Bold or Italic style.

  8. Subtitle Alignment. Choose where to align your subtitles on the subtitle box.

  9. Letter Case. Select your preferred letter case for your subtitles.

  10. Spacing. Select to edit and set your preferred letter spacing and line height.

Styling per word or phrases

  1. Select the word by left clicking on your mouse while you hover on the word, then the styling options for it will show.

  2. Click on each of it if you want to change the text style or click on the color picker for changing the color.

  3. You can select phrases and edit them too.

More Options

Auto Highlight

If you want to highlight some lines of your subtitles, click Options > then click on Auto Highlight. This will automatically highlight the important words on the subtitles.

Auto Format

To customize how many lines the subtitles will show, click Options > Auto Format > and drag to select the number of lines > then click on Format.

Some other notes

  • The orange words are marked as the Low-Confidence Word which are the words the editor is not sure that were correctly transcribed.

  • The CPL (Characters Per Line) will show and will turn in red if the recommended character count per subtitle line exceeds. The negative number is the count it exceeded. This is only the recommended character count per line so that the words will show on the canvas (preview) properly.

  • If you can’t see your subtitles clearly on the timeline, zoom in your timeline by clicking the “+” beside the Fit tab.

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