How to position and lay out animated captions in Premiere Pro

Step by step

1. Open the Layout step — Click 3 Layout in the top bar of the panel, or Lay it out at the bottom of the Text step.

2. Create the video background — Click the orange Create background button (or Yes, create it in the window that opens), then choose Between in/out points or Whole sequence.

3. Let Compo Auto do a first pass — In Style & placement, set the intensity under Style and Placement, then click Style or Placement.

4. Adjust words by hand — Drag a word in the preview to move it. Click a word in the sentence at the top to switch it to the next style; right-click it for the settings of that word only.

5. Set the sliders — Adjust Margins, Height, Line spacing, Word spacing and Global size in the All blocks tab, or in the Block N tab for the block on screen.

6. Check, then generate — Click ▶ to play the block, move through blocks with ‹ › or Space, then click ⚡ Generate in the bottom bar.

What does the Layout step show?

Step 3 Layout is a full-screen view of the current block, on top of the shape of your sequence (vertical, square or horizontal). You get there by clicking 3 Layout in the top bar, or Lay it out at the bottom of the Text step. From the Text step, the button on the left of each line also opens that block straight in Layout.

Zone	What you find there
Top bar	The sentence of the current block, word by word. Each word carries its style number in color; a dashed ⋯ means the word has its own settings. ☰ on the far right shows every block.
Preview	Your words, animated with their style, over the video background if you created one. + and − in the corner zoom in and out.
Settings	Video background, the All blocks / Block N tabs, Style & placement and the Layout sliders — on the right or below the preview, depending on the space (often below for a horizontal video).
Bottom bar	Generation: track, scope and the ⚡ Generate button — see Generate your captions on the timeline.

Why it matters: placing animated captions by hand in Premiere Pro means moving and keyframing each word, clip by clip. Here you place words on a live preview of your edit, and the whole layout is written to the timeline in one go.

How do I move from block to block and play a block?

• ‹ › (on the preview or at the top) switch to the previous or next block, and the Premiere Pro playhead follows. From the keyboard: Space or → for the next block, Shift+Space or ← for the previous one.
• ▶ at the top left of the preview plays the block: animations, sounds and video background.
• + / − zoom the preview by 10 % per click; the mouse wheel over the preview zooms too (two-finger slide on a trackpad). Zoom all the way out to see the whole frame again.
• ☰ opens the list of every block, numbered, with the current one highlighted. A click on a word in this list gives it the next style. ✕ or Esc closes the list. Each block is labeled All blocks or Modified (it has its own layout settings).

When Follow playback is on (⚙ › Settings › Display, on by default), the preview follows the Premiere Pro playhead while you play or scrub, and highlights the current word.

How do I place a word by hand?

1. Drag the word in the preview and drop it where you want it. Hold Alt while dragging for magnetic snapping.
2. To move several words together, Ctrl+click (Cmd+click on Mac) each word to select it, then drag one of them.
3. To change a word’s style, click it in the sentence at the top: it switches to the next style (Style 1 → Style 2…). Hover a word to see its style and the reminder Click: change style · Right-click: advanced customization.
4. Right-click a word (at the top or in the preview) to open the settings of that word only — see Customize a single word.

Every gesture can be undone with Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on Mac).

How do I see my video behind the captions?

The video background is a light copy of your sequence, rendered by Premiere Pro, that plays behind the words in the preview and follows the playhead. It is only a viewing aid: it is never added to your edit, and captions you already generated are left out of it (hidden during the render, then turned back on).

1. Click the orange Create background button. The first time you open Layout without one, the window Create the video background? offers the same thing: Yes, create it or No, later.
2. Choose the range: Between in/out points or Whole sequence. With no In/Out points set, the whole sequence is used.
3. The button shows Creating background… while Premiere Pro renders it, then turns green: Video background.
4. Click the green button to Rebuild the video background (after a re-edit) or Remove the video background.

The background belongs to its sequence and is saved in a Subkick Caption Save folder next to your project, so it comes back when you reopen the project (the project must be saved at least once).

What you see	What to do
Background too large	The file is over 1 GB. Click the button: Recreate it in Low quality, or remove it. If it’s already in Low quality, recreate it for part of the sequence (in/out points).
Creating the background is slow	In ⚙ › Settings › Display › Video background quality, choose Low (fast). Medium is the default; High (heavier) is sharper but slower and heavier. It applies to the next background.
Import subtitles first	The background needs text: add it in the Text step first.

Tip: the video background is also what Below the face analyzes to find faces. Create it first.

How do I let Compo Auto style and place the words?

The Style & placement panel runs Compo Auto, the automatic layout of Subkick Caption, on the block on screen or on all blocks (depending on the tab).

• Style: gives each word a style according to its role — important, small or secondary words. With automatic style, numbers always stand out as important.
• Placement: scatters the words on screen.
• Under each row, an intensity from 0 to 5: Off, Light, Simple, Moderate, Dynamic, Max. At 0 the row’s button is greyed out.
• ↺ next to each row resets the style or the placement.

In the All blocks tab, both actions ask for confirmation (Redo everything, or Reset), since they touch the whole sequence. In a Block N tab, they apply to that block right away. How styles get their roles is explained in Several styles per caption.

When you arrive in Layout after changing the text or the style, the window Redo the layout? offers to redo the style and placement of all blocks at once. It warns you first if placements made by hand would be lost. Redo the layout or No, keep it — Ctrl+Z undoes it either way.

What do the Layout sliders do?

Option	Where	What it does	When to use it
Margins (0 to 100)	Layout	Pulls the words toward the center (left and right margins). Only moves automatically placed blocks.	Words too close to the edges of a vertical frame.
Height (−100 to 100)	Layout	Moves all the text up or down in the frame.	Keep captions clear of a face or of an app’s interface.
Below the face (beta)	Under Height	Places each block with a face on screen just below that face.	Talking-head videos — see Below the face.
Line spacing (−100 to 100)	Layout	Space between stacked lines: −100 overlapping, 0 normal, +100 very airy.	Tight, punchy blocks, or more breathing room.
Word spacing (−100 to 100)	Layout	Space between words of a line: −100 touching, 0 normal, +100 very airy.	Fine-tune a style’s rhythm.
Global size (0 to 200)	Layout	Enlarges or shrinks every word at once; 100 = the styles’ own size.	Same look, bigger or smaller for the format.

Height, Line spacing, Word spacing and Global size act on automatically placed blocks and, proportionally, on words you placed by hand. In the All blocks tab, these values are part of your preset.

How do I change one block without touching the others?

The settings sit in two tabs: All blocks and Block N (the number of the block on screen).

• In All blocks, sliders change the general setting, used by every block that doesn’t have its own.
• In Block N, sliders change this block only; the general setting doesn’t move. The tab then shows ●, and each changed slider gets a ↺ to bring it back to the general setting.
• The tab follows the block: a block with its own settings opens on Block N.
• Going back to All blocks returns the block to the general setting but keeps its own values in memory: click Block N again to get them back.

Where are the alignment guides?

In ⚙ › Settings › Display › Alignment guides: No guide, Light guide (default: rule of thirds and a center cross), or a guide that draws the interface of a vertical-video app (for example Instagram guide), with the zones to avoid in red and the safe area in green dashes. More in Vertical, square, 16:9.

Layout on the Free plan

During your first 1,000 generated words, everything on this page is available. In simple mode, the general sliders (Margins, Height, spacing, Global size) and Below the face still work; hand placement, Compo Auto Placement and Block N settings don’t. If your layout uses them, generation opens Simplify the setup to generate, with a Simplify automatically button. Details in Free, Pro and Max.

Frequently asked questions

How do I move a single word in my captions in Premiere Pro?

With Subkick Caption, open step 3 Layout and drag the word in the preview to where you want it; hold Alt for magnetic snapping. Then click ⚡ Generate (or ⚡ Update if the captions are already on your timeline) in the bottom bar.

Can I see my video behind the captions while I place them?

Yes. In the Layout step of Subkick Caption, click the orange Create background button: Premiere Pro renders a light copy of your sequence, which then plays behind the words in the preview and follows the playhead.

How do I change the position of just one subtitle block?

In Subkick Caption's Layout step, go to the block, open the Block N tab next to All blocks, and move the Height, Margins or spacing sliders. Only that block changes; a ● on the tab shows it has its own settings, and ↺ next to a slider brings it back to the general setting.

What does Compo Auto do in Subkick Caption?

Compo Auto lays out your captions for you: the Style row gives each word a style according to its role (important, small, secondary words), and the Placement row scatters the words on screen. Each row has an intensity from 0 (Off) to 5 (Max).

Why does Subkick Caption say “Background too large”?

The video background file of this sequence is over 1 GB, which the preview can't play. Click the button and choose Recreate it in Low quality, or recreate it for part of the sequence between in/out points. The quality setting is in ⚙ › Settings › Display › Video background quality.

Are my layout settings saved in my preset?

The All blocks values of Margins, Height, Line spacing, Word spacing and Global size are part of your Subkick Caption preset, so they come back every time you use it. Block N settings, hand placement and Below the face belong to the sequence you're working on.